Unknown P. O. V.
“So he’s found her?”
The subordinate nodded slowly. “Well,” he said smiling, “I shall have to send the happy couple my
congratulations…
Evelyn’s P. O. V.
A knock sounded against the door as I pulled my sweater over my head.
Fixing my hair, I ran over to the door and opened it.
Because I was expecting Adam, I was surprised to see a girl my age standing there.
“Hi…” I said awkwardly. “Can I help you?”
Her gaze wouldn’t meet mine, but I heard her speak with a strong voice.
“My name is Li, I am going to be with you today as you go down to the village,” she said.
I couldn’t tell if she was happy about this or not. Liu refused to look at me.
“It’s nice to meet you Liu. I’m Evie,” I said stretching my hand out to shake hers. Liu didn’t shake my hand, but simply bowed her head curtly.
Rude.
“When you’re ready, you can follow me and I’ll lead you to the car.” she said.
I turned to look at my boxes of clothes from home that Adam had brought up that morning. There were a few things strewn, but I would clean it up later.
“I’m ready now,” I said, stepping out of the room and closing thebdoor behind me.
Liu turned and began to walk away and I followed her. bShe was a few inches taller than I was, a few pounds lighter as well. She had long, jet black hair that she wore stick straight and parted in the middle. Liu had strong, broad shoulders that made her soft pink blouse fit awkwardly, but I assumed she was builtblike she was because of long hours in the gym.
“So…” I said trying to break the uncomfortable silence. “You’re in Adam’s pack then?”
“Yes,” she stated simply.
“Do you live in the palace?” I asked.
“No, I only work here with my father.”
Her curt answers were not satisfactory, nor were they conducive to a conversation. I quit trying to make her talk as she led me back the way that Adam had brought me last night.
As soon as we made it to the front gate, I noticed the older gentleman was waiting there again. Once as he saw us, he turned and pulled my jacket and scarf from the closet behind him.
“Here you are,” he said, handing them to me.
“Thank you. I’m Evie, by the way. What’s your name?” I asked.
“Bartelby Smith,” he replied with a warm, wrinkled smile. I smiled back at him as Liu led the way out of the huge wooden doors and to an awaiting car.
The wind whipped around us sharply. The cold air felt like needles against my skin.
I got into the car as quickly as possible, Liu getting in behind me. As soon as I buckled, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out Adam’s card. I turned it over in my hands. It didn’t look like a regular credit card. There was no magnetic strip, it was just a small black card with an indistinguishably small emblem
inscribed in gold on the left corner.
I felt Liu staring at me so I quickly shoved the card into my jacket pocket.
“So… where to first?” I asked.
Liu took a deep breath as the car started moving.
“Wherever you would like,” she said.
I looked at the driver, whom I briefly made eye contact with in the rear view mirror before he too refused to look at me. He was a large man in a black suit, not at all typical of a chauffeur.
He looked more like the Secret Service.
I sat back in the seat as I looked out of the window.
“I’m not familiar with anything here,” I reminded her. “Why don’t you pick?”
Liu seemed uncomfortable with the idea.
“On second thought,” I said quickly.
“I’d like to stop somewhere for breakfast first. I’m starving.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “How do you feel about waffles?”
“Sounds great.”
The sun was barely shining that morning as we traveled down from the side of the mountain where the castle sat. The castle was even bigger on the outside.
The curvy ride on the tiny road down the mountain almost made me lose my appetite. I tried to focus on the large trees that lined the side of the road outside my window.
The car slowed when it reached the edge of the village, moving forward into a parking lot beside a small house. As soon as the car parked, I hopped out of it and eagerly took a few deep breaths of the freezing cold air.
“Are you okay?” I heard Liu ask.
I nodded. “Just not a fan of curvy roads.”
Liu motioned for me to follow her as she began walking towardsvthe road. “Cars aren’t allowed on the town roads on Saturdays because of the heavy crowds,” she explained.
I saw what she meant when we rounded a corner. There were hundreds of people walking in every directions. Women carrying children and baskets of groceries; Men carting around bundles of wood and grain, some even carrying them on their shoulders.
