Book 1 Chapter3
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Book1 Chapter4
“Keys. One set is to the house, and the second set is to the clinic. You’ll be working alongside the doctor until he feels you’re okay to be on your own.” She has her hands folded on top of her desk.
“Rya, I’m sorry it has to be this way.” I look into her eyes; she appears sad, but looking around her office,l see pictures of her immediate family, all smiles for the camera. She’s not sorry. I can’t look at him for too long. My eyes will start to water.
“Thank you, Luna Catherine, for the opportunity to serve the pack.” I keep it extremely formal, back straight in my chair, hands on my lap, head bowed in submission.
The office door opens. “Cathy, look at these. Aren’t they so cute?” Kennedy, by the first glimpse of her… the full-grown female, standing in the open doorway, her reddish hair with glints of copper and rust from the sun shining on her through the open blinds. Her freckles are just a shade darker than her suntanned skin. Eyes are brown, not a good feature. Her neck holds the red angry marks of a male who claims a female who isn’t his. That, at least, gives me some satisfaction…. that she cannot hold his mark no matter how much he tries. The moon doesn’t allow impostors to hold claims from another. It must cause her pain to have his mark, the moon’s punishment. Looking away at my feet,I keep my head bowed,
not saying a word.
“Oh, I didn’t know you had company, Cathy.” Lie one. Clasping my hands more firmly together, I try to keep the fur that wants to raise along the ridge of my spine down..
“Rya?” The way she says my name, it’s like she’s surprised to see me. Lie two. She had to have known I was coming today.
“Hello, Kennedy.” I’ve practiced the voice in front of the mirror so many times, it comes out naturally, devoid of any emotion. It’s held flat in the air. I don’t make eye contact; it’s better for me this way. I keep my head bowed down to the future Luna of the pack in a show of respect that is expected of me.
“Hello, Rya.” Her voice cannot hold her emotions in. It’s slightly shaky, like the way my body feels at the moment. She smells just like him. Bile wants to rise up. I force it down.
Standing,I bow slightly to the both of them.
“Thank you, Luna Catherine; I should be going.” Taking the envelope from the table,l walk out, not breathing in until I’m
outside.
The alpha is leaning on the driver’s side door, waiting for me. I don’t focus on what’s in front of me; the sensation of being watched has the hair on the back of my neck raising. Heat, hot burning sensual fire from the spot that holds his attention, my back blazing with warmth…his sight moving down my back, over my ass, caressing my legs, back up my body…until l
feel it no more. It reminds me of having a suntan, my skin keeping all the warmth I felt from his eyes.
“Rya, it’s good to see you.”
“Thank you, Alpha. It’s good to be home.” Monotone. That’s how I keep it. No need to show inflection. I can be who they want me to be. I can be nothing but a ghost floating on the outskirts of the pack. This is not the life I pictured for myself so long ago, while still a small pup being rocked to sleep by my mom.
“We won’t have any trouble, right, Rya?” He waits for my reply. He doesn’t have to wait long. I reply instantly without a second thought.
