Rejected By MY Mate And Claimed By A Ruthless Alpha

The Locked Room.

CHAPTER 5

Eryx leaves the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. What was the woman talking about? What council?

How had my life changed so quickly? Last night I was worried most about my mate cheating on me, and now I was in the middle of something so strange and out of hand that I don't even know what's going on or what to do.

I sat down on the bed, confused and lost. A million feelings cross through my mind. I feel the heat reduce, its effects on me, lessening as Eryx gets farther away from the room.

I remember what he said, as he looked into my eyes. His eyes dark and cold. His voice dark as sin

'You are mine now.' Even just remembering it made me shiver, made the heat rise up within me fast before slowly falling back down. My breath calmed slowly as I finally decided to take a look around the room.

It was big, bigger than anything I was used to at least. The room spoke of wealth and opulence, and out of the window I could see a huge lawn, spotted with statues and other decorations. I almost thought I was in a castle.

Wait. Was I in a castle?

I walked out of the room and even more wealth greeted me. Everything around me just seemed so rich, the corridor stretching for a while. I walked down, looking at all the paintings and other decorations around the place. All of a sudden, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turned quickly, mind racing and heat beating wildly before my eyes landed on a young girl. She looked young, maybe 16 or 17. She was dressed in maid clothes and had a certain kind of demeanor. Her eyes met hers and she turned them down, making herself look as subservient as possible.

But in her eyes, she'd seen it for a second. Fear. This young woman feared her for some reason.

'G—Good morning, m-madam.' The girl stammered out, visibly shaking to be in her presence.

She reminded me of me. Scared. Afraid. Always thinking I was in a position to be exploited. My heart went out to her and I touched her shoulder gently.

'Hey, don't worry. Everything is fine. What do you want?' As I talked to her, I felt her relax slightly, gathering herself into a more confident form.

'His Majesty told me to get you breakfast. I got to your room through the service entrance and didn't see you in there so I came to find you".

At the mention of breakfast, my stomach immediately growled. The last day had really taken a lot from me, and I hadn't eaten in a while. The whole excitement of the last night had taken a toll on me that I hadn't noticed.

I nodded and followed her back to the room, the smell of a rich meal flooding my senses. I looked at the meal in awe. It smelt and looked so good, a proper breakfast spread.

A voice within me growled at the scent of the sausages, a new hunger rising within me. I frowned at that. Ever since I was young, I'd been told my wolf was dormant, that I would never feel that other presence, that other being within myself.

But now I did, and it was a jarring experience. I could feel the savage power, the primal instincts. But it still stood far away, too far for me to hold on to, or to harness.

I sat down to eat, and the servant girl made to leave the room. But I called her back. I needed to know what I was doing here, or what was going on here. She probably wasn't going to know much, but even a little information would be useful at this point. I was getting tired of running on blind.

'Why don't you stay a bit?' I said, directing the words at her. She stopped rigidly, before turning back to me. 'Yes, madam?'

'Shut the door. I need to ask you some questions.' She hesitated a bit, then closed the door. She slowly began to protest.

'It would be very rude and unprofessional of me to—'

I cut her off gently. 'What's your name, child?"

She hesitated again, before saying, 'Belinda. My name is Belinda.'

I nodded. 'Listen, Belinda. I have had a very long day. A very, very long day. And now I'm in this strange place, with people that I have no idea who they are, and this is all very new to me. Can you relate to that?'

She nodded slowly, her eyes softening slightly. 'Yes, I suppose I can.'

'So please, can you just tell me what's going on? Anything you could tell me would be helpful.'

She looked at me, like she was trying to really decipher whether or not she should tell her what she was about to tell her.

'When you came, we heard... rumors. That you are a very important person. That you're... dangerous. That's all I've heard. The older servants are being very cagey about the whole situation, and understandably so.'

I nodded slowly. Taking the information in. Dangerous? How could I be dangerous? Me, a girl whose mate had rejected her, who'd almost been attacked by rogue wolves, who was currently sitting confused and hurt in a room.

I finished off the rest of my meal in silence, thinking about everything I had just been told. Once I finished, Belinda got the tray and bowed, moving out of the room as quietly as before.

Why would I be dangerous? What about me made me dangerous?

'I do...'

A voice from the depths of my consciousness whispered at me and I nearly jumped out of my skin, looking around the room for the source of the voice. I calmed down slowly, calling out tentatively. 'Who's there?'

The voice spoke again, but it was faint. I couldn't hear it, but I could tell where it came from.

It came from within me. I'd heard about this before. From people I envied and feared. They, too, experienced this phenomenon, having entire conversations with themselves. She couldn't deceive herself anymore. Her wolf wasn't dormant. It was

awake.

And it was speaking to her.