Chapter 4 Cathy
"You guys are too noisy, and you don't let me rest," the young Alpha said and walked over to me, ignoring my half-sister and Alston. When he reached me, he covered my body with a velvety grey-colored coat, similar to a wolf's fur.
"Sorry Eric, I never..."
"Are you okay?" he asked me without paying attention to my sister's apologies.
I clung to the coat and let its warmth tuck me in.
"Yes, I'm totally fine," I lied to him.
Linda wasn't coming out of her astonishment, as was Alston.
"She's not worth it," Linda added. "She's nothing but a bastard and a liar."
"What do you mean?" Eric asked with a straight face.
"She just cheated on her boyfriend," she replied. "And she just disgraced our father."
Eric looked at the two of us, trying to find some resemblance, but, besides hair color, Linda and I were completely different.
"She came into my room by mistake and fell asleep in my bed all night long. How could she cheat on her boyfriend while asleep?" he added.
"It's not possible; she came upstairs last night and got into bed with another man. I'm pretty sure of that," she stated. "Don't try to protect her, Eric."
Many things were going through my mind, but one of them was how Linda would know this would happen.
"Who says I'm protecting her?" he replied. "I'm telling the truth. She spent the whole night with me."
Linda looked impatient. She's not the kind of person you can contradict. To my sister, her word is the absolute truth.
"Eric, you drank too much. When I left you at the party, you were so drunk I doubt you remember clearly what happened last night," My half-sister replied. "Don't defend this piece of shit. She's just pretending to be the victim."
"I won't tolerate you talking to her like that in my presence," Eric raised his voice. "Much less if you have no arguments or proof."
For the first time, someone stood up for me, and it felt good. I felt I finally had an advantage in my favor since, with Eric backing me up, my father would have to listen to me.
"If I'm not right, show me the key, and let's see if it matches the number on the door," Linda said.
I put the key she handed me in the palm of my hand so we all could see 301 engraved on it.
"See, my room is 305." Eric closed the door and pointed his finger at the number carved into the pine door.
Linda's face of confusion was even worse than when she saw Eric leave the room.
"No. There's no way this could have happened, not when I..."
The sound of a door opening echoed down the hallway, drawing our attention and interrupting Linda. As she casually glanced over, it was 301.
"I thought I heard your voice, young lady.
I was wondering when you would show up," said Sam, a man who was in his fifties, but his appearance was terrible.
He looked older. He was the hotel concierge and one of the few humans who knew of the existence of the shapeshifters.
He has worked devotedly for us all his life, just as his father did and as his children will.
"I was up all night as we agreed, waiting for the girl, but she never showed up. "
Linda reddened and clenched her fists so hard her knuckles thundered. "Why didn't you warn me... I shouldn't have trusted you. After all, you are just a human. Your kind is so useless and repulsive," she said without measuring her words. "I should throw you out of the hotel."
Sam began to sweat, and his expression changed completely. The man was angry, and even though Linda was fearsome when she was angry, he stood his ground.
"That wasn't my job, we had a deal, and I did my part. I don't care about your problems or excuses," he added. "The only thing I care about here is knowing where's the money. I'm not leaving here until you give me my payment."
Linda got angrier, and if it wasn't for us being here, I bet she'd shift and rip the poor man to shreds.
"I will pay you absolutely nothing. You're useless," she said desperately. "You and your wife will pay for this insolence, mark my word."
The atmosphere became tense. Eric just watched what was happening and drew his own conclusions. There was disapproval in his eyes for my half-sister's attitude. He looked at her as if he was looking at a completely different person and, in a way, with disgust.
"Linda, you need to calm down," Alston said to her, brushing aside a lock of hair that was falling over her face. "It's not the right place."
He talks to her too closely. I never thought the two of them could get along. In fact, on occasion, Alston remarked to me that he was afraid of my sister and that because of everything I had told him about her, he could never be her friend.
The old man stood in the doorway, looking at me angrily as if blaming me for what had happened.
"I'm fine," Linda replied. "It's just that I detest incompetence."
Everything made sense in my head as my mind cleared, and I was able to remember a few things from last night at the salon: the wine, her kindness, and her insistence on accompanying me to find my boyfriend.
I could bet that all that time, she tried to keep me from meeting him.
She planned it all from the beginning, and now I'm sure of it. It's not just a guess.
"Can't you see?" I shouted at Alston. "She planned it all. She's been manipulating you all this time. That harpy is the real enemy."
Alston moved his gaze away from mine and turned to my half-sister. "I don't want to be here; let's go," he told her.
Linda shook her head.
