Chapter 19

Eleanor:

I frowned as I opened my eyes to find myself curled up in a black duvet.

The blanket that I had in my room, if I could call it that, was white.

I sat up as the door opened, and my heart raced as I caught sight of the Alpha entering his bedroom. 

His eyes met mine and he studied my expression for a few seconds before taking his jacket off and rolling up his sleeves. 

The blanket was on my lap, and I had to fight my every instinct that begged me to run away and just hide. 

The fear that consumed me was one that reminded me of Elton, and that wasn’t something that I wanted. And considering that he asked who I was, it meant that he probably knew that I was Elton’s fiancé.

“How do you feel?” He asked, taking me off guard. I didn’t respond as I looked down at my lap, anticipating what was to come. 

There were three options in this; the man was either going to send me back to Elton who would end up killing me. He could hold me hostage and use me for a ransom to gain something out of it, and when Elton got me back, I was dead. Or he could end up killing me himself. And I had to admit, him killing me was going to be a lot easier than whatever Elton would have planned for me.

The Alpha stayed quiet as he waited for my response before he nodded and walked to the bathroom. He didn’t say a word, but I could hear the water running inside before he walked out with a small white towel. 

I watched as he walked toward his bar and couldn’t help the frown that formed on my lips as he opened the fridge and pulled out two ice cubes. His eyes were fixed on them for a second too long as he placed them in the middle of the towel.

His eyes met mine as he walked toward me and I couldn’t help the frown that formed on my lips as I tried flinching, not wanting him to touch me as I watched him sitting on the edge of the bed beside me, taking me by surprise. “Ice would soothe the pain that’s on your wrist,”

He extended his hand for me but I didn’t have it in me to extend my hand to him. Normally, when Elton wanted to be nice, it was to simply get inside my head before he hurt me more than I would be able to handle, and that wasn’t something that I wanted to deal with right now. 

“I am not going to hurt you, Eleanor,” he said, his voice softer than it was earlier. I looked down at his hand and shook my head.

“You hurt me earlier,” I said, my voice smaller than I intended for it to be. I avoided looking at him and he sighed.

“I know, but it wasn’t in my intention to do so.” He said, and I shook my head before looking up at him.

“Of course, it wasn’t.” I said, and he frowned, taking in my sarcasm. “If you do not mind, I would like to please request going to my bedroom to freshen up? I haven’t worked on anything today and I need to tend to your…”

“Natasha has taken care of things,” he said, stopping me. “The bedroom is the only thing that you need to tend to. From now on, Natasha will be helping you tend to my suite.”

“I was fine doing the suite on my own…”

“I did not ask for your opinion,” he said, stopping me as he got up from the edge of the bed.  “You can go and freshen up then come back to clean things here. I expect the room to be speckles when I am back tonight,” 

**************************** 

“Hi,” Natasha said, sticking her head through the door. 

I jumped at her voice and she frowned in confusion before raising her hands in mock surrender. “I come in peace,”

“Hello to you, Natasha,” I said, looking down at the dresser that I was cleaning. 

“I take it that someone is upset,” she said, and I shook my head as I tried fighting off a smile at her playful behavior.

“I have nothing to be upset about, Natasha. I am simply doing my job,” I said and she raised an amused eyebrow. 

“Yes, your job was to sleep on the Alpha’s bed all morning…”

“Don’t you dare,” I said, and she laughed at my shy state. I shook my head and she smiled.

“Meh,” she said and I raised an eyebrow as I put the cloth that I was cleaning with down on the dresser. “Judging by bitch blondie that was in his room, I doubt that…”

“Natasha, I am going to clean your dirty mind with the detergents that I have in the bucket.” I said and she laughed. The fact that she was as lighthearted as she was made my heart swell, and she smiled before winking at me. I shook my head at her and ran my fingers through my hair before turning to the dresser. “I just grew a little dizzy and for some reason, he saw it as applicable for me to stay here in his room.”

I hated admitting that I was scared of being hurt. The abuse that I got into had a big effect, but that wasn’t something that I was willing to open up about. If anything, it was something that I wanted to bury. 

“Yeah, you overworked yourself yesterday.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “One of the reasons why Killian chose to have me help you.”

“Killian?”

“The two of us grew up together.” She said, shrugging her shoulders. “Regardless of what the prick says, he would forever be that brother that I never had.” 

“Natasha!” I hissed and she frowned.

“What?” She asked.

“What if there was something that he could hear…?”

“Oh, I have called him worse names. He just grew used to it after a while.” Natasha said and I shook my head at her as I went back to cleaning. She stood by my side and crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at the door. “I told you, him, Vladimir, and I grew up as siblings. Mom raised us all up together, and both Auntie Maria and Auntie Lena were always very close, and whatever I said about him behind his back was said in front of him thousands of times before.”

“I don’t know where to think of this as odd, funny, sweet, or frightening” I said, shaking my head and she smiled. The fact that I couldn’t help but compare how maids were treated back at the pack was something that I couldn’t deny. Even saying an Alpha’s name was not allowed, I wouldn’t imagine what the maid would go through if they dared insult them. 

“Every family has their own way around.” She said, smiling at me. “I’m guessing that yours would too, especially if raised by the same mom or if you have siblings, things would be different.”

I looked down at the dresser as my chest ached and Natasha frowned in confusion. “I’m an only child and I lost my mom when I was an infant. I was mostly raised by tutors from there.”

I had to fight back my tears from falling from my eyes as I went back to cleaning, recalling the painful memories as they played in my head. It wasn’t until Natasha wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug that I froze. She didn’t say a word about me not reacting to the hug before she kissed my shoulder. 

“Well, I never did have a sister.” She said, looking at me through the reflection before turning me around to face her when she noticed that tears were forming in my eyes. “But it’s never too late to have one, don’t you think?”