Chapter 20
20
“ W e’ll hold the moon-blessing tonight,” Adrian declares.
Terror-inducing words freeze me for a split second. “ Tonight ?”
I stare at my reflection in the dressing-table mirror as Adrian rests his hands on top of my shoulders. He gently squeezes as he meets my gaze. “Yes.”
“But I need more time.” I wince when those hands tighten.
“And I have given you time, Clara. Time during the drive to Minnesota. Time to settle into your new home.” He turns away. “Two days is more than enough time to prepare to become my mate.”
Thank fuck he has a meeting to go to because I’m a second away from a panic attack.
I thought I had succeeded in buying myself a week to escape Adrian. I should have known it wouldn’t be so easy. I dodged Adrian this morning and yesterday, saying I was tired from travel and needed to rest.
I put down my mascara before I stab myself in the eye with it.
When we arrived at his pack’s rural forest home, he showed me around the beautiful sage green and walnut wood room that would be mine. I’d forced a smile and thanked him when he’d revealed a walk-in closet full of brand new designer clothes. In reality, I’d been freaked out and disturbed by the extent of his preparations.
He clearly spent a long time planning to bring me here. Too long to bear thinking about.
I’ve been trying to buy time to escape, but Adrian is always watching me. Or his enforcers are.
Escape from a moving car on the long drive from Colorado to Minnesota had been impossible. He had enforcers get food for us on the way, and when we pulled up at a rest stop, one of them followed me into the ladies' bathroom. It didn’t matter how loudly the women using the bathroom complained. The enforcer parked himself outside of my bathroom stall and waited for me to leave it.
His enforcers had taken turns driving. It took all day and most of the night to reach Minnesota. There were no motel room breaks, so there’d been no hope of escaping out of a window in the middle of the night.
I was never left alone.
As if Adrian had known I would run at the first opportunity, he made running impossible.
“Wear white tonight,” Adrian says from my bedroom door. “Something easy to remove.”
Because that’s another thing I’ve been dreading. He wants a moon-blessing ceremony. A traditional one where I’m naked, he’s naked, and we have sex in front of his pack, followed by him biting me, bonding us together.
“Are we not having dinner first?” I remind him. Again, to buy time. I’m not the least bit hungry. Who could think of eating at a time like this?
“We do.” His eyes narrow, as if sensing my reluctance. “Why?”
I get up from the dressing table and walk over to my closet. Adrian has his own closet in the adjoining bedroom. I imagine after this ceremony, he will expect me to sleep in his bed. Not happening. “No reason. Just wanted to know if I should change now or wait until later. I don’t want to spill anything on my dress.”
“Later. We’ll eat first.”
I feel him staring as I pull out two white dresses at random, and turn to hold both up. Both are silk. One would hit me just below my knees and the other, mid-thigh. If I wore it. I do not intend to wear either of these dresses because this moon-blessing ceremony is not happening in this lifetime or the next. “Short or long?”
He meets my gaze for a beat, and his suspicion melts away. “Short.”
I hide my shudder as his eyes turn heated. “The more of my mate’s beautiful skin I can see, the better.”
Mate? Nope. I’d sooner break my neck throwing myself out of this fourth-floor window than be his mate.
Adrian leaves, looking pleased, and I immediately shove the dresses back on their rails and tiptoe to my closed bedroom door.
I listen to the sound of footsteps moving down the hallway. It’s all hardwood floors here, so it’s easy to tell when Adrian reaches the staircase at the end and jogs down them.
I slowly twist the doorknob and pull the door open.
An enforcer is standing just outside my room. As usual.
When he turns to look at me, I flash him an apologetic smile. “I, uh, tore my dress. Know anyone good at sewing?”
He stares at me. “Choose another dress.”
“Yes, I could do that,” I agree, “if Adrian hadn’t just told me that was the dress he wanted me to wear for the moon-blessing ceremony. Oh well, I guess he’ll be the one alpha who won’t mind if he doesn’t get what he wants.”
I wait for him to realize who’ll be getting into trouble. The answer is not me.
The enforcer straightens. “Wait here. I’ll return with someone to mend your dress.”
I close the door, wait until I can no longer hear his footsteps, then I open the door again, confirm the coast is clear, and rush out of the room.
Not toward the main staircase. That’s just asking for trouble.
I make my way down the back stairs used by the servants Adrian keeps, apologizing when I round a corner and bump into a woman walking down the stairs with a heavy-looking tray of dishes.
“Sorry.” I catch a large white bowl before it can fall and hand it back to her. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
I wasn’t paying attention to anything but the need to escape.
Startled, wide dark-green eyes meet mine for a second, then dart away again. “It’s fine.”
“I’m Clara,” I say.
“Jude.” She does a double take. “You’re Adrian’s new mate.”
“Not exactly,” I hedge. “Do you need help?”
She frowns, clearly reluctant.
“Adrian has a meeting, and I wanted to go for a short walk. I don’t mind.” Before she can stop me, I grab three bowls from the tray and walk down the stairs. “These are going to the kitchen, right?”
After a beat, she follows, “Yes. But you shouldn’t be helping me.”
“I don’t mind.”
The stairs lead directly to the kitchen, a wide open space with thick, heavy-looking wooden counters. I thought this pack was big, given they live in a house the size of a mansion, but I have no idea how many people there are here. I’ve eaten all my meals in my bedroom since my arrival, pretending I was too exhausted to eat in the dining room with everyone else..
The two men and three women who stop their task to stare at me must be servants. They’re all wearing light brown clothes, and all are submissive or lower ranked from their refusal to look me in the eye as they mumble something and dart out of the room.
“I guess I’m not supposed to be here,” I say as the kitchen door slams shut behind them.
“No.” The woman from the stairs takes the empty bowls from me and places them on the nearest counter. “They could get into trouble.”
“For talking to me?”
“Yes. Adrian is possessive.”
Yeah, I got that.
“Any reason why?” I tiptoe over to the kitchen door, open it a crack, then muffle a curse when I spot three enforcers lingering in the hallway. Getting past them won’t be an option.
I scan the kitchen, searching for a window big enough to crawl out of. There isn’t one. We must be on a lower, below ground floor.
Jude lowers her voice. “His father was crazy.”
I snap my gaze toward her. “ Crazy ?”
She nods. “His mother was an omega. We all thought he only mated with her so he wouldn’t go crazy too.”
I stare at her as it suddenly becomes all too clear why Adrian wanted me.
To stave off a craziness which might be genetic.
“This is not good, Clara,” I breathe. “This is not good at all.”
Jude is watching me closely. “He abducted you, didn’t he?”
Footsteps and shouting from outside the kitchen yank my focus back to what’s important.
The enforcer upstairs must have returned to my room with a needle kit or a seamstress, found me gone, and went to tell Adrian. Because, unless I’m mistaken, that sounds an awful lot like?—
The door swings open, and Adrian fills the doorway, frowning.
I smile apologetically at him. “Oh, hey there honey.” I mentally wince at the endearment I nearly choked on getting out. Anything to throw him off the scent that I’m looking to ditch him at the first opportunity.
His frown deepens. “What are you doing here?”
“I sent someone to get a needle for my ripped dress and felt bad so I thought I could get it myself.” I shrug. “And instead I got lost and found myself in the kitchen instead.”
His eyes narrow.
I peer over my shoulder, smiling at Jude. “Sorry I nearly knocked your tray over. I better go now.”
And I turn back to Adrian and hook my arm with his.
“Is it dinner now?” I ask brightly.