“So this is a popular time to shop, huh?” I asked rhetorically.
Liu nodded. “Are you still hungry?” My stomach squeezed at the smell of fresh bread that floated through the market square, but I still felt queasy from the drive.
“I can wait.”
I turned to see our driver following us, face stoic and eyes hidden behind dark glasses.
“Is Schwarzenegger coming too?” I asked
Li didn’t need to turn around to know who I was referring to. She just nodded. “Protection purposes,” she explained.
“Protection?” I asked.
“It wasn’t my call,” she defended. “It was the Alpha Superior’s.”
We walked down the road, weaving in and around people. Finally, Liu stopped in front of a large storefront.
“They should have some nice things here,” she said, walking inside.
For a store that had nice things, it was certainly empty. We were the only ones inside besides a few people behind the counter.
“No one shops for clothes these days?” I asked.
Liu didn’t answer.
I walked over to a rack of shirts and started to poke through when I noticed Liu standing awkwardly. I figured now was as good a time as any to ask a few questions, seeing as though my Hercules of a babysitter had stayed outside.
“Li,” I said, getting her attention.
“What do you think of Adam?” She seemed confused by the question and was hesitant to answer.
“Honestly,” I prodded. “I’ve already told him to ‘fuck off’ after knowing him for less than two days, so whatever you tell me will stay between us, I promise.”
Liu still seemed reluctant to answer, but I stood there
expectantly.
“He’s… a good leader,” she said finally.
I cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t sound so convinced,” I remarked.
“No, he is,” she said earnestly. “It’s just..”
She trailed off.
“Yes?” I asked.
Liu sighed. “He’s not as caring as people expect him to be.”
The way she said it made me think she’d wanted to say it for a long time.
“What do you mean?” I asked, still looking through clothes.
She shrugged. “I don’t know… I shouldn’t have spoken out of place like that. Forget I said anything.”
I didn’t push any further.
What did she mean about Adam being not as caring as people expected him to be?
I thought back to when we met. He seemed pretty caring then. Of course, I was his mate. But this was his pack.
Why would he not care for his pack?
I picked out a few shirts, dresses, and a couple of pairs of pants. I took them to the register, and the girl there rung everything up without a word. She refused to even look up at me.
I turned to look at Liu and she turned her head away
Why won’t anyone look at me?
The girl gave me my total and I pulled the card from my pocket and handed it to her. She took one look at it and handed it back to me.
“Thank you,” was all I heard before she handed me the bag of clothes. I took the bag and stared at her awkwardly. Was she not going to swipe it?
“Are you ready to go to the next shop?” Liu asked.
I looked at her, baffled. “She didn’t ring me up,” I said
“She didn’t need to, you have that,” Liu said pointing at the card.
I was still slightly confused when we walked out of the shop.
“I can take that,” my Babysitter in Black said, following us. He motioned to my shopping bag.
“No, it’s okay. I’ve got it,” I reassured him.
The rest of the day went on just as awkwardly. No one would look at me. Each cashier took one look at the card and handed me my purchases without batting an eye. Liu and I stopped for coffee and a bagel on the way back to the car so I didn’t starve to death.
We sat inside the warm café drinking our drinks. She drank hers slowly. I had forced her to let me buy her drink since she had been forced to follow me around
all day.
“You said your father works at the palace?” I asked, trying for the umpteenth time to start a conversation.
“Yes. My father is an advisor to the Alpha Superior,” she said.
“What kind of advice does he give?” I asked, leaning in Liu squirmed in her seat.
“War and battle strategy.”
My eyebrows furrowed.
“Is your pack at war?” I asked.
To my relief she shook her head. “No, but preparations are always made in case deals go sour and whatnot.”
“Oh,” I sighed.
“What do you normally do at the castle?”
Liu took a sip of her coffee. “I’m a lady in waiting for the Countess.”
“Countess?” I questioned
“Lady Victoria,” she said.
I shrugged. “I’m afraid I don’t know who that is.”
“She’s the great aunt of the Alpha Superior,” Liu clarified.
“She lives in the palace.”
I thought for a moment before taking a sip of my drink. “He hasn’t mentioned her.”
