Eero's perspective
He wasn't smiling. The grim look was still up on his face, but I could feel his sincerity.
Because of my mate's betrayal together with my sister and my family giving me off to the Alpha like a broodmare, I should have learned my lesson. I should never trust anyone again. Anyone who wasn't myself was not worthy of my trust and this man standing before my eyes was labeled by everyone as the cruel Alpha.
But I wanted to trust him. My wolf was telling me that we could trust him, at least while I was staying here as his breeder.
"How can I be certain that you will do exactly as you say, Alpha Claudius?" I asked. It was a relief that I managed to say those without stuttering or my voice breaking out of nervousness.
"You have my word," he said as if those should be enough for me, but it was not. And yet, I knew that I was not entitled to ask a follow-up question to him.
I grabbed the spoon from the bed and then slowly crawled to where my food was.
I heard the Alpha click his tongue just before I could finish chewing the first spoon of food that I willingly brought to my mouth ever since I got here.
"There is no need for me to read your mind. Your face says it all." He trailed his words. I swallowed my food and looked up at him.
"What does my face say, Alpha?"
Alpha Claudius crouched and with the sudden closed proximity between our faces, it felt like I lost the ability to breathe.
"Your face says that you don't trust me. You are already thinking the worst of me, Eero."
"I am sorry." I lowered my head.
"I didn't mean to. It's just that after everything that happened to me before we got here..." I took my time and even swallowed a lump in my throat.
"I think I have all the right to be reserved and somehow a bit protective of myself."
"You think that I won't follow our deal."
"I am curious, though. If I give birth to your pup, it means that I am their mother too." I wrapped my finger around the spoon that I was using as I breathed deeply.
I required the right amount of courage to say this to him.
"Why would you kill the mother of your pups, Alpha?" There it went. I managed to find the courage to ask him that, but then the door to the room where I was staying cracked open. The beta of the pack walked in, and Alpha Claudius stood up straight.
"Is it time for us to leave?" He asked him. They were having a conversation that I couldn't understand.
"Everything is set. Tonight, we will wipe out those traitors and burn their little town."
I didn't know what to do with the information that I got. One thing was for sure. It was floating around my head for days while I was recovering.
"Where are we off to, Miss Cielo?" I asked the female butler of the pack house. The Alpha hasn't been married yet, hence he overlooked the omega who was doing all the work, such as cleaning, cooking, and even washing their clothes.
A few minutes later, we stopped in front of a shabby room.
"This room is all yours. This room will be your home until you have fulfilled the agreement between you and the Alpha."
I couldn't say anything. I looked at the window and at the door. I doubted that those were sturdy enough to keep me safe.
I knew what was waiting for me in this place. It was danger.
"Why can't I just stay in the first room that I used while I was recovering?" I asked.
I looked around in an attempt to convince myself that I'd be safe here, but I just couldn't.
"I don't want to stay here. I am scared. What if someone breaks in? What if someone tried to v-violate me again, Miss Cielo?" The thought of another man touching me without my consent like what Trevor did was killing me already.
I didn't want that to happen again.
"I am sorry, Eero. If there is something I can do for you, I would have done it, but there are things in our pack that I can't intervene with even if I want to, and this is one of them." She flashed a warm smile that reminded me of how a mother should smile to comfort her child.
"Just lock the door. You'll be fine."
I nodded my head. That was all I could do at the moment.
I already had my dinner before Miss Cielo sent me here. It was time for bed. I was about to get in bed after I changed into a thin white sleeping dress when I heard a knock.
Hope lit up within me, thinking that it was probably Miss Cielo, that she had found a way to get me out of here, but I froze, and I automatically took a step back when I saw the familiar face of a man.
He was a delta that should be guarding the gates. He shouldn't be here.
"Good evening, Eero."
"What are you doing here?"
"It could get pretty lonely in here at night. I came to keep you entertained," he said as he eyed me with those pair of lusty eyes.
I noticed that he has no braid yet. It meant that he was not a delta yet, but a trainee. His wolf was weaker than mine. I was the Alpha's daughter. In my blood ran a force that I could use to make another wolf scared of me.
Just by looking at him straight in the eyes, he took a step back. I could feel him backing out and when I charged towards his direction growling at him. The trainee completely ran away.
"I did it. I protected myself. I did it!"