As the day wedding day closer, excitement was at an all-time high. Everyone couldn’t wait for the day, including the slaves. I tried all my best to ignore everything and focus on myself but it was almost impossible when everyone kept talking about it.
Soon, the day reached. On that day, I woke up with a strong feeling of dread. My mate had not yet officially rejected me and it was bothering me. I hoped that he would finally get the guts to do it before marrying Jane.
Somehow, the pain in my heart felt even worse on that day. It had never disappeared, but had dulled down with time. The heat had gone down as well, until he resurrected it by kissing me. However, I tried to focus more on the negative feelings I had for him.
It was a morning from hell. Everyone was exempted from work that day so I decided I would just spend the whole day in bed. I could hear loud music coming from the side of the pack house. It was slow love music which made me feel even worse. The tears found their way into my eyes as I thought of how lonely I was. Even Maryanne who I had arrived with had made new friends. It was not as easy for me to get used to new people. I tried, but did not get close to anyone. I had friends, but not the kind I could run to for consolation.
After sometime, our building was quiet as everyone else had gone to the wedding venue. As I was beginning to get comfortable, I heard footsteps and voices. I frowned. The wedding couldn’t be over already.
Getting out of bed, I put on a short dress I had bought from one of the slave seamstresses and stepped out. When I saw Maryanne at the door, I went there. She was drinking soda and so was everyone around her.
“What happened? Was the wedding cancelled?”
“Cancelled?” Maryanne said. “No, even more salacious. The bride is gone, and no one knows where she is.”
“Jane is gone,” one of the girls said.
“Yeah, apparently she ran away.”
“I can’t believe she did.”
“It seemed like she was really excited to get married.”
“Actually, she was at first, but wasn’t too excited last week.” Marlene, a redhead who worked at the pack house said after flipping her bright hair. “I don’t know what happened, but something changed.”
“You speak as if you knew her personally.”
“I work inside the house so I know everything that goes on in there.”
“So how come you don’t know why Jane ran away.”
“I think it might have to do with that guy mark. Ever since he arrived, she changed. And he was acting weird. I knew something was up, and now he’s gone as well.”
“Did you tell anyone?”
“Well, almost everyone who works in there had noticed something fishy about that man. All of us were rather uncomfortable with him so it didn’t really cause raise eyebrows that Miss Willow wasn’t comfortable either. I wonder if he kidnapped her. That guy must have been threatening Miss Willow. I’m going back there.”
After speaking, Marlene tossed her soda bottle into a trash can and started walking the path that led to the pack house.
“Wow,” I can’t believe it.
We were still standing there when a woman with housekeeping uniform stopped nearby. We all turned to her, hoping she had some new information to tell us.
“Who is Cilla Markle?” she asked.
“What do you want from her?” Maryanne asked defensively.
Under different circumstances, I would have smiled. I was very surprised that she actually cared about me which was very nice to know since I had started to feel very alone in that place.
“She is needed at the main house,” the woman said. “Where is she anyway?”
“What did she do?” I asked.
“Did you do something?” one of girls asked me. I didn’t even know she knew my name.
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” the woman said. “Are you going to show her to me or what? I don’t have all day.”
“I’m Cilla Markle,” I said, stepping forward. “Who needs me? Did that alpha finally come to his senses?”
“What is going on, Cilla? Do you know why she needs you?”
I smiled. “I believe I do. Let’s go.”
My heart was full of apprehension. That man had finally decided for us to talk and I couldn’t wait to give him a piece of my mind. How dare he ignore and disrespect me by planning to marry another woman? He did not even have decency to reject and let me go.
“Could you be knowing what this is all about?” I asked the woman as I followed her up the path.
She shook her head. “I have no idea. Maybe it has something to do with the runaway bride. Did you have something to do with that?”
“No, I’m stuck in the slave quarters all day. I’ve seen that woman only once, but don’t worry. I think I know what’s going on.”
“Okay.”
Outside the pack house were several cars and well-dressed people. There were tents and decorations all over the place. The ambience was festive but everyone seemed sombre. It looked like it would have been a great wedding.
I entered the pack house and was escorted to the kitchen, through the living room. There were a number of guests still lounging in there, chatting and drinking. It was pretty loud in there so we slinked by unnoticed.
“There you are,” a woman said to both of us. “Cilla, is it?”
“Yes,” I said, stepping forward. “I’m Cilla. I would like to know why I was sent for.”
The woman smiled. “I have good news for you, Miss Markle. You have been promoted. From now onwards, you will be working here. You will serve the alpha with Miss Girad.”
“What?”
“You don’t seem so excited by the news,” the woman commented.
“Oh, I am. I’m just surprised. I thought this was about something else.”
“What did you think it was about?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Thank you so much for the promotion. May I know who recommended me?”
“No,” the woman said. “Cara, show her around quickly. The alpha will be back soon and you’ll have to start work.”
“Okay, thanks again, mrs…”
“Conway.”
“Don’t be so happy,” Cara said. “You have no idea what you just signed up for.”