Chapter 10 One big happy family
Auren's pov
“Ah, I see he didn’t inform you.”
Hope’s voice held a hint of laughter as she removes her gloves.
“I’m guessing he didn’t tell you that Garrick and Jace are our brothers too.”
I blinked, “Brothers?”
“All four of us. A very complicated family, if you ask me.”
I shook my head, trying to piece it together. Alpha Dravik, the demon king, has brothers and a sister?
That explained the easy laughter between them and the warmth in her eyes when she’d hugged him earlier.
That also explains the striking resemblance between the three men, though none is as huge or carried themselves quite like Alpha Dravik. He is the tallest, broader at the shoulders, his presence heavier than the others. Even his eyes……those strange pale silver eyes had something demonic about them.
“They’re both his Beta and Gamma too,” she said, sorting through small glass jars.
“Oh,” I murmured.
I didn’t know what else to say.
“Dravik has a love-hate relationship with me working here. He thinks I should sit at home and act like a proper Alpha’s sister. But what good would that do? He knows this is the only place I’m actually useful.”
She turned to me, motioning with her hand. “Turn around, dear.”
I obeyed, pulling my sweatshirt forward. She inspected my back gently, her fingers cool and soft against my skin. I flinched once, earning a low hum from her.
“More bruises,” she muttered.
Then she grabbed a small container and gave it to me.
“You’ll need to apply this twice a day, and keep the wounds clean. It should clear the infection in a few days. If not, come back to me. You understand?”
“Yes,” I whispered.
For a moment she went still, her gaze distant and unfocused. I recognized that look, I have seen it countless times in my pack, watching wolves’ eyes glaze over as they communicate through the pack’s link.
A second later she blinked.
“My brother’s waiting for you out front.”
“Right.”
I pulled the sweatshirt down, taking the small jar she handed me.
“Thank you.”
She nodded and went back to her shelves, humming softly.
I stared at the jar. The letters on the label blurred before my eyes. I could only make out a few words.
I never did learn how to read completely. After my parents died, my uncle had ended school for me. The rest of my life had been filled with commands, chores, punishments……not lessons.
I had learned to pretend, to nod when someone gave me instructions, to hide how little I knew.
Outside, Dravik was pacing in front of the entrance, his phone pressed to his ear.
I caught words like border patrol and security breach. When he saw me, he ended the call, and his expression changed to dark.
My stomach tightened. Even angry, he looked inhumanly composed.
“What did she say?” he growled.
I held out the jar like a shield.
“She said it should be applied two times a day.”
“Good.”
He turned on his heel, heading back toward the house. I nearly tripped trying to keep up.
We went straight to his room……our room. The word still sounded foreign in my head.
“Give me,” he said, holding out his hand.
I froze. “You’re going to…?”
He lifted a brow, the faintest shadow of impatience in his eyes.
My fingers trembled as I placed the jar in his palm. Heat rose up my neck as I slowly lifted my sweatshirt, exposing the wound. The skin there was raw, pink, and angry-looking.
Isn’t this beneath him?
He crouched in front of me and I gasped when I felt his hand brush my stomach. He looked up immediately.
“Are you afraid of me?”
The question caught me off guard. Was he serious?
Of course I was afraid. He was power and danger wrapped in a man’s skin.
“Everyone is,” I muttered.
He cocks an eyebrow, smirking as he waits for me to give an explanation I don’t even know how to give. His hand is still on my stomach and my heart beats so loud I know he hears it.
“You have the strongest and biggest dynasty,” I blurt, the words tumbling before I can stop them. “Richest too. You’re the Demon King… stories say that you burns your enemies alive, even women and children and eat their flesh from bone. Parents in my pack whisper about you when they want to scare pups into behaving.”
The moment the words leave my lips, I wish I could swallow them back. My eyes clamp shut.
What did I just say?
Did I just call the most feared alpha alive a ruthless killing machine straight to his face?
When I open my eyes again, he’s staring at me with an unreadable expression.
There’s no anger or a flash of cruelty. He stands abruptly.
“I’ll send someone to handle this,” he says coolly, setting the cream on the table.
“Come down for dinner when you’re done. You’ll need the rest afterward.”
Then he’s gone. I sit on the bed for a moment, wondering if I’ve already ruined things.
A few seconds later, an elderly woman comes in. She doesn’t say much, just gestures for me to lift my shirt and applies the cream gently. Her hands are steady and practiced, but her eyes avoid mine.
By the time I made it downstairs, they were already there.
Cassy sat there, radiant in a short red silk gown that fits her like she was born in it. Jace sits opposite her, grinning at some private joke they were having, while Garrick looks like he’s carved from stone.
Dravik takes his seat at the head, every inch the ruler they say he is.
I slip into the empty chair beside him, trying to keep my hands from shaking. The food looks…….beautiful, too fine for someone like me who used to eat from bowls.
At the center of the table was roasted venison glazed with what smelled like honey, steamed vegetables laid neatly on silver platters. There were freshly baked rolls still warm and mashed potatoes with Golden gravy in a carved bowl beside it.
A bowl of berries dusted lightly with sugar sat to the right, with a jug of milk and spiced wine.
It looks like a feast not dinner.
I reach for the cutlery in front of me. I haven’t used fancy cutleries in years and I have forgotten which goes with which.
“Oh dear,” Cassy says sweetly, watching me fumble with the cutlery. “Do they not teach table manners where you come from, or is that a perk of being a wolfless stray?”
The room stills and my throat goes dry.
Dravik’s fork hit the table with a sharp clink. He turned his head slowly toward her.
“Apologize to her.”
She blinks, caught off guard. “I was only—”
“Cassandra!”
The single word cracks like thunder. Her eyes widened at his use of her full name and I could tell she was shocked by it. She forces a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
“Forgive me, Auren,” she says softly, though the venom underneath nearly drips onto the table.
Then she stood up and left the table almost in a run.
I sat there in stunned silence. No one had ever defended me before…..not like that. I didn’t know what to do with the strange warmth that spread through my chest.
From the far end of the table, I caught Garrick watching me, his expression cold.
When our eyes met, he looked away, his jaw hardening. Then his chair scrapes the floor as he stood up and went after her.
Something told me the man’s hatred for me had just deepened.