Lotus’ POV

“Lo, stop running. Lo.”

I heard Evalyn shouting. I looked back and smiled once but didn’t stop.

“Oh, come on, Lo. Slow down, girl.”

I looked back again. This time Evalyn has stopped running, and her hands are resting on her knees. She was panting. I stopped and laughed at her condition. She was always a slow runner, or probably I was faster than others. I could easily defeat my big bro Jakob, though he always said that he did that willingly. Probably he did. He always wanted to see me happy. Evalyn and I came into this forest behind the packhouse just for a run. I liked the silence of this forest. I liked the hide and seek of sunlight. Suddenly everything went dark. I couldn’t see Evalyn anymore, but I could sense some unknown wolves. Rogues! Too many of them. I cannot fight them all.

“Lotus!” Evalyn shouted again, “Run, Lo, run.”

I ran and dodged the rogues. They left behind. I don’t know which way I was going. Suddenly I bumped into something. Probably a tree or a wall. Oh no, wait. It is no tree or wall. He looked directly into my eyes and held me tightly. It was him. Alpha Damien Black! And I woke up. Bad dream, I thought.

I opened my eyes. I saw I was inside a large compound. Probably a packhouse complex. Where am I? Who's car is this?

“I see you are awake finally”, Alex said to me. I remember everything now. Every single thing. The treaty, my so-called marriage, and here I am, standing in front of BloodStone Packhouse. But why only Alex and I in the car? Where is the alpha Demon?

“Welcome to Blood Stone Pack, Miss Lotus.” Alex said again, “I am Alex, the beta of this pack.”

“Nice to meet you, Alex. Please call me Lotus.” I smiled at him. He seemed nice to me.

The packhouse was huge. There were two four-storied buildings side by side, and both were joined with skywalks on the second floor and fourth floor. There were hundreds of cars parked in the parking lot, which was situated on the left side of the complex. I can see the entire area was surrounded by forest. It was past midnight, and the location was silent. Suddenly I saw a red-haired girl walking towards us from the packhouse. She has pale skin and brown eyes. She is almost as tall as me.

“Lotus, this is Adeline.” Alex introduced her to me. “She will take you to your room, and I will take care of your luggage.” He whispered with a smile on his face.

Alex was in his mid-twenty. He had brown hair and green eyes. The shirt he was wearing didn’t help him cover his muscles. He was over six feet, I thought. But not taller than that alpha Demon. His voice was warm and welcoming.

“Hi, Miss.” Adeline offered me a smile.

“Hi Adeline, please call me Lotus.” I returned her smile. Then I turned towards Alex and said,” Thank you, Alex, for your help.” He chuckled.

I followed Adeline, and she took me inside the packhouse. I was surprised, looking at the mesmerising architecture of the packhouse. The decoration was elegant with a touch of vintage. We took the stairs and went to the third floor. There was a long corridor with rooms on each side. The building had a hotel-like architecture.

“As per the beta said, you will stay here.”, she said while opening the door of a room in that corridor. I followed her inside the room, and she turned on the lights. It was a medium room with a queen-size bed, a table, and some chairs. There were two other doors inside the room. I assumed those are for the bathroom and closet. There was a little balcony. So I would not share my room with the alpha. That was a good thing, I thought.

“Please let me know if you need any help”, she smiled. I returned her a small smile.

“Thank you, Adeline. Do you also live on this floor?” I asked her politely.

“No, Lotus, I am an omega. Omegas are only allowed to live on the first and second floors of the packhouse. The third floor is for the beta, the third in command, and their families. Alpha lives on the fourth floor.” She said, I nodded. She continued, “In the packhouse, you will hardly find any mated wolves. Once they find their mates, they leave the packhouse and build their own house in the territory. Or they take an apartment in other complexes.”

Meanwhile, Alex showed up with my luggage, and he placed them inside my new room. I can call it my room, right?

“Here you go, lotus. Let me know if you need anything. My room is two rooms away from yours to the right.” He said with a smile.

“Thank you, Alex.” I thanked him again,” Good night”, I wished him, and he left.

I turned to Adeline and said, “Thank you, Adeline. I don’t think I need anything else for tonight.” Adeline nodded her head and wished me good night.

I was left alone in the room. A sigh escaped my mouth. I placed my bags in my closet and decided to take a bath. I filled up the bathtub with warm water and sat on it. I still cannot believe I am married. How can it be? Evalyn and Jakob were against my decision. The moment I left dad’s office, Evalyn followed me and asked me to run away. Jakob mind-linked me; he would help me with that plan. But I just couldn’t let my pack down.

I don’t know how long I was sitting in the tub. My skin gets wrinkly. I get up from the tub, dry myself, and wear a nightgown. My hair is still a little wet. I went to the balcony. I guessed that was the backside of the packhouse. There is a vast open space, and then I can see some other buildings and individual houses standing in the distance on the right side of the packhouse. On the left side, the forest was close by. Suddenly I sense something in the forest's border. Thanks to my wolf’s eyes. I saw a gigantic black wolf coming out of the woods. I have never seen a wolf of that size. He was beautiful. His peach black hair looks like silk. I don’t know why, but I wanted to touch him. He must have sensed me staring. He looked up, then transformed. It was him. He was standing right there, looking into my eyes. Did I just get caught for staring at him? Oh, no! He was not wearing anything. I feel so embarrassed. I turned back and went inside the room in a second.

It was almost two in the morning, and I had some sleep. I was lying on the bed but couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened a few hours ago.

I didn’t know how many hours had passed. I could see sunlight coming in from the balcony. I got up from the bed and cleaned myself. I wore blue denim and a peach short sleeve t-shirt. I tied my hair into a messy bun. I didn’t apply any make-up. It was too early for that. I looked at the clock on my mobile. It was almost six. I came out of my room and walked towards the stairs.

