There was a soft knock on the door with a three seconds pause. The second wasn't as mellow

as the first and the third one which was a bit harder and firmer roused Kayla from her sleep as

she groaned and pulled the blanket over her shoulder.

She was partially awake but kept her eyes closed. Her eyelids felt heavy and she was about to

drift back to sleep when the door creaked open and the sound of heels clacking along the floor

followed.

"Oh why my! You're still in bed Kayla?" A familiar voice said, causing her to stir in bed. She

groaned and stretched her legs then turned her head towards the voice.

She slowly opened her eyes and could see a figure of average height, slim with beautiful long

red hair walking towards the drapery.

Everything seemed blurry.

She itched her eyes for a bit and opened them almost immediately when she heard the zipping

sound of the drape being drawn to the side.

The rays from the sun flooded the room with a blinding flash causing Kayla to squint as she

mumbled something opaque. She slowly opened her eyes letting them adjust to the lighting.

"Are you pregnant young lady?" The woman asked with a tone of amusement lacing her voice.

She had a very mellifluous voice, soft and smooth, it was very pleasing to the ear. It also had a

very subtle edge to it which suggested that she was teasing her daughter.

"Mom!" Kayla whined as she sat up, wide-eyed. Her mother chuckled and shook her head.

"Just teasing baby... just teasing," Her mom said.

She went over to the dresser, picked up a brush, and went back to sit on the bed a few inches

away from Kayla who out of impulse turned her back to her.

Her mom smiled.

She took a handful of Kayla's hair and began brushing it gently.

Why was her hair so wiry? She thought as she combed out the tangles.

Kayla mustn't have been applying the essentials for her hair, she concluded as she took another

handful and kept brushing. Brushing Kayla's hair usually took a while and she enjoyed the

excuse of spending a long time with Kayla.

"Mrs. Alexander?"

Her secretary suddenly entered the room and called for her, disrupting her thoughts almost

immediately.

Kayla's mum frowned at this. She hated it when her time with her daughter got disrupted.

"I assume you walked through the doors and you didn't just appear in this room," she said as

she went back to brushing Kayla's hair.

She spoke so calmly yet her words sent chills down her secretary's spine making her quiver in

fear.

"Yes —yes Mrs. Alexander." She spoke falteringly.

"Next time you come into a room without knocking first, I'd make a necklace out of your fingers.

Do you understand?"

The secretary nodded, trembling with fear. As honeyed as her voice was and even as slender

and small as she looked Mrs. Alexander could also be very baleful. She was of course the Luna

of the pack, coupled with a very strong successful Alpha, she was strapping. No one dared

question her.

"Speak," she ordered.

"The client from Algatron is here. Your attention is needed." She paused. "Mrs. Alexander," she

added for maximum respect.

"Mr. Algaso is here? How shocking." She pulled Kayla's hair back, twisting it in a very gentle

way, then she wrapped it in a circular coil around itself and secured it with a bobby pin.

"Where is Marcus by the way? Haven't seen him since dinner last night." She looked at Kayla

who frowned.

"Why are you looking at me, mom? He's probably somewhere pissing off someone, as usual, I

mean how hard could it be to find him just looking for trouble and he'd be there."

The Luna chuckled.

"Respect your brother Kayla, things come to worse, he'd be the next Alpha

and you'd have just him to protect you

"People only need protection when they're into dangerous stuff. All I do is go to school and paint

when I'm home. You barely see you, mother."

"There's one thing you need to know Kayla, if you have your eyes on two people, you'd have 6 people's eyes boring holes into your back."

"What does that even mean?" Kayla made a face.

Mrs. Alexander stood up and straightened her skirt. She stretched out her hand as she held the

comb towards her secretary who dashed to collect it and placed it on the dresser.

"It means you can never tell who is watching you so be careful and never slack. Always be on

guard, you would always need protection and I have every confidence in Marcus to give it to

you."

She leaned forward and kissed Kayla on her forehead before heading out with the secretary.

Kayla finally had some alone time. She got up and locked the door. She walked back to her bed

and dropped on it with only one thought on her mind. Marcus.

Thinking about him made her frisson with excitement. She had always had a very big crush on

him but was too scared to show it and also sometimes very disgusted by her feelings because

he was her brother even though not biologically.

She was adopted into the family when she was thirteen. Her birth parents had died at a

construction site or so she was told and she had been living at the orphanage since she was

four before the Alexanders adopted her. She never fit in with the rest of the kids and was always

picked on probably because she was a short, miniature kid whereas the other kids were tall and

big.

She wasn't even that short, Kayla thought.

