The Alpha's Villainess

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Alistair will come around, you’ll see,” Thaddeus continued. “There is no need to worry. Since you said you’ve left Easthaven, I’ll have someone prepare a room for you here. It will be good for him to get to know you better.”

That feeling of fear quickly crept back in at hearing his suggestion that I should remain in the palace, immediately stopping my tears. “Please... no, I really can’t stay here. Your kindness is appreciated, but it’s for the best that I’m not involved in any of your lives.”

I didn’t even fully remember saving Alistair’s life. If anything, I assumed it must have been an automatic reaction that took control over me upon sensing the matebond in my entirely exhausted state. But if it meant I got one favour from the Alpha King himself, then I wanted it to be used for this. To be allowed to leave and live somewhere quietly until I was forgotten. Maybe whilst I was gone, Alistair would finally convince his father to release his Alpha order, allowing him to break the bond, and then we could completely move on with our lives.

...Never to see those mesmerising golden eyes again... never to know what it felt like to touch his skin... to feel his lips...—

—Goddammit. I didn’t even know him. He was a stranger. Just a guy. One who hated me at that. Why was this already so difficult?

I quickly shook off the thoughts. It had only been a few minutes, and I was already starting to get desperate for this bond to be broken. Something told me it was only going to get worse.

“Please, Scarlett, I insist you at least stay in the Capital. The nearest pack to ours is a full day’s run whilst shifted. In your still healing condition, I imagine it might take you longer.”

“I can’t. Aurora, Victor and Alistair will—”

“—Will leave you alone, I promise,” he reassured, patting my shoulder once more. “I have some old friends who live in the west side of town. You can stay with them. They’ll ensure you are looked after and fed. This is the least I can do for you.”

I wanted to decline again, to reaffirm that I really couldn’t stay anywhere in the same vicinity as Aurora, but he sounded so sure that I would be safe here. Not that I was fully convinced I even had a real choice anyway. I had no home, no pack, and no supplies or money. If the nearest pack really was as far away as he said, I likely wouldn’t even make it there.

No... it seemed I had no choice but to stay in the Capital until I could at least earn some money to leave.

“One month is all I ask,” he continued. “If you still desire to leave once you’ve fully recovered, then I won’t stop you. I’ll even agree to whatever you decide regarding the matebond with Alistair.”

Just one month and I could completely free myself from any entanglement with the main characters. Until I could stop feeling so afraid all the time and until these unrelenting thoughts in my head would finally cease, craving a man I didn’t know.

...Surely, it wouldn’t be that difficult, right?

“Okay...,” I hesitantly agreed.

He’d promised that the others would leave me alone. If it was coming from anyone else, anyone other than the one man capable of enforcing that promise by Alpha King orders, I would have my doubts. But maybe it truly wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. So long as I didn’t get in Aurora’s way or make myself into a problem for any of them, I really should become a forgotten character soon enough. The Capital had to be huge, filled with thousands of people, and Scarlett wasn’t even a main character. She was just the secondary Villain, an added character to make the book longer than it already was after Liam was killed off. The story would continue on in my absence, finding plenty of other problems for Aurora to overcome, I was sure.

As for Alistair...

No. I really needed to stop thinking about him. Amongst everything else currently overwhelming my exhausted mind, it was all feeling like too much. Like everything was becoming numb inside. More than anything, I just wanted to shove my face into a pillow and to curl up under a cozy blanket.

I just... I wanted to feel safe.

“Wonderful,” Thaddeus cheerily said, clasping his hands together loudly. “Then I’ll have one of the guards escort you there now. I hope you will come visit regularly, Scarlett. Please don’t be a stranger.”

Yeah, that definitely wasn’t going to happen. But I gave him a small, polite smile anyway, followed by a quick bow in goodbye as the guard he called over came to show me the way to where I would be staying.

Outside, I got my first real view of the Capital from atop of the stairs, looking out at the expanded town surrounding the palace on all sides from where it stood on a steep hill. It was breathtaking. Beautifully crafted stone structures were everywhere, embellished with pieces of nature, like trees and creeping ivy, which turned the cold buildings into works of art. It really was exactly what I would expect from a fantasy town full of werewolves, reflecting their beings perfectly — half human, half beast. This town appeared to be half man-made, half nature. As if the buildings had been built specifically to accommodate the natural beauty already there.

A part of me wished I could have sat on those stairs for hours and drawn it all.

“Come along, please,” the guard said curtly, noticing when I’d paused to take it all in.

I nodded and hurried after him to keep up.

As we made it into the lower town, the attire and atmosphere changed significantly from what I’d become accustomed to since arriving in this world. High society and intricately made dresses became rarer to see, and more classic peasant clothes became the norm. Where proper, sophisticated demeanour had been regarded above all else, the people of the town were louder, bolder, and seemed completely unapologetic as they went about their daily lives. It was honestly a little refreshing, feeling as though I might not need to try so hard to fit in for once.

