(AMARI'S POV)
My hands trembled on the door knob.
The early morning breeze hit my face and an expressionless face stared back at me.
Smartly dressed. Dark grey tailcoat and polished black boots. High-collared vest with silver buttons.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, posture like a blade. He was not tall, but he didn't need to be.
His face was sharp, angular. Clean-shaven. A thin scar ran from his left temple down to his jaw. And his eyes—pale grey—held mine with calm intensity.
He wasn't old. Maybe late thirties. But his gaze felt ancient.
"Mrs. Blackwood." His voice was low, measured, with a slight rasp. "I am Vlad. Alpha Kaelen's special guard."
I clutched my veil tighter. "Good morning ."
"I have messages from the Alpha. May I come in?"
Behind me, Rudina coughed. Talon was still in one of the rooms. I could feel him listening.
I stepped aside. "Yes, of course."
Vlad entered, and two men—whom I hadn't noticed before— followed him behind, dressed in identical uniforms and holding large trays.
They set the covered trays carefully on the table and were out of the room, as smoothly as they had come in leaving behind a delicious aroma.
I eyed the wrapped trays and then turned to Vlad, he was staring at Rudina. Then he turned to me. His eyes, still empty.
"Breakfast." He said waving his hand briefly at the table.
"Thank you."
"This is for your sister." Vlad's hands went back to its normal position, hands behind his back. "You, Mrs Blackwood will be having breakfast with the Alpha. In one hour." He paused.
"Come alone."
His gaze didn't shift. Not once. Not even when Rudina coughed.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Vlad nodded once. "I will return for you."
He turned to leave—then the loud ringing of a phone sliced the silence.
Sweat broke out behind my neck and on the palms of my hand.
Vlad threw a quick and empty glance over his shoulder. Then, without a comment, he carried on and was gone.
His departure did nothing to ease the tension.
"I hope he doesn't think strangely of the ringing phone." Rudina was already at my side, panic in her words.
"Me too." I said softly.
That was a problem. But I was thinking more about breakfast with the Alpha. My trembling hands held each other as I imagined being in his presence again. Under those intense dark eyes, the heat that flooded me when he spoke, the way —
"If that's how you have been acting then you better kiss your brother goodbye." Talon's words were enough to pull me back to the present.
He had emerged from the room and was walking towards me like a predator.
Rudina's hand tightened around me and we both moved back to ensure enough space between us.
"You must think I'm joking." He growled , his voice low and cold.
"I'm trying my best—"
"Don't try. Execute." He snapped. "The Alpha has amnesia, how damn lucky are you?."
I remembered the craned edges of his head bandages.
"How long will this go on for?" My shaky voice demanded, keeping my chin up.
Talon moved closer and my hold on my sister tightened.
"As long as I want." He whispered.
"I want an answer!" I demanded, frustration breaking out.
He grabbed my arm and Rudina yelped.
"Al comes first. Then Rudina." He warned, his eyes were burning with so much evil that I could feel it. My knees buckled.
"Don't be stupid." He released me with a push and started to walk away.
"What about our bags?" Rudina called, I turned to her sharply in surprise. Then turned back to Talon who had paused.
"How else is she supposed to go for breakfast? Wearing the same clothes?" Rudina added.
"I'll have it sent to you." Talon answered gruffly and walked to the door.
He paused, hand resting on the door knob.
"My last advice for you, Amari." The room went still. "Be scared of the Alpha. If he finds out you cheated him, you would wish you were dead."
The door slammed behind him.
For a few seconds, Rudina and I stood, almost motionless. Then I walked silently to a cushion and sat down, curling into myself.
I wanted to cry. Needed to. But I had emptied my tear glands throughout yesterday and the early hours of this morning.
"We'll get out of this, Amari." She crouched before me and her hands rested on my lap. "We will find a way." She promised me, nodding.
There was something steady in her eyes.
For the first time since yesterday, I felt myself breathe easier.
"Hopefully, your phone is still in your bag when it gets here and we can try mother." That was what was in her eyes, hope.
I pulled her into my arms.
"I forgot to talk about the clothes again. But you thought to do that. You're a smart and strong girl." I praised. The scarce tears were somehow tingling my eyes now.
The bags arrived ten minutes later.
I froze the moment I saw them.
One of them was slightly open.
Someone had gone through our things.
My heart skipped when I reached for the tiny hidden compartment in my bag, where I kept my phone and found that it was still there. .
"Oh thank the Goddess!" I exclaimed and Rudina clapped her hands in utmost relief.
"Let's call mother." She suggested but I was already dialing her number.
We held our breaths. My sweaty and trembling palms barely grasped the phone properly.
The call ended. My stomach sank.
"It's not reachable." I said. Rudina's face fell and my heart broke. I tried two more times but it was still the same.
"We'll keep trying." I encouraged her, with a hand squeeze even though my body was weak. "At least we have our phone. Thanks to you."
Rudina nodded.
I sighed.
"I need to get ready."
It felt more like a death sentence at this point.
"You must make sure to eat." I told her.
Surprisingly, a small childlike smile graced Rudina's lips.
"I had a peek at the trays."
"Oh?" I had only glanced at the large trays on the table. Beautifully wrapped with ribbons. They were long forgotten in my memory.
Rudina nodded quickly. "It's filled with a lot of goodies, Amari." A beat. "Is this Alpha really scary?"
Yes. No. Yes and No!
How could I explain to Rudina that the real Kaelen was a contradiction on his own!
The body and smoothness of a god, yet the suffocating aura of the Devil.