His Huntress Mate

Her Undercover ( part 2)

Through the long dark tunnel of the hallways toward the unidentified destination, Andrew led Jane, in her disguise as Mary to. Their steps knocked on the floor under the obscured lighted ceiling, witnessed by the darkened white wall on both sides of the corridor.

None of Andrew's gestures emphasized his suspicion of her which allowed her to breathe with ease. With his gaze straight ahead, he strolled through the narrow path between two lines of rooms; and behind him, Jane trailed his steps in silence. No word his mouth made; only his shoes created the sound.

On their way, Jane held his breath to avoid the mistake she might make which could reveal her true self. Both of her hands clutched the hem of her blouse in worry; her gaze scanned around in anticipation of jeopardy.

At the end of the path, his feet halted, followed by Jane's in a flutter. He faced her with a stern expression but his eyes only traveled from the door to the note in his hold.

"Here's your room, Miss. And all your tasks are written on this paper; here's the key." His hand extended a white paper and the room's key to her which she received in hesitance. "As it is your first day, the maid will guide you to tour around this mansion after lunchtime. I'll excuse myself."

With no further wait for her response, that man abandoned her alone in that quiet isolated place. As the area around her induced a horror atmosphere, her hand shakingly put the key into the hole to briskly get access to the inside of the room.

Against the door, she leaned her back in her shut eyes for a while; her heart whispered a curious question. "Do they intentionally provide the chambers with an eerie ambiance to their butlers to intimidate them?" She could not hold the weird thoughts of hers fill her mind.

The darkness welcomed her when her eyes opened. In a hurry, her palm fumbled the wall to turn the light on which revealed the look of the place where she was in. Her pupils dilated at the view of the tidy and well-organized room in front of her which was beyond her expectation. The small bed stood in the corner with a vanity table next to it; facing it was the dresser onto which she could keep her clothes.

To the bed, Jane walked; her body rested there with her stares glancing around. No spider webs spread across the wall, nor was the dirt on the white tiled floor. Her lips formed a smile of satisfaction with its

immaculacy and the facility she was equipped with.

The bangs on the door jerked her out of her admiration of the room; in full vigilance, Jane tiptoed to the doorway. The unfamiliar face of a corpulent woman slanted her eyes at her with her dour expression.

"Ms. Mary Dawson, am I right?" In a bitter tone, she inquired as soon as the door revealed Jane's figure. That girl gave her a nod as an answer. "Come with me."

At her rear, her steps hesitantly scrambled, tracking to wherever the fat middle-aged woman took her to. Despite her curiosity about where they were going, she chose not to utter any query.

Only at the entrance to the other place, that woman with bun hair made a halt and turned to Jane with her hand pointing to the area on the other side. "Your first task is to clean the backyard."

Through the woman's shoulder, Jane peered at the large yard which rolled her eyes in shock. "But, Ma'am, Andrew…," the woman's brows wrinkled in wonder, "I mean Mr. Douglass instructed me to start my work after I have my lunch."

"There is no lunch until you complete all your tasks." Her mouth almost threw a protest at her but her feet carried her as fast as the wind.

Dragging the broom with her, Jane walked across the large area of the yard, her eyes exploring around; even the size it. discouraged her from cleaning it. She inhaled deeply in reluctance.

Before her hands moved in accomplishing the task, a group of people passing through the gate jolted her to hide behind the big tree. Peeping through the rod, she recognized one of them as Aeron, one of Douglass' sons who had defended her in the court when they were deciding on her chastisement.

Jane covered her mouth not to make any noise that would attract their attention. There was only one thing in Jane's mind now while observing a group of werewolves which was the desire to kill.

"You'll be the first," her eyes shot to the figure walking at the back of Aeron. "And the waiting lists still go on." An evil smirk grew on her red lips. It was when they had gotten out of her sight, she returned to her work.

Behind her, a few feet away, a figure of a man watched her back whom she did not notice. That unknown man retreated from where he was standing once Jane turned around to his direction.

***

The fact that her betrothal with Andrew was cancelled got Scarlet down; for her, it hurt when . his own father annulled the engagement she had long dreamt of. It was like throwing dirt on her face; she, however, had no bravery to fight against her father's words. None of the people in her community did.

After that failure of the event, Scarlet locked herself in her chamber all day long for nothing could excite her now. That condition of her broken heart saddened her father that he, in any way, tried to soothe her.

He invited her friends to come just to console her; but to none of them, she opened her door. In her room, she still spent all her time.

No one knew that Jane had secretly fallen in love with Andrew since she was a child. Andrew might never acknowledge her existence as he did not even recognize her when they finally met again at the engagement party.

"The son of the Douglass family is paying a visit, Ms." That voice of her mind telling her unexpected good news jolted her up from her bed. Is it true what her ears heard?

As soon as the door opened, she asked her maid's confirmation about what she said. "Is he really the son of Mr. Douglass, who comes?" That maid's nodding head with a smile was enough to ensure her his visit.

What was the purpose of his coming? Could it be that he would continue the betrothal? With those questions in her heart, Scarlet proceeded to the living room where her guest had been waiting.

On the sofa, sat a man with his back facing her direction; in calmness, he seemed to be engaged in a serious talk to her father who looked excited with him around. A few feet from him, Scarlet let her feet stop; her hand fixed her hair and with a mirror, she slipped into her dress, she examined her face. Once she was sure that nothing could lower her dignity in front of him, she approached the guest.

"Good morning Mr. Douglass." The joyful expression on her visage altered; it changed dour when the man turned his head to her for unlike her prediction, it was not Andrew sitting on the couch with her father. "Aaron…."

"Good morning Ms. Scarlet Williams. I am pleased to see you again." Still in his spot, he stood up with his hand stretching toward her to shake hers.

Instead of taking his hand, she blatantly demonstrated to him her disappointment.

"I thought it was your brother." As snow, her tone of voice was so freezing.

"I am sorry, Ms., for letting you down. My brother is so occupied with the alpha duty that he can't come."

As she was not interested in talking to Aeron, Scarlet was about to leave but his father let her not go anywhere.

"You should respect your guest, Scarlet."

With that warning from her father, Scarlet had no choice but to stay and took a seat on the couch near Aeron who had sat down. In pout, she listened to whatever Aeron conveyed regarding his visit with no interest to say some comments on his utterances.

"My father hopes that you will reconsider the meeting between the two families to discuss the engagement." Only at that statement of his, Scarlet eyes lit the flame of excitement; the sulk on her face faded away.

"But, Mr. Douglass…," Her father intended to disagree but was interrupted by Scarlet's words.

"Father, you should take his advice." Her interruption made both her father and Aeron face her. "Don't you think it is a sign that God has destined us to be together?"

"I have called off the betrothal once. And it will ruin my dignity to change my mind. I am sorry, Mr. Douglass. I can't fulfill your father's request. If you have no more to say, then I can send you off."

"Father… please…." Scarlet pleaded with her joined palms over her chest. The tears began pooling in her eyes.

Ignoring his daughter's plea, he spoke to Aeron. "I'll show you the path out of here, Mr. Douglass." His hand signaled him to move.

***

As she had worked too hard for the last two days, the fatigue spread all over her limbs which caused Jane to wake up late this morning. She hurriedly barged out of her room when the ringing bell called her to do her duties.

"I am starving. Why don't they provide breakfast for the maids? They are indeed inhuman," she grumbled in her steps along the corridor which quit in a minute. "Oh My God…my hair…how could I stupidly forget to use my wig?"

"Ms. Dawson….," Jane closed her eyes in panic for the one who mentioned her name behind her was Andrew.