We walked for quite a long time, getting closer and closer to where I could see the large stone walls connecting to a gate, one that appeared to lead to the outside of town. The sun had nearly completely set and the temperature had dropped, sending a chill through me. I was eager to get indoors sooner rather than later. The dress I’d been given to wear was quite thin, though I doubted anyone had expected me to be travelling so soon after leaving the hospital.

Just as I was starting to think we were going to leave out the gate entirely, the guard then turned left down a street until he came to a stop at a small looking house. It was two stories and quite pretty, though the stones had definitely seen better days.

“Here,” he said, gesturing to the house.

I stared at him, wondering if he was going to at least introduce me to whoever lived inside, but when he didn’t move another inch, I realised he was leaving it entirely to me.

What an incredibly uncomfortable interaction this was going to be.

Cautiously, I walked up the steps and stopped in front of the door, giving myself a small pep talk inside before knocking softly. Immediately, I could hear footsteps approaching as they clicked on wooden floorboards.

“Who is it?” a female voice called out, before the door opened to reveal a woman on the other side.

She had brown hair with a stripe of grey running through it, her eyes a deep green colour. Though she must have been at least in her fifties, there was a vigour about her that made her seem younger. ‘Energetic’ was maybe the word I was looking for. Like she was strong and able to keep up with a hard workload. Her clothes were also nice enough, but the apron she wore had clearly had a lot of use in it’s time.

“Uhm... hello,” I said nervously. “I’m sorry to show up like this unannounced, but the Alpha King told me you could help....”

Her eyes flicked from me, to where the guard still stood a small distance away, then back to me.

“Thaddeus sent you here?” she asked. “What can I do for you, girl?”

“He mentioned I could possibly stay here, ma’am... for just a little bit. I hope that’s not too much to ask. I promise I won’t take up much room or get in your way....”

The woman looked surprised by my sudden request and stared at me for a moment as if contemplating something inside. The kind of expression that made me worried she might decline – just as she had every right to do. But it only lasted a few seconds though. Right as I was starting to think of an excuse to leave, she then rushed forward and grabbed my hand.

“Of course, you’re more than welcome to stay here,” she said, waving off the guard so he could leave. The moment he was gone, she then grumbled to herself, “the least Thaddeus could have done was given you a cloak in this cold weather. You poor girl.”

She rushed me inside into a cute dining room, the smell of something cooking immediately making me salivate. It was very homey with a fireplace burning along the wall, the decorations clearly being chosen from personal taste rather than expense, the complete opposite to what I’d been used to seeing up until now.

At the table sat an older man with fading blond hair who was quietly reading a newspaper. He looked up in shock when the woman brought me inside.

“Who’s this then?” he asked, eyeing me with confusion.

The lady sighed. “Thaddeus sent her. Goddess only knows why. You know what he’s like though, there’s no point in questioning it.”

The man chuckled, then went back to his paper.

“Um... hello... thank you for having me in your home.”

The woman went to a pot of food she was cooking on the stove and pointed to a chair at the table. “Have a seat. Have you eaten? I assume not since no one bothered to clothe you correctly.”

“Not yet. Thank you very much, ma’am.”

“She’s well-mannered,” the man remarked, then looked back up at me, raising a brow. “And educated?”

Was I? Technically, yes, but who knew what I was lacking from not being native to this world. Thankfully, everything I’d seen so far seemed to be in English, so I had to assume the author had written the world based on what she knew. Other than the specific werewolf mechanics and anatomy, surely things wouldn’t be that hard to figure out?

It was another reminder that I wasn’t in the main story anymore though. This side of the book, these people and this part of town, they hadn’t ever been written or mentioned before. It was entirely new, unprecedented territory. Who could say for sure what the universe had created in order to make these things more fleshed out?

“Yes, sir,” I finally answered.

“Rubeus,” he corrected, then nodded towards the woman. “And this here is Hazel. We run the tavern across the street.”

“It’s nice to meet you both.”

Hazel then walked over to the table and placed a bowl of stew in front of me. The kind I remembered my mum would make for me when I was growing up, looking so similar that it took me off guard for a moment. It brought me back to the better days of my childhood... back before my sister died.

“And your name?” Hazel asked, pausing long enough to stare down at me.

“Scarlett,” I answered automatically, but immediately hated the way it sounded on my lips.

That name had so much baggage to it, branding me as a girl who’d done so many atrocious things. And I realised then that this was my real chance at starting a second life. That I didn’t need to keep being the person everyone knew me as, because these people didn’t even know who Scarlett was.

...I could finally be myself.

“But, please... call me Natalie.”