It took almost a few seconds of hesitancy for me to take her hands, but when I did, they didn’t feel anything like what I’d expect someone from the royal clan’s hands to feel. They were hard, and her hold was firm. I found everything about the woman astonishing.
I cleared my throat before I spoke unsure my voice wouldn't fail me. “Nice to meet you too.”
She let go of my hand, and her hands went to my hair, her fingers running through them in a way that made me feel uncomfortable, but I remained stiff, choosing instead to not say a word.
“Beautiful hair,” she said. “I was fascinated by it, so I had them wash it thoroughly every two days.”
“Oh,” was all I could say. The whole interaction was strange. There was something weird about it, but I couldn't quite place my hand on what it was, and I didn't like that.
This was new territory. I needed to quickly get to know the sort of people I would be staying with, and it didn't help placate my fears about being in foreign territory if the servants wore clothes made from fine material, and young women wore riding boots and walked around freely and spoke casually… It was everything opposite of what I had grown accustomed to.
“So,” she said in a sharp tone that told me she wasn't the type to keep her curiosity at bay for long. “How did you meet Callan? How did you end up in a fight with rogues? He has refused to tell me much, and you’d think what, with me being his future Luna, he would tell me everything.”
If hearts could stop beating for some time, I could have sworn mine had done just that the second she had uttered those words.
I gaped at her, his voice echoing in my head as he informed me about her, his intended, Amelia; she wasn’t his sister. The same woman I found fascinating and beautiful and perfect was none other but the same woman he was meant to be mated to… the one he loved more than life itself.
Ugly jealousy reared its head, and despite how much I tried to put a lid on that part of my emotions, it still found its way around me whole, coiling and holding me hostage.
My eyes met hers and this time with a renewed intensity knowing what I'd just realized now, I felt inferior, small compared to the woman who stood in front of me with a luscious mass of brown-colored hair atop her head and perfectly tanned skin. I was certain she was a woman who had completed her education and was confident and had her life planned.
Amelia was the type of woman who got whatever she wanted, and obviously, she’d wanted the best things out of life.
“I… uh, we met at the Dark Wood Pack, and then on our way headed here, we got attacked by rogues,” I said, trying my best to put the incidents from the last months in words.
Amelia’s eyes narrowed. “Come on, I need more than that. Rumors have been going around that you're his mate. Is that so?”
For the second time in such a short time, I was taken by shock yet again. I wasn't stupid enough to think she wouldn’t know by now, but somehow, the fact that she did and didn’t seem in the least bit disturbed by the news like the news of her had caused my stomach to churn was unsettling.
“Excuse us, Monica,” she said with a small nod at the last servant in the room who had been standing by the corner of the room, playing with the hem of her dress and acting very uninterested as though she hadn’t been eavesdropping.
“Yes, yes, of course,” she said, hurrying out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
I watched as Amelia slowly made her way towards the window, the sound of her feet on the soft rug as she paced back and forth went by quietly.
“I hated you, you know,” she said after a while, her back turned to me.
“No,” was my answer.
She chuckled. “Of course, you didn’t, sweetheart.” And she turned to me with no trace of humor in her expression. “I’ve grown up in this environment, and I know a lot about the pack’s royalty politics, and I know Callan better than anyone else does—not Radley. Me. He’d told me about you being his mate, and I was mad and jealous, but I got over that as soon as I had another talk with him, and I realized that there was nothing to worry about.”
Amelia was right. There was nothing to bother both of ourselves about, but then why was an unsettling feeling wrenching my stomach? Why did her words leave such a bitter taste in my mouth?
“You’re right.” Even my words came out scratchy from my throat, raw with something indiscernible.
She smiled at me. “I’m glad you understand that then. I did guess you’d turn out to be quite a smart girl despite your circumstances.”
I had to force my brain to believe her last words weren't in any way a jab. I liked the woman, and to some extent, I understood her. I wouldn't like me either.
“Now as for my last wish, you will refuse to see Callan. You will not have access to him, and neither will you give him unprecedented access to yourself. This is not the Dark Wood Pack. I shall be in charge of taking care of whatever you need to help you settle here as he’d promised. He just doesn't need to do it himself.”
The shock on my face was obvious and very much so from how my eyes widened and how my mouth dropped open.
“And if you need anything said to him, you can come through me. I believe that's being quite generous enough for you, Sophia, don't you agree?”
Her smile was small, curved to the side. She was a stunning woman, but she was one to be wary of because, in the same breath, I could almost see what lay behind her eyes waiting to be unleashed.
“I agree,” I said, turning my attention to the wall opposite me and staring at it as though it intrigued me.
“Great, do change out of your outfit and get ready to come with me to get you somewhere to stay. You understand that I can't let you stay in the manor any longer, right?”
I took a breath. “I understand, Amelia,” I said, hoping the same way I could read her expression.
She couldn't do the same because regardless of the steadiness of my voice, I could feel my heart hurting while I struggled to blink back the tears that pooled in my eyes.
“I understand you perfectly.”