Chapter 5
1342 Words
Alisa
“This is where you’ll stay until I decide otherwise,” Derrick says as finally unlocks the door.
The bolts slide back with a loud mechanical clang. The sound reverberates through my bones, setting me even further on edge
He turns the handle and easily pushes the heavy door open.
“It’s fully reinforced against any attack.”
I blink up at him, still trying to wrap my mind around everything that has happened. I’m exhausted, my head foggy, and I can’t quite process what’s going on. “Whu- what?” My voice is hoarse, my mind sluggish. “D- does that happen often?”
“Every now and then.” He doesn’t elaborate. “Your apartment doubles as a panic room.”
Her steps inside and flicks the lights on. “Come inside,” he calls out, his voice slightly muffled.
I swallow, gripping the jacket around me, clutching the fabric as if it’s a lifeline before following him into the room.
My eyes almost bug out of my skull when I see the interior of the so-called room.
I expected something smaller. It’s not just a bedroom. It’s an entire apartment.
The open-plan kitchen-lounge is bigger than our dining hall back at Rosewood Academy. All the newest, best appliances sparkle on the marble counter tops. There’s a little island in the kitchen where I can sit to eat, and an entire dining table with eight chairs next to the windows.
Derrick walks past me to the massive windows and opens the heavy drapes, revealing a balcony on the other side. “The windows are reinforced,” he explains, as he hooks a key from the wall and unlocks the sliding doors. “If there are any problems though, come inside and-” he walks over to the wall and pulls the drapes aside -“push this button.”
I stand closer and notice a button that looks very much like a light switch on the wall. Derrick pushes it and heavy steel doors roll out of the roof, slamming loudly into the floor.
It jangles my already frayed nerves. “When the danger passes…” He flicks the switch once more, and with a mechanical hiss, the steel doors roll back into the ceiling. "Nice and secure."
“Bedroom’s through there.” He points to a door on the other side of the lounge area. “Your bathroom should be fully stocked.”
Wordlessly, I nod. I’m completely overwhelmed by the opulence surrounding me. Who has this kind of money?
The pristine white lounge suite alone probably costs more than Mistress Katrina could make in a decade. The television mounted on the wall is the size of a cinema screen.
I say nothing.
I can’t.
This place is not for someone like me.
Derrick walks to the fridge, opens it, and scans its contents before shutting it again. He barely reacts, but to me, it’s overwhelming. There’s so much food. More than I’ve ever seen in my life.
His gaze flicks toward me. “Missus Quinn, the housekeeper, put out clothes for you.”
I blink. Clothes?
I’ve never had clothes that belonged to just me.
I nod, feeling small beneath his presence. Everything here is too much. Too big. Too expensive. Too dangerous.
Derrick steps back toward the door and holds out the key.
“The only other people with access to this apartment are me and Missus Quinn,” he states, his voice still impassive.
I hesitate before taking the key with trembling fingers. It feels heavy. Real. Final.
“I-” My throat feels dry. “I don’t understand.”
Derrick watches me. He is silent, as if he’s waiting for me to say something else.
I press on, despite my growing unease. “Why am I here?”
His sharp blue eyes don’t waver. “You’ll know soon enough.”
That’s not an answer.
My fingers tighten around the key. “This… it isn’t appropriate for a harem keeper.”
Something flickers in his gaze. It’s gone before I can place it.
“Harem keeper?” His tone is unreadable.
I nod, swallowing hard. “Isn’t that why I’m here?”
A muscle in his jaw twitches. “I don’t have a harem.”
Oh.
My stomach twists uncomfortably. “Am I… to be your mate’s body servant then?”
His expression doesn’t change. “I don’t have a mate.”
I exhale sharply. “So I’m going to be your body servant?”
Derrick doesn’t laugh or react in any noticeable way. He doesn’t find this amusing, but I can sense a little irritation in him.
He just keeps watching me. His gaze intense, calculating.
I don’t like it.
I don’t like any of this.
“You’ll eat.” His voice is final. The command unyielding. “And you’ll sleep. I don’t care if you’re confused, scared, or pissed off. You will follow my orders. Understood?”
That, at least, is something I do understand. Orders.
“Yes, Alpha.”
He studies me for a long time before giving a satisfied nod.
Then he turns and walks toward the door. “Lock it behind me.”
I don’t hesitate. The moment he steps out, I throw the bolts, twisting the lock into place. The sound echoes through the apartment, sealing me in.
It’s too quiet.
Too empty.
Too safe.
Or at least, it should be.
My stomach churns, my mind racing.
Someone could come in here and rip my throat out, and no one would even hear me scream. They’d just find my body in the morning, neatly wrapped up in silk sheets.
A shudder runs through me as the vivid picture tumbles through my mind. I lightly shake my head, trying to get the images out, before I hang the key on the hook next to the door.
I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and the plate of sandwiches, and walk out onto the balcony.
Like everything else, it’s tastefully, but minimally decorated. There’s a quaint little cast iron table and chairs in the corner, and a whole hot tub on the other side.
The balcony overlooks the back of the property. There are pathways going in every direction, but from here it looks to me as if their destination ends in the same place - the vast, green forest that spreads out as far as the eye can see.
Something niggles at the back of my mind as I sit on one of the wet chairs, shivering a little as the cold steel kisses my naked thighs.
A creeping, suffocating feeling.
Something isn’t right.
Something obvious.
I frown, chewing absently on a bite of food, and the thought disappears.
Just like that.
My stomach comes to life and rumbles noisily. Before I can stop myself, I devour four of the sandwiches.
Mistress Katrina would have a meltdown if she saw me eating this much.
But she’s not here.
Derrick is.
And I don’t understand what that means yet. I wish I did. I wish he'd be more open with me. He could at least tell me why the hell I'm even here.
By the time I finish eating, exhaustion crashes into me like a freight train.
I step back inside, locking the balcony doors before making my way to the bedroom.
The bed is massive, covered in sheets softer than sin. A nightdress laid out for me by Missus Quinn.
That’s it.
That’s all there is.
What the hell am I supposed to wear the rest of the time?
I don’t have the energy to worry about it now.
I pull the nightdress over my head and slide beneath the covers, sinking into the mattress. It smothers me in warmth.
But sleep doesn’t come easily.
Something keeps nagging at me, circling the edges of my thoughts.
It hits me just as I start to drift off.
Derrick didn’t give me a key to the elevator.
I can’t leave.
I’m trapped.
Like a little bird in a golden cage.
- Writer
