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“No, I’m not. I don’t think you gave up your plans of running away, and after what happened last night, I can’t take any chances with you. You’ll stay locked up in this room until you start acting more reasonably.”
“Start acting reasonably… start acting…” Avelyn made a wide gesture with her hands, the only way she knew how to show frustration without hurting the idiot in front of her. “Who are you to talk about being reasonable? You stole me from Alma Venus, brought me here against my will, and now you’re lecturing me about reason?”
“I didn’t steal you, I bought you. It’s called business, Avelyn.”
“Business?”
“It’s how things work in this world. You were educated to be a shifter bride and I bought you. End of story.”
Avelyn’s body started trembling in fury, her temper flaring up. “Get out!” she screamed, releasing all the pent up anger in her chest. “Get the fuck out!” She would have thrown something at his head, but nothing appropriate was within reach.
What Max did next surprised both of them. He took three huge steps towards her, and, to Avelyn, his movement was a blur. He grabbed her arms forcefully, pressed his whole body against hers, and spoke right in her face, his voice low and threatening.
“This is my home. You don’t get to order me out of my own bedroom. You will have to learn how to behave. How to respect me and obey me. New life, new rules, young lady. You will do as I say and stay in this room until I decide that you’re capable of acting decently enough to go around and interact with the members of my clan. In the state you’re in now, you’d just be an embarrassment to me, but especially to yourself and the institution that raised you differently. Do you understand me?”
Avelyn tried to shrink away from him, but she couldn’t move. He was incredibly strong, and his fingers dug deep into her arms, leaving white marks on her skin. She looked straight into his eyes, challenging him.
“Do you understand?” he repeated, emphasizing each word with a gentle shake of her upper body. At least, he had the impression that he was shaking her gently. To Avelyn, it seemed like she was being tossed around in a roller-coaster. The sudden movement made her bite her tongue involuntarily, and she felt blood in her mouth. Tears stung the back of her eyes, but she clenched her teeth and struggled to keep her eyes dry.
Seeing that she had no intention to answer him, Max let go of her arms and she fell on the bed, on top of her clothes. He cringed when he saw the white prints his fingers had left on her delicate skin. She wasn’t looking at him anymore, but he noticed how her expression denoted pain. Had he really hurt her? He wanted to sit beside her and gather her soft body into his arms, tell her that he was sorry. Instead, he took a step back. She would have rejected him anyway.
“Good. I’ll send Christine with your lunch.”
***
Christine found her lying in bed, tears streaming down her face. After Max left, she had no power to get up and finish sorting her clothes. Instead, she had pushed her body up on the pillow without even taking her shoes off and let the tears flow freely. The taste of blood in her mouth was still present, and the left side of her tongue burned with pain. She hated this place and she hated Max. She couldn’t believe that the day before she had flirted with him and felt slightly sorry for refusing him and doing everything in her power to make him choose someone else. Yes, he was hot and handsome, and that expensive suit he was wearing had made it hard for her to look anywhere else during the car ride and the flight to the Schloss, but that didn’t change the fact that his personality was crap. She cursed herself for her naivety and the undeniable attraction she felt to him. She knew enough about shape-shifters to not allow herself to hope that one of them would change his attitude towards human women. Avelyn’s body stiffened when she heard the door open and then close. Soft, careful footsteps approached the bed, like the person was afraid not to scare her away. It must have been that Christine woman Max had told her about. She didn’t feel like turning around to see for herself.
The woman fumbled with the things on the nightstand for a bit, and Avelyn thought she heard her setting the food tray down. She felt the edge of the mattress sink under another’s body weight. Avelyn tried to stop her tears and calm her heavy breathing which made her shoulders shake, giving away the state she was in.
“Miss Avelyn?” It was almost a whisper. Seeing that the girl didn’t even budge, the woman tried a second time. “I’m Christine. You have a beautiful name, you know? It’s the first time I hear it. It sounds like it has Latin origin. Does it mean anything?”
Avelyn didn’t move. She listened to the soft voice, trying to guess how the person whom it belonged to looked like. It didn’t sound particularly young, nor particularly old. Then, she felt a small hand touch her shoulder, and her body became even more rigid, if that was possible. The hand started rubbing up and down her arm, and Avelyn realized the repetitive motion calmed her down.
“I brought you lunch, but you already know that,” the woman continued. “All this is new to you, I understand. And Max understands it too, I assure you. It will get better if you give it time.”
That was exactly what Avelyn needed: a comfort speech. She would have rolled her eyes if she had any energy left, but Christine’s gentle strokes on her shoulder and arm were making her sleepy.
“He would have told this to you himself, if he weren’t in such a hurry to talk with his sister,” Christine chuckled a bit when she said the last words. “That girl can be a handful.”
“Max has a sister?” Avelyn’s curiosity got the b
est of her. The silent treatment she had decided to give Max prevented her from asking him questions about himself. She wanted to let him know that his person didn’t interest her in the least, but she couldn’t lie to herself. To a certain extent, the man fascinated her, and she would have loved to bombard him with questions if he weren’t the arrogant, possessive ass that he was.
“Yes. He has a sister and a brother. Jocelyn and Karl. Hasn’t he told you anything about the clan?”
“No…”
“Well, Clan Blackmane is the second most powerful werewolf clan in Europe. Max has three packs under his command, which is very rare. Usually, an Alpha doesn’t have more than a pack. Wolves are very territorial, you see, and Alpha siblings rarely accept to unite their packs under the effigy of the clan they belong to. But Max, Karl, and Jocelyn have always been very close, so, when their father announced his retirement and decided to live the rest of his old years in the Alps, the children vowed to never tear the clan apart. They divided it into three packs, each under an Alpha’s command. Max has the Crescents, Jocelyn rules with an iron fist over her Moon Children, and Karl over the Dark Wolves.”
“And all of them live here, at the Schloss?” Avelyn couldn’t help thinking back to the cold welcome she had received when she stepped out of the plane. The thought of having to deal with two other Alphas aside from Max terrified her.
“Only Jocelyn. Karl took his pack to London soon after the peace treaty was signed. He’s a diplomat, and, believe me, out of the three, he was the one who surprised me the most. That young lad wasn’t made to wear a suit and sip champagne at fancy parties. He was made to run wild in the heart of the mountains.”
Avelyn could feel the smile in Christine’s voice. She talked about the three siblings with such love and kindness that she could almost convince her they were normal people. Her curiosity took the last of her resolve away, and she turned to see the woman’s face. She had to know whom this motherly voice belonged to.
Christine was an old woman. She was short and so thin that Avelyn could swear a single gust of wind could easily blow her away. Her gray hair hung down her shoulders in thin, coarse wisps, and the wrinkles on her face made the skin look like a chaotic map of rivers separated by narrow banks. Avelyn was sure she was hundreds of years old, which was not far-fetched given that werewolves could live up to 500 years. The woman smiled at her, the wrinkles around her dry mouth deepening.
“Ah, I see why Max was so excited about bringing you home. You’re a beauty.”
