Chapter 5 The Alpha’s Property

Two weeks.

That was how long I had been living a double life.

In front of outsiders, I was still Elara the Defect, wearing my overlarge grey uniform, eating in the mess hall for servants, walking with my head down and my mouth shut.

But inside the Alpha's suite had begun to blur lines.

Tonight, as every night at ten o'clock PM, I would take a shower, slip into a silk nightgown - one of the ones that Kade ordered Marcus to buy because my cheap cotton smelled like poverty - and climb into his massive bed.

And every night by lights out, the most ruthless and savage Alpha of the country would come bestially over me like a vine.

He never actually touched me sexually, never kissed me, and not even spoke a word to me; he simply bound my sensory-emotion into an anchor; bury his face in my neck, take a deep breath, and soon he would pass out.

But the mornings... the mornings were the hardest.

For a few groggy seconds before he woke up, his hand would stroke over my stomach, tracing down the line of my hip with his thumb, nuzzling into me-soft and vulnerable.

And then he'd wake up, and the ice was back in his eyes. He'd be kicking me out of bed before the sun was even fully up, treating me like a stranger he hadn't just spent eight hours holding.

Cold by day. Hot by night.

It was really giving me emotional whiplash, I tell you.

"File these," Kade commanded, dumping a heavy load of folders onto the small desk he had established for me by the corner of his office.

"Yes, Alpha," I said as I picked up the stack.

I had almost been promoted.

More specifically, after the unfortunate episode about the transport logs, Kade had come up with the idea that I could organize paperwork faster than his existing secretary. I was now his "scribe" during the day - a fancy title for a servant who knew the alphabet, but it meant I spent my days in his office instead of scrubbing toilets.

In all seriousness, it was a little safer; or so I believed.

The office door slammed open.

"Kade, darling!"

I froze.

Bianca stormed right into the room without knocking. She looked dressed in a white dress that really looked more like a wedding gown than a casual outfit, though she also carried a basket of muffins.

"I brought you a snack," she cooed, strolling up to his desk and leaning over to give him an eyeful of her cleavage. "You've been working so hard."

Kade did not even look up from his laptop. "I'm busy, Bianca."

"Oh, don't be like that," she pouted. "My father says you've had a lot of stress. I'm just trying to help."

Kade pulled away discreetly. "If you want to help, go tell your father to finalize the security rotations for the border."

Bianca's smile faltered: She stood erect, her eyes darting around the room for an alternative diversion.

She spied me.

I was frozen in the corner, balancing a file folder like a shield.

Bianca's eyes popped. Then narrowed into slits.

"Why is she here?" Bianca demanded. The sugar coating fell off her voice.

"Elara is filing reports," Kade said, typing away.

"Filing?" Bianca laughed, shrillly. "Kade, she's a defect. She probably can't even read. Why is a servant handling sensitive pack documents?"

"She reads better than you do," kade muttered under his breath.

He did not tell her to hear, but she did.

Bianca's face turned a blotchy shade of red. She stomped toward me, heels sinking in the plush carpet.

"Get out," she hissed at me.

"I... I have to finish this stack," I stammered at Kade, who was nowhere close to helping.

Kade ignored us. He was typing.

Bianca snatched the folder out of my hands and tossed it to the ground, scattering papers everywhere.

"I'm telling you to get out!" she hollered, "You're polluting the air in here! You smell like... like dirt!"

She shoved me.

I somewhere staggered. I felt a sharp corner of a filing cabinet poke into my side. Pain shot down my leg. I gasped for air when I reached out for my side.

"Oops," said Bianca, her malice reminiscent of the hallway mockery from weeks ago. "So clumsy."

Her upraised hand, sharp, manicured nails directed at my face. "I think maybe they should have a lesson on respecting their betters."

I flinched and shut my eyes.

"Enough."

The quiet tone brought a sound more akin to thunder.

I opened my eyes.

Kade hadn't moved from his chair. He hadn't raised his voice. But his blue eyes looked as if they would shoot flames. He glared dangerously at Bianca.

"Get your hands off her," Kade smoothly said.

Bianca froze, her hand still suspended in mid-air. "Kade? You are defending her? She is just a—"

She was cut off. "She is my employee," Kade said. "She is currently doing work that is earning me money. You, on the other hand, are interrupting me and causing trouble."

He directed the point of the pen at the door.

"Now leave. And take those muffins with you. I hate blueberries."

Bianca looked as if she had just received a slap; her half-opened mouth looked like that of a fish. She was fighting back tears of humiliation.

She turned to glare at me. Had her glare had the power of life and death, I would be counted as dead ten times over.

"This is not over, Elara" she mouthed silently.

Clutching the basket with her muffins, she stormed out, slamming the door so hard that all the framed pictures rattled on the wall.

The silence returned in the rooms.

My heart raced. My hand shook as I bent down to gather papers strewn on the ground.

"Thank you" I whispered.

"Don`t" was Kade's reply, firm and clipped.

He stood up and walked over to me while I was kneeling and towered over me.

"Coldly, he said: "I didn't do it for you. I did it because I don't like people touching my things."

My things.

He leaned down, and in the moment, I thought he would help me with the papers.

Instead, he gripped my chin, lifting my head up. The pad of his thumb grazed my cheekbone, exactly where Bianca had almost scratched me.

His eyes dived deep into my soul searching my face for answers. For a fraction of a second, the mask slipped just enough for me to see the possessiveness there. The dark, primal urge to protect that which he considered his possession.

"Did she hurt?" he asked throatily.

"I hit the desk, on my hip."

Kade's gaze fell onto my hip. His nostrils flared.

"Go to the infirmary. Get ice."

"I have to finish filing—"

Kade growled, getting closer. The smell of him: rain and ozone engulfed me, spinning my head. "If you're injured, you'll be tossing and turning all night. If you're tossed and turned, I can't get to sleep. Go fix yourself."

He dropped my chin and walked back to his desk, sat down, and resumed typing as if nothing had happened.

I stood, holding the papers.

He was ruthless. He was self-centered. He would be concerned about me as his sleeping pill.

But for some reason, when I walked toward the door, my heart started to flutter.

He stood up for me, agreed with me. Finally, somebody stood in the world between me and him.

That night had yet another change.

I lay on the bed staring up at the dark ceiling. Kade lay beside me already asleep with his arm over my waist.

Only tonight did he seem restless. He kept tossing and turning with furrowed brows and a furrowed brow.

"Mine," he muttered in his sleep. "Don't touch."

He suddenly pulled me closer, so tight I could barely breathe. His hand slipped under my silky nightgown, resting directly on my warm skin.

His palm was hot. I was petrified. He laid it flat against my lower stomach.

Right over my womb.

Too slow, I froze.

Does he know? My heart broke loose with panic. Can he feel it?

Period is two weeks late. Ignored it owing to stress. But vomiting, which was almost unbearable now. And here lay the Alpha's hand where a baby would be growing.

Long, deep exhaled, and his fingers seemed to relax against my skin as though filling him with comfort from the connection with my stomach.

I was lying there in the dark, with tears now rolling down my eyes.

Bianca's threat was still ringing in my ears: This isn't over.

She was jealous. She was watching me. And now I was lying in the Alpha's arms with a secret that could get me killed.

If Bianca discovered I was pregnant, she would never just slap me. She would make sure that I did not come back to life.

My hand went over his large hand to keep it down on my stomach.

I have to be careful, I swore to the darkness. I have to survive.

But little did I know that the danger would not be only from Bianca but also from outside walls.

And the assassin was already on his way.