"I'm not going anywhere," she added. "I've never been defeated, and I'm certainly not going to let her be the one to do it."
"Linda, you and I are together. You have nothing to prove to me. I believe you," he shot back. "Nothing will make me change my feelings for you."
My heart broke in two at hearing those words out of his mouth. He was seeing Linda behind my back. Now I couldn't help but wonder if he loved me from the beginning or if it was all planned by her to keep an eye on me.
"You wouldn't understand," she argued. "All I ask is that you stay here with me, nothing else."
Alston nodded and crossed his arms in an attempt to look more confident.
"Alston, please listen to me," I implored him, but no matter how hard I tried to catch my boyfriend’s eyes, I couldn't; he was simply avoiding me.
"You're despicable," I said to Linda, walking in her direction. "You won't get away with it this time, and I'll make everyone see what you really are."
"I always do," she replied, leaning on Alston's forearm. "It's been over a month since he and I have been dating behind your back. He's told me all about you, and now more than ever, I have you in my hands."
"Ladies, this is not the way to settle misunderstandings, let alone when there's a human in our presence," Eric said.
"I'm not leaving here until you give me my money," Sam shrieked from the bedroom doorway.
If looks killed, old Sam probably wouldn't be with us in this world anymore.
"Get out of here. The money's in your locker," she mumbled. "And you better use it to disappear off our territory."
Sam shook off his clothes and hurried down the stairs while his rubber shoes squeaked with each step until the sound faded away.
"I'll tell my father everything, and I'll tell him the truth," I threatened her. "There's no way you're getting away with this one."
My half-sister smiled slightly and moved closer to Alston. "Are you sure you want to try? We both know how it's going to end, don't we?"
The blood evaporated in my veins, and my muscles tensed. I clenched my jaw and stopped in front of them. "This time, you won't trick me, and I won't fall into your mind games."
"As you wish, but don't say I didn't warn you," she retorted.
"Cathy, you are a nobody. Only a few know you are actually our father's daughter, and you don't know how to do anything but experiment in your room with scents and create perfumes that no one will ever use.
I, on the other hand, am the heiress, the true daughter of the Alpha and his Luna.
There is no possible way you can beat me. "
Eric shot me a look as if at a bird with a wounded wing. That same pitiful look everyone gives me.
"I'm not staying here," I said.
I walked to the stairs and started down step by step, thinking about the words I would say to my father.
"Where do you think you're going?" Linda asked, pushing me.
Linda didn't measure her strength, and what to her was a small touch, to me, was like a truck had run me over. I tried to hold on, but I wasn't fast enough. I fell and hit my side on the last few steps until I was stopped by the wall.
"Are you okay?" Eric pushed his way between Linda and Alston and crouched down beside me, offering me his hand. "Are you hurt?"
I couldn't focus my gaze, and everything looked a little blurry. My legs ached, especially my knees. Plus, my side and head.
"Leave me alone!" I shrieked at him. "I don't want your pity."
I didn't measure my words and let my temper control me.
"You see? She's an ungrateful bitch," Linda took the opportunity to spout her venom. "I hate to tell you this again, but she's not worth it."
Those words I've heard all my life, and they're the ones I hate the most.
I picked myself up off the floor, pretended to be fine, and straightened my back as much as I could. "You want things to be like this...well, they will be."
I lunged at Linda and dug my nails into her arms, I felt myself tearing at her flesh, and she screamed in pain.
"You fucking bitch!" she screamed at me. "I'll fucking kill you."
She punched me in the stomach and knocked the air out of me. I tried to stay on my feet, but her strength was greater than mine.
Eric caught me before I hit the ground and held me firmly in his arms.
"Stop fighting. I won't let you kill each other," he said in his deep voice. "You get her out of here!" he ordered Alston.
Linda was looking at her wounds angrily.
"Don't be mad; you’ll heal right away," I told her.
I had never dared to confront her before, let alone attack her, and it felt good.
"I know," she said. "But, I wonder if you also heal like ours or like a human. Let's find out."
Linda pushed herself toward me with eyes charged with anger, like those of a bloodthirsty wolf.
Alston held her by the right arm and stopped her from attacking me.
"Linda, that's enough," he told her. "If you don't come with me, I'll carry you and take you by force."
She screamed at the top of her lungs, her scream more like a growl than anything else.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed at him and broke free of his grip by pushing him away rather forcefully. "I'll kill you!" she shouted, running toward me, showing her sharp teeth.
Behave yourselves. I didn't want to interfere in your rows, but you have already exhausted my patience. I want you both in my office immediately, and if anyone refuses, I will come to get you myself. My father used his telepathy and gave us an alpha order, one impossible to ignore.