Nothing else was said as we finished up at the café and headed back to the palace. Once inside, Liu helped me take my bags up to Adam’s room.
“Thank you,” I said sitting them down.
She nodded before turning to leave.
“Liu.” I said. She turned to look at me.
“I’ve enjoyed talking to you today,” I said earnestly.
“Are you here everyday?”
She smiled and nodded.
“Okay,” I said smiling back.
She left me in the room and I stared around at everything I had bought.
Wonderful, I thought. Now I have too many clothes and no where to put them. I folded everything up and stuffed it inside my plastic containers before sliding them to the side of the room. I would have to get Adam to clear out some space for me in his wardrobe.
The thought made my heart skip a beat, but I tried to ignore it. I was looking around the room in boredom when I spotted it.
A telephone.
It was old, but appeared to be in working order. I walked over to the desk it sat on before picking up the phone itself. I put it to my ear and began typing in a number.
“Do you have a number you wish to be connected to?” Asked a sharp, high-pitched voice from the phone.
“Um…” I thought for a moment before giving her a number. The phone range a few times before I heard her voice.
“Hello?”
“Vega?! It’s me, it’s Evie!” I shouted.
I heard her gasp.
“Where are you? How are things?” She asked quickly.
“I’m not sure where I am,” I laughed. “Somewhere in Canada.”
“So you aren’t too far, then?” Vega asked excitedly.
“No,” I said.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to come home often.”
“I can’t wait,” she said, “but you never answered my question. how are things?”
I took a deep breath.
“That bad, huh?” She asked.
“It could be worse,” I said. “Things are so different here. The way they run things and how they live seems so primitive compared to home.”
“What about the guy? What was his name? Adam?”
She asked. “Oh… um.…. that’s going ok, I guess,” I shrugged.
“Have you fucked yet?”
I gasped. “Vega!”
I heard her laughing. “What? I’m just asking… have you?”
“Oh my God,” I said putting my head in my hands.
“No, we haven’t done anything like that,” I reassured her.
“C’mon, sister,” she said.
“I would have climbed that like a tree by now.”
I laughed and shook my head. “We slept in the same bed last night,” I said. “He lives in a castle.”
“A castle?!” She asked.
“What is he? Some kind of king?”
“They certainly treat him like one,” I said rolling my eyes.
“So you really haven’t even kissed him yet?” Vega asked.
“No… it’s weird, Vega. It’s like… I don’t know how to explain it. Having a mate isn’t anything like I thought it would be,” I said sighing.
“What do you mean?”
“Well… for starters there isn’t any kind of sparks or weird connection. It’s just like he’s some guy that I would be totally okay with making out with for the rest of my life,” I laughed.
“So, what you’re saying is; there’s definitely an attraction?” She asked.
“I guess you could say that,” I said.
“But how would you know that you could spend the rest of your life making out with him if you haven’t even kissed him yet?” Vega asked.
“I don’t know…” I said thinking about it. “I mean, I’ve barely known him for two days. Maybe the connection gets stronger the more you’re around each other?”
“Maybe,” she said. “I can’t wait to find my mate. I just know there will be sparks when I do.”
I sighed. “I hope there are.”
I looked up to see Adam standing in the doorway, watching me. “Can I call you later?” I asked Vega, not breaking eye contact with him.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Okay, bye,” I said hanging up the phone.
He came inside the room and slowly shut the door behind him. Crossing his arms, Adam leaned against the wall. .
“No sparks, huh?”
His threatening tone of voice didn’t sound all that friendly. I swallowed hard. “That’s not what I said-”
“That’s exactly what you said.”
I didn’t answer him.
A few silent moments passed before Adam rushed across the room in a blur that made my head spin.
“What the hell—”
“You don’t feel it?” He said putting his hands on both sides of my face.
It would have been slightly romantic had Adam not had a dark expression etched on his face.
What was he so angry about?
“I’m not exactly sure why you can’t feel it and I’m not exactly sure what to do to make you feel it…” He trailed off and his eyes darted to my neck.
Before I could say a word, his face dipped towards my neck, teeth bared.
I felt his teeth sink deep into the tender skin and I screamed