13. Leave them behind or go back to where I belong?

Aleida’s POV

I take my time to shower; after everything that’s happened recently, I’m not going to be ashamed that I’m indulging in this. The water flows down my body, and I can do nothing but enjoy it. I don’t know if it’s the heat in the shower or yesterday’s events that makes me think, no matter what, it begins getting hot in here! My thoughts slip away to Miliano, how his well-sculpted body lies over me and trails his hands over my body, his warmth, and closeness that makes me ask for release. My fluids flow down my legs even faster than before. I bite my lip and think about whether to… Someone clears their throat outside the shower, and I turn around quickly. Miliano stands there, watching me with a grin over his features; I look away from the embarrassment.

“What-what are you doing here?” I ask without meeting his gaze, and he begins to laugh.

”I can smell your arousal all the way down to my office,” he answers, and my shame keeps me from looking at him. “What were you thinking? It must have been filthy to get you this wet.”

When I stretch my hand through the misty shower door, he hands me a towel. I quickly wrap the big towel around me before I walk out. He looks damn happy with himself; he knows I’m embarrassed; that’s probably why he does it. I ignore him and walk out of the bathroom while Miliano slowly follows behind, and his gaze seems to have stuck on my smooth legs.

“What are you doing up here anyway?” I ask without looking at him.

“As I said, your scent spread all the way down to my office.”

“Hardly likely; I don’t have such a strong scent.”

“Believe me, you have. Even Killian can feel your scent; all werewolves here who don’t have a mate can sense your excitement, which annoys me. That’s why I’m here to make sure no one does anything to you.”

“But why would they do that?”

“You aren’t marked yet, and we haven’t completed the mating ritual; when they feel that you’re excited, their wolves take over, and it doesn’t matter what you say. They won’t be able to restrain themselves.”

I turn around, now fully dressed. Miliano stands with his arms crossed, leaning against the door frame.

“So you don’t think I can defend myself?” I ask and raise one eyebrow.

“I don’t know what I think because I’ve only seen you defend yourself when you couldn’t do it properly. That’s why you should get to practice with the pack today, and we’ll see what you can do.”

“Okay, let’s go!”

“No, you, it’s time for you to eat something. You’ve barely had any food since you got here.”

I’m about to make him shut up when he gives me a warning look, and I close my mouth, following him down the stairs. We walk next to each other and talk all the way to the kitchen. Killian and my brothers are already sitting at the table when we get in. Everyone says hello to each other, but not much more, and we’ve just woken up; it’s not at all surprising that we may want to have some peace. So we sit there talking when a busty girl with obviously dyed blond hair walks in. She gives me a snide look before stepping up to Miliano.

“Hey baby, I missed you. Where have you been?” the fake barbie asks with a voice that’s probably supposed to be sexy, but instead, she sounds like she’s choking.

She sits on his lap, and I growl low to her, but she just ignores me. Miliano looks like he doesn’t know what to do; he’s completely frozen. When she kisses him on his neck, I fly up from my chair. I grab her neck so fast that the whole table moves and pushes her up against the wall. She’s struggling to get air. I stare her right into her eyes with fury when I say;

“If you ever put your disgusting paws on him again, I’m going to kick your ass. If you so much as touch, look, or even think about him, I will find out. Whatever you do, I’ll be there and watch you. Every little step you take. One more time and I’ll tear your throat off faster than you can say ’Oopsie.’ Do you understand!?” I growl loudly at her.

She tries to nod, and I throw her out into the hallway. When she’s out of sight, I sit down at the table again as if nothing had happened, eating in peace while everybody’s staring at me.

“What?”

“Damn, you’re one protective mate. I don’t think she’ll ever dare even think of him again,” Nathan laughs, and I casually shrug my shoulders.

“I hope not, for her sake,” I say and get up.

“See you out there,” I say and then point at Miliano. “And you, you’re taking a shower. You smell like slut.”

He just laughs at me as he hurries up the stairs to take a much-needed shower.

“I didn’t think you had it in you; you look so innocent,” Killian says, still surprised at the damage I’ve done.

“Appearances can deceive my dear Watson,” I say, grinning and walks away laughing.

Out in the courtyard, I’m the only girl. There are at least twenty male werewolves around, and everyone is looking at me with the’ aw little sweetheart, what are you going to do?’-look. They don’t know what I can do, but they sure as hell are about to see. One of the men walks up to us. I try to sense his aura, and I get overjoyed when I succeed; however, I don’t show it. He slaps my ass, and I don’t even have time to react before both Nathan and Jason have him up against the wall by his throat.

“How dare you touch her?!” Nathan hisses.

“What, she ain’t marked and not yours,” he hisses back.

“She already has a mate, and it sure as hell is not you!” Jason growls.

“Let the boy go,” I say, unconcerned.

“What!? He disrespected you!”

“Yeah, I know. That’s why this pup is going to spar with me,” I say, and the young man’s face lights up with a cocky grin.

“I accept,” the young man answers while I give him an evil smile that makes him take a few steps back; the boys laugh hard at him.

“Oh dear moon goddess, you have no idea what you just accepted,” Killian says, still laughing while the man looks slightly uncomfortable.

“It’s time to start, no?” I ask confidently.

He follows me to the circle, and I begin to move the mattresses that lay on the ground out of the ring made with chalk.

“Uh, what are you doing?” he asks worriedly, and I look up at him to make sure that everyone around us can hear what I’m about to say.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought that you were a big strong wolf and not a little boy. Guess I was wrong. Do you want to put the soft stuff back?” I condescendingly ask him.

