There were no dreams that gave her any fantasy. There was no Benjamin to wake her. There was no Alpha kissing her earlobe. It had been just plain usual sleep till a heavy loud knock on her door woke her. She opened her eyes. She thought of who it could be. Benjamin has the spare key to her room, so does the Alpha. She sluggishly walked away from her bed. She went to her door. She clicked the knob and right before her was a smiling lily.
“Hello Ava!”
“Hi!” Ava replied her greetings. She remembered the help she did for her yesterday. How she had saved her from being hit by her brother. Ava half expected the reason she is standing right before her would be to take advantage of the saving she did. She would exploit her.
“Good morning!” Lily greeted with a broad smile. Ava looked around.
“Morning! Uhm… anything?” Ava asked.
“Yes! I came to see you. Do you mind if I come in?” Lily asked, peeping in. Ava cleared the road and asked her to come in. Lily walked slowly into the room. She looked around and swung her arms.
“Sorry! You woke me. I haven’t arranged my room, so…”
“No! It’s fine. There is no cause for alarm. You know even though we are females and we are expected to have a clean room, we do slip off once in a while,” Lily said.
“Thanks for understanding,” Ava smiled at her. She picked up some clothes and had them all piled up on a chair.
“So Ava. What’s your deal?”
“My deal?”
“Yeah! I want to understand what’s between you and my brother. Why does he hate you so much? Have you met him somewhere or did your parents do anything to him?”
“No! I don’t understand why he hates me myself. The only thing my dad did to him was probably sell me to him,” Ava replied. She sat down on her bed a bit far from Lily.
“Did your father really sell you off to him? What’s your home like?”
“My home is a lot worse than what it is here. So I am not totally surprised,” Ava replied.
“What? Is your mom like your dad too?”
“No! My mom is more of a victim too. My dad doesn’t discriminate against who he beats. So that’s it,” Ava smiled.
“I am so sorry for whatever you had to go through. It’s not normal for anyone to go through such pain from home then into whatever this is for you,” Lily shared her sympathy with Ava. Ava smiled. She appreciated her.
“See? You remember yesterday when you came into my brother’s room. You met me with a woman dressed in white.”
“That’s your mother right?” Ava asked.
“Yes! That was my mother. She now stays with another priestess of the moon goddess,” Lily said.
“That’s majestic.”
“I know except I don’t think I want to ever be there. Maybe I don’t even want to get married,” Lily said.
“Why?”
“Well, you see, it’s complicated. I can’t give a particular reason. But I can also say protecting my brother is one of them. Making sure he is okay.”
“That’s good.”
“Anyways, I am also here because my mom likes you. She thinks you are a very good person. She respects you. And now you have my respect too,” Lily smiled. Ava looked at her shocked. She gave her an unconcerned look also.
“Thank you,” Ava replied.
“You know, I am not trying to force some sort of fake friendship on you. But I would really like to help you in any way that I can,” Lily offered. Ava looked at her. She does not want to enjoy or accept this hope of freedom she is being offered. The last conversation between Lily and her had been a hot one. Each other has barely restrained from hitting each other. And also, she is a sister to her Alpha, her mate. Her torturer. So there is a limit to how she can trust Lily for her own safety.
“I know it might sound weird or superficial given our last interaction, but I am being honest. You can ask me anything you want to know. I promise to be honest with you,” Lily promised Ava. Ava turned and looked directly into her eyes.
“Why is your brother so cold? Why is he like this?” Ava asked sharply. It was after she asked that she felt hostility in her tone.
“I am sorry for how I sounded,” she apologized immediately to Lily.
“No! It’s fine. It’s cool for you to be angry. He deserves it,” Lily replied.
“So why is he cold?”
“Well, fourteen years ago before our dad died, he loved a lady. Her father was of a rival family in our pack. They had the right to be leader of the pack too. But they could only become the alpha through open challenge and total annihilation of the males of the rival pack. But they didn’t. They decided to come in cunningly and kill the men off. So his love interest was a tool used in getting to us. We realized but it was too late. Our eldest brother died. And ever since then, Jax always believed women use love and emotions to get what they want. Not because they actually feel it,” Lily narrated to Ava. Ava raised her eyebrows. She felt pity for him and at the same time believed that his approach to the situation was not the best thing.
“And no one has been able to change him?”
“No one,” Lily said. Ava sighed. A minute of silent crept in between both of them.
“Was there no one to help him, or no one tried because of how cold and distant he was,” Ava asked.
“There have been lots of people who have come to him. They tried to help him,” Lily replied. Ava sighed. She knew she needed to be part of those people, but this time she would succeed. She is his heavenly matched mate, and she can withstand any form of torture or suffering that would accompany it. As long as she gets her Alpha. She wants him to love her. She was ready to do anything to get him. Anything at all.
“I would like to help him,” Ava said assertively.
“Why would you want to help him? He will see you just as a sex slave. Other people who tried and were of noble birth could not.”
“I am of noble birth. Your brother turned me into this.”
“People have tried right? What happened to them? Why weren’t they successful?” Ava asked eagerly. Knowing the reasons for their failures would be a different approach to help him heal the hurt of his heart.
“They are dead. Blood eagle. Fried blood eagle.”