Desired By The Dark Alpha Brothers

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6: Glowing Eyes in the Dark

Ivy's POV

I had spun around so fast I nearly tripped over my own feet and then my breath just… disappeared.

Standing there, looming over me like a storm cloud that had just decided to take human form, was the man from the train.. the one with the intense stare who had watched me the entire journey to Greyhaven. His expression hadn’t changed.. it was still that same unreadable serious mask.

Maya practically jumped with her previous warning dying on her lips.

“Alpha Elias!” she squeaked with her voice tight with nerves. “I... I didn’t hear you approach. Miss Ivy, this is Elias Blackthorn. Alpha Lucien's elder brother.”

My heart was pounding against my ribs like it wanted to escape. Of course, I thought, of course he’s a Blackthorn. Nothing about this place was going to be simple or coincidental.

“It’s… it’s a pleasure to meet you,” I managed to stammer out, my voice sounding ridiculously small.

My manners, drilled into me by a mother who believed politeness could disarm anyone, took over amd I stuck my hand out for a shake.

He completely ignored it. His cold gaze swept over me from head to toe and it felt less like he was looking at me and more like he was appraising a piece of livestock.

“So. You’re the new nanny,” he stated, his voice a low gravelly rumble.

I bristled a little at that. Nanny sounded so… temporary and so unimportant.

“Actually, I’m the governess,” I corrected him, trying to inject a sliver of professional pride into my tone.

He let out a short humorless scoff.

“Cocky and a beauty doll. No wonder my brother is so obsessed with you.”

Obsessed? Lucian? The man who had looked at me like I was a mildly interesting speck of dust?

“He is?” The question was out of my mouth before I could stop it, sounding far more hopeful than I intended.

Elias’s lips curled into something that wasn’t a smile. He didn’t answer me. Instead, he shot a dark meaningful look at Maya that made her flinch. Without another word, he turned and strode away with his footsteps silent on the garden path despite his size.

I stood there staring at the space where he’d been with my mind reeling. I turned to Maya.

“What was that all about? What did he mean by ‘obsessed’? And what were you about to tell me about the brothers?”

Maya’s face had gone pale. She shook her head with all her previous openness gone, locked away tight.

“Nothing. It’s nothing. Come on, we should really get you settled in now. You must be tired from your journey.”

The whiplash from her almost-friendly tour guide act to this nervous closed-off maid was jarring. But it was clear the conversation was over. She practically hustled me back inside the manor’s oppressive walls and up a grand, creaking staircase to the east wing.

“This will be your room,” she said, pushing open a heavy door.

My suitcase was already there sitting forlornly at the foot of a massive four-poster bed. The room was straight out of a history book with dark wood, velvet drapes and a soft rug. But it was clean and despite the ancient vibe, actually kind of nice. It had a certain gothic charm.

Maya pointed to a frayed velvet rope hanging by the fireplace with a small brass bell on the end.

“If you need anything, just ring this. Someone will come.”

I blinked.

“You guys don’t just… yell for each other? Or, I don’t know, text?”

She looked genuinely confused.

“Text?”

“Yeah, on a phone?” I pulled my smartphone out of my pocket, holding it up like it was a totally normal thing. Which it was. Everywhere else on planet Earth.

“Oh,” she said, her brow furrowed. “We don’t have much use for those here.”

She left then, closing the door softly behind her and leaving me in a silence so deep I could hear my own heartbeat. This was all so weird.

The first thing I did was hold my phone up high, walking around the room like a modern-day statue of liberty, seeking a single bar of reception. Nothing. I opened a browser. No Service. I tried to make a call. Call Failed.

“A complete dead zone,” I muttered to the empty room, flopping down onto the edge of the bed. The mattress was surprisingly soft.

Exhaustion hit me all at once. The strange welcome, the intense Alpha, the cryptic brother, the revelation about werewolves… it was a lot for one afternoon. I changed into my comfy nightgown slowly and heavily.

As I climbed into the giant bed, I couldn't help but wonder if taking this job was the single dumbest decision I’d ever made. Greyhaven wasn’t just a town out of time.. it was a different world entirely.

My eyes slid shut and I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Something woke me.

I didn’t know what but one second I was dead asleep and the next I was wide awake with my body tense. The room was pitch black.. the kind of deep country dark you never get in the city. I held my breath, listening.

The old house creaked and settled.. an owl hooted somewhere far away and then I heard it. The softest, slowest c-r-e-a-k.

My head snapped toward the door and my blood ran cold. It was slightly open. Just a sliver of deeper darkness against the black of the room and in that sliver, I saw them.. two points of faint green light shimmering like malevolent stars. They were low to the ground.. about the height of a person kneeling and just… staring.. unblinkingly.

I froze with my muscles locking up with a primal fear so potent I couldn’t even scream. I just shrunk back into the pillows, pulling the duvet up to my chin with my heart thundering so loudly I was sure whatever it was could hear it.

We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity... me, a statue of terror and the glowing eyes just watching and waiting.

Then as silently as they had appeared, they vanished and the darkness in the c***k of the door was just plain dark again.

I didn’t move for a full minute, just gasping silent with shaky breaths. I had to lock the door. I had to..

Gathering every ounce of courage I had left, I slid out of bed. My bare feet were silent on the plush rug as I crept toward the door. I kept expecting a clawed hand to shoot out and grab my ankle.

I reached the door with my hand trembling. I grabbed the cold iron handle and gave the door a firm pull to shut it properly. It closed with a soft and final thud.

Relief washed over me for half a second. Then I fumbled my hands over the smooth ancient wood where a lock should be. There was nothing. No bolt, no latch am no keyhole on the inside.

The door could only be locked from the outside…!