I walked down to the main floor. It looked like a drawing area. The house was quiet. Probably everyone was still asleep. I heard a very soft noise. I followed that noise. I landed in the dining area. There were tables of different shapes and sizes. On the left corner of the diner, there was the kitchen. Then my eyes fall on Adeline. She was cooking something.

“Good morning, Adeline!” I greeted her.

She looked at me and smiled, “Good morning, Lotus. You are up early.”

“I actually couldn’t sleep last night. I find it hard to sleep in the new bed.” I explained.

She giggled, “Well, you get used to it. Would you like to eat something?”

“What are you making? I can help you if you want.” I offered.

“Pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toasts. I am the cook here in this packhouse. So, I guess I will be fine.” She said with a smile.

“I guess I can help you” I walked near her and started to cook the eggs and the bacon. My pack members used to say I am pretty good at cooking. I believe in myself as well. When I was almost done, I heard Adeline saying, “Lotus! That smells amazing. What did you put in it?”

I smiled and offered her a spoon to taste the egg. She moaned, and I giggled.

“You are an amazing cook,” she exclaimed.

“Thank you, your highness!” I spoke dramatically.

She laughed and asked me to make a fruit salad. She showed me the cupboard where the fruits were. I walked towards the closet and heard her saying,” So Lo, why are you here? Are you related to beta?”

I got shocked by her question. Of course, they didn’t know who I was. Should I tell her the truth? Perhaps I should wait for the alpha.

“Why do you think I am related to Alex?” I asked her instead of answering her question.

“Well, isn’t it obvious? You arrived with him. He instructed me where I will stay. But you are definitely not his mate. Then he would have taken you to his room. So probably you are his relative.” She explained with a big smile on her face that she solved a hard puzzle.

I returned her smile, ” you will get to know when the time is right”, and I turned around with a bag full of fruits. Suddenly, someone bumped into me.

“You bitch! What’s wrong with you?” I saw a blonde standing in front of me while caressing her dress. She had beautiful features, and she was wearing a concise red dress with spaghetti straps. Was it even a dress? I asked myself. Her bold makeup told me not to be in any trouble with her. Being new in this pack, I thought it better to apologise. So I did. But she didn’t stop there.

“I don’t know why even Damien is allowing you guys to stay here. After our marriage, I will ask him to move to another mansion. I am tired of looking at pathetic faces like yours just after waking up. Is this the way to treat your future, Luna?” She snapped.

I was stunned by her words. Future Luna? Is she Damien’s mate? Are they going to get married? Why on earth did Damien marry me? That young lady murmured some curses and left the room. Adeline ran towards me, “Are you ok, Lotus?”

I could not answer her immediately. I had no clue that I would face something like that. That girl talked about my husband. They are getting married. I felt a little heart broken. Again, why should it matter? Everyone knows how these treaty marriages work.

“Is that true? Is she the Luna?” I asked with a trembling voice.

Adeline looked to her left and right and then came closer to me. “The fact is, our alpha is mateless. We don’t think he intends to find his mate either. He is not made for mate or marriage. He gets bored easily, and hence he changes his partner frequently.” She almost whispered in my ear. “I heard that sometimes he takes multiple partners at a time just for fun!” She said even in a lower voice. “Cersei is his new partner, and she has lasted almost one month, where others lasted only for a couple of days.”

I did not know what to say. Adeline is talking about my husband. Is he a man whore? Why did he marry me? Was it fun for him? Of course, it was just a joke for him. He knew I was a minor, and that’s why he picked me. Even if I say something about our marriage here, none will believe it.

“You, omega, I want my breakfast in ten minutes.” I heard Cersei again, pointing at Adeline. She was back. Then she turned towards me, “who the hell are you? I haven’t seen you before. Why are you still here? Don’t you have any manners?” She yelled at me.

“Calm down, Cersei. She is my distant cousin, Lotus.”, said Alex, walking into the diner.

‘Distant who?’ my wolf shouted at my head.

‘I know. I don’t understand what’s going on.’, I replied to my wolf.

‘They are playing with us. We need to run away from this place. I don’t like it, Lo’, she said painfully. I didn’t reply to her. I looked towards Alex. His look was apologetic. I kept my mouth shut. Then I sensed him entering the room. Damien was here. As soon as he entered, Cersei jumped up from her chair, ran towards him, and hugged him.

“Good morning, babe. Where have you been last night? I was so lonely,” she seductively said to Damien and kissed him on his lips.

Are you kidding me? Hello! I am his wife standing right here. I was wondering what excuse Damien was going to give about his last night. HE KISSED HER BACK! I felt a sharp pain in my heart. It felt like something broke inside me. Why am I even being disappointed?

‘That was just a treaty,’ my wolf sighed, ‘and he is not even our mate!’

‘He never can be anyone’s mate, and we have no right on him.’ I agreed with my wolf. I can sense her pain. He is nobody to us. Still, why is that hurt so much? We just met yesterday. We haven’t even talked to each other.

“Good morning. I was a little busy in pack matters”, Damien replied warmly, holding on to her waist and kissing her on her cheek again. I looked at him in his eyes for a moment, and he looked back. I moved my eyes towards Adeline and helped her again.

“So, you are Alex’s cousin, right? What’s your name?” Damien asked me in an indifferent tone.

Is he kidding me? Is he asking my name?

“It's Lotus Skylar, alpha.”, I said in a shallow tone. He didn’t acknowledge me in front of others. He rejected me. It broke my heart. Why is it so painful?

“Hmm. Alex will let you know about the formalities.”, he said casually and sat at a table in the diner. I looked at him one more time and sighed in silence.