My boys are standing behind me; I can feel them. They are still chuckling. The boy looks around and shakes his head ‘no.’

“Good, then we begin—ground rules. Number one, no weapons are allowed, two, you are allowed to shift whenever you want, three, no one else interferes, four, no mind linking the fighters, and five, the fight continues until one of the two submits, or the injuries are becoming too severe,” Killian says out loud. “I’m going to make a bet that this girl here can take this boy and anyone of you without blinking. Someone else wanna make a bet?”

Everyone makes a bet, and there are only four people that bet on me. Those people are Killian, Miliano, Jason, and Nathan. Miliano is not here yet, so Killian makes a bet for him.

“Get ready!” Killian yells.

The boy and I stand in position. I’m looking him up and down to see how well built he is. He got muscles; I’ll give him that. But not even comparable to me, even though my muscles don’t show, I’m pretty strong. We stand in our positions, but I can feel that something’s very wrong. Everything and everyone’s starting to fade away. I look around, confused. Everyone around me is beginning to bleed out, and I can see how life drains from my new friends, brothers, and mate. Finally, I run up to Miliano. He gurgles blood.

“Ale-Aleida... y-you... ha-have to w-wake up,” he stutters, and I feel my panic rise inside of me.

I try to help him with everything I can think of, but he dies in my arms shortly after his words; I begin screaming, and I seriously have no idea what to do. What did he mean that I have to wake up? I can’t understand anything right now, and I’m terrified. I feel someone shaking me very firmly, and suddenly my eyes fly open. When I open my eyes, I’m in my room in the basement. My alpha Jonathan is standing above me, and he looks furious.

“Why haven’t you started with breakfast yet? You know what happens when you’re late!” he yells before slapping me across the face, and I’m perplexed.

“What happened? Where is Miliano?” I ask, and he looks at me like I’m mad.

“There is no one with that name in this pack; you know that, Aleida. Now hurry the fuck up!”

He stomps his feet when he walks up the staircase. I’m scared right now; what is wrong with me? Was everything a dream? It felt as it was real. Am I seriously going mad?!

I stand in the kitchen and cooks bacon. No one interrupts me, and I can be alone with my thoughts. Am I going crazy? I’m freaking out, and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. There’s no need to tell the alpha or anyone else in the pack; they won’t care anyway. I guess I’m alone again...

“Aleida, don’t forget that it’s the dinner party tonight,” Clare says beside me, and I look at her confused.

“What dinner party?” I ask, and she looks worried with a frown on her forehead.

“The neighboring packs are coming over tonight. Are you all right, Aleida?”

“Yeah, I’m all right.”

She doesn’t look like she believes me, but thankfully, she leaves the subject with a nod and walks out of the kitchen. What? Dinner party? I cook everything I’m supposed to and serves everyone in the correct order. I’m beginning to think dark thoughts that I know I shouldn’t have. But I seriously don’t care anymore. I fucking fell in love for real in a dream! That’s not normal at all! No one is coming for me. I don’t have a mate, and I obviously won’t find one. So there’s nothing else to do but accept the facts that ugly whores like me are worthless. I walk down the stairs to my room again. I look for something sharp, in need to do something about the constant screaming inside my head. But, instead, an unknown object shines under one of the moving boxes; it looks like some sort of dagger. I trail my finger over the blade and accidentally cut my finger; it stings like hell! I look at the blood, mesmerized; it doesn’t heal. Huh, a silver dagger? My, my if it isn’t my lucky day. I take the blade and cuts my thigh a couple of times. It hurts like hell, but the anxiety is gone, and the voices inside my head have stopped. Silver is dangerous to us, and this is my final exit out of this hell hole!

A couple of hours later, my alpha tells me that I’m not going to cook tonight. I’m supposed to be a waitress and not speak or be seen unless someone needs me. He even brings me a white dress to put on. When I arrive at the big mansion, our alpha has his important events; I immediately begin working. I walk graciously around the room with my tray full of champagne flutes while hearing people talk about my beautiful dress when I walk by them. It’s not until they all are seated that I get to sit down for a moment on the other side of the room; I’ve run back and forth between the guests all night. This is the first time that I notice that I’m the only one that works tonight. Our alpha begins his speech.

“Welcome, everyone; I’m honored to have you all with us tonight. Our alliances are important not only for us but also for everyone in this town and...”

I stop listening and look down at my once white dress. The blood from the cuts on my thighs has made its way through my clothing. It seems like the blood has flown down my legs, now my dress has broad red stripes. I rise from my seat, and when I stand up, my blood flows into a puddle on the floor.

“What is that smell?” I hear someone ask.

Everyone starts sniffing the air, and then their gazes land on me. I stand up straight, wobbling. A man sees me and runs up to me. He moves my dress up to my thighs. Almost everyone’s standing around us, and they gasp when they see my deep wounds.

“Oh, sweetheart, who did this to you?” the young man asks; I smile proudly.

“I did,” I answer and hear more gasps from my statement.

“Why would you do this to yourself?” he asks.

“I just want to be free...” I whisper, and I see something in his eyes before he turns to my alpha.

“I will take this girl with me home, is that a problem?”

“Not at all; a slave is a slave. She has an attitude problem, just so you are aware,” my alpha answers and the unknown man lifts me to walk outside the mansion.

“Thank you, but you can set me down now; I will just disappear.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Why not? Where are we going?”

“I told you, I’m taking you home.”

A/N:

Hello everyone!

It’s here that many readers choose to stop reading because they either find it too confusing or are disappointed that Miliano disappears. But I ask you to please continue, you will not be disappointed, and you will receive answers later in the second or third book on why this happened.