She was going to be eighteen in a few months and she was five foot five. She sighed and

closed her eyes slowly drifting into fantasy and almost immediately the doorknob rattled. She

rolled her eyes and didn't move an inch.

It kept on for ten seconds before a deep yet euphonious voice that sent an exhilarating feeling

all over her body made her hold her breath impulsively.

"Open this door, Kayla!"

The way he drew her name. It was several more seconds before she was able to take deep

breaths, even longer before she was able to utter more than a strangled sound

"What do you want, Marcus?" She pulled herself together. "Go away!"

Despite her massive crush on him, she hated him sometimes or so she tried to force herself to

believe.

There was a time she caught a naked girl hastily leaving his room and she was so consumed

with jealousy she didn't talk or go close to him for a week.

She saw a lot of girls hit on him at school but she didn't think he'd have anything intimate to do

with any of them. He looked good only with her...

"Kayla!" He growled, swearing silently as his body quivered with building rage.

Why wasn't she opening the door? Did she have someone in there with her?

Was it one of the guards or the boys at school?

The thought of Kayla having a boy with her alone in the room infuriated him and he didn't know

why.

He was already thinking of where in his room he'd put the skull of the boy he found in there

when he heard a faint click almost not audible but loud enough for his werewolf ears and the

door slowly opened.

His face held no expression to it but his mind was blown away. She had her hair in this beautiful

bun though she looked like she just got off her bed. He moved closer causing her to pull back a

little.

The sleeve of her gown was a little loose and the motion caused it to slide off her shoulder

revealing smooth glistening skin. His eyes darted almost immediately to her shoulder as he felt

his inner wolf stir.

Kayla wasn't having it any better on her end. She caught a whiff of his eau de cologne and all

she wanted to do was hug him till she smelt like him. She looked up at his face and couldn't tell

what he was feeling. His eyes met hers and her heart melted but then his expression turned

from placid to anger.

"Why didn't you open the door and why was your door locked in the first place?" He entered the

room, his eyes flickering, searching every corner of the room like a detective on a search.

Kayla glared at him. She had forgotten how meddling he could be.

"What do you mean why did I

lock the door? I could be naked."

Immediately the thought of what she'd look like without clothes flooded Marcus's mind and he

felt a little tickle down his member.

"The servants have strict orders to always knock."

"Marcus, you can't encroach on my personal life all the time. What? They didn't teach you

privacy in school? Oh yeah!" She drawled. "You must have been too busy with all the girls, your

flat brain couldn't absorb anything!"

In a split second, he was in front of her as quick as a wink. He hit her two shoulders with his big

palm gently but firm enough to make her weak. He picked her up almost immediately with one

arm and slammed her to the bed. Before she could regain her breath he was right on top of her

and he had this look in his eyes that she couldn't place a finger on. His face entailed anger but

his eyes were conveying a different message.

He hissed and his eyes turned blue. Her expression wavered between fear and curiosity but as

he snarled at her, curiosity left the chat and all she could feel was nothing but blind terror. His

eyes were blue!

Blue!!

It meant he had killed someone. He had taken an innocent life if not lives. Beta's eyes were

supposed to be golden and only turned blue if they had committed murder.

He held her wrists over her head and pinned them down on the bed with one palm. She tried

wrestling it out but he was too strong for her feeble mind to push off.

"You don't get to talk to me like that! Next time you disrespect me I'd have you naked and the

Tie Bian used on you. Do you understand?!"

Her eyes widened at the mention of Tie Bian. No! She thought. He was joking, he couldn't do

that to her... right?

She looked at him. His eyes were still glowing and his face hardened. He meant it. She didn't

care though as the thought that he'd actually do that angered her.

"Understand what?" She retorted. "I don't speak bullshit."

It felt like the world paused for a second. Was that a smile she caught? She couldn't tell

because it came as quickly as it went.

"Get off me." He didn't move. "Get off me now!" She repeated with a firmer voice.

He released her wrists but still hovered near her

"We're going to learn how to control that tongue of yours because I wouldn't have you speaking

to me like that when I become Alpha."

She eyed him and scoffed, searching every corner of her mind for the next scornful thing she

could say to him.

"I'd rather go live in the slums than stay and let you control me. Poor wolves. You couldn't even

lead yourself out of school with good grades let alone these beautiful people...Tsk-tsk."

He got off her almost immediately like her words were hot lava on his skin. He glared at her for

two seconds long and then stormed off, almost tearing the door off its hinges.

She drew a few shaky breaths to calm herself as soon as Marcus left.

He was so terrifying. It took every gut in her to talk back at him and it wasn't as easy as she

made it seem.

Why was he always meddling in her life?