Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 18

He beckoned at me, and I followed him to his bedroom the next door down. I looked around as I entered, noting the absence of the vinyl records, but there was indeed an open luggage case sitting on the table. He was packing light, but surely he didn't think he would get so bored he needed to bring me along on one of his trips, did he?

"Why are you going to Dark Moon?" I asked after closing the door at his gesture.

"There are a few people in the pack I want to speak to. Dark Moon has fingers in both certain sectors of the mining and medical industries."

"Like Wilson? Jack Wilson?" At his raised eyebrow, I added, "He made some kind of big investment a few years back and became popular for it. Something with the hospital system in the next city over from Dark Moon's territory. But what am I going for? Is it because you want me to introduce you to them?"

I hoped not. The higher-ranking werewolves in Dark Moon had never deigned to even look at me, taking extra care only to do so when ridiculing me for my half-breed lineage.

"Not really. I'm sure you can help, but I thought you'd want to visit. It's where you were raised."

Raised... Raised, but that hadn't been life, living under their iron thumb. I lowered my gaze and inspected the carpet, having nothing to say. I tried to appear casual, but Evan saw through it immediately.

"You don't want to go?" he asked. "I know your father was an incompetent bastard who didn't care much for you, but he's worthless to begin with. Didn't you connect with others in the pack?"

I shook my head. "I'm a hybrid. My mother was a slave he r***d. It's not just Alpha Kris - there's no love lost between the rest of them and me, too. I'm a stain not just on the family but on the entire pack. I'm not considered his daughter. I'm a personal slave for his other daughters, my half-sisters. It was only after I came to Scarlet pack that I learned it's not the same for you all."

He stared at me, gaze blank. It was only because I could feel his silent rage radiating like a furnace that I knew his true reaction to everything I had just said.

He motioned for me to sit at the foot of his bed with him, and when I joined, he pressed against me slightly as he leaned close. "That's why you never went to the woods again, isn't it?" he asked. "If you were treated as a slave, you wouldn't have been allowed to wander outside without permission. And humans aren't usually permitted outside by the traditional packs at all except with supervision, since there are so many runaways."

"You looked for me all this time?"

"Ever since that day. I never stopped."

He was wrong about me. I wasn't who he thought I was. But the thought that someone had been searching for me always, even in my darkest hours when Dark Moon would lock me in the basement or cellar or chain me outside when I had done something to make a pack member angry... Tears sprang to my eyes. I had been so alone for so long, but hearing Evan say he had searched for me all this time made it feel less desolate.

Even if he was wrong about me.

"I might have been locked up, but I didn't take it lying down from the start," I told him, feeling the need to show I wasn't some helpless wallflower. "I used to sneak off to the human quarters to play when I was younger. I was supposed to mingle with the higher- ranked slaves only since Alpha Kris hated the idea of someone with his blood being on the very bottom."

"Locked up? What do you mean, locked up? You went to high school. Students come and go."

Had I not mentioned any of this before? "I went to and from school with supervision, but when I returned to the estate, I had my normal slave duties. I'm registered as Alpha Kris's daughter, so legally he had to put me through basic education, but he was going to put me back in the slave quarters once I graduated from high school."

He looked away, and the anger that crashed through him soothed a part of me I hadn't known was even hurt for so long. Even so, I stared at him, wondering how he could be so angry for my sake. It had already happened. There was no point dwelling on it and raging at things that could never be changed.

"Go finish packing, Claudia. We have to take a detour and the roads flooded, so we'll be taking the train. We'll leave in a few hours."

I left without argument. I probably should have told him to give me advance notice next time - what about my classes tomorrow, and my heap of assignments that were due at the end of the week? But my stomach fluttered at the idea of spending time with him alone even if it was on the way back to Dark Moon.

I didn't want to give that up.

"Ava, I'll pack the rest on my own," I told the maid when I returned to my room. "Thank you for your help, but I'll take it from here."

***

I hadn't thought about ever returning to Dark Moon. It was another world now, a distant universe I'd never wanted crossing my mind again. Kris's arrogant indifference and Elly and Maria's constant rage and resentment had become things of the unwanted past. I'd been excited at the idea of traveling anywhere with Evan, but going back to the place I'd wanted to escape for so long, dreaming of freedom even as I cried in my cot, covered with bruises and welts...

That hesitation almost vanished when I discovered Evan had secured seats for us in the same train compartment.

"Claudia? What's wrong? Sit down."

"We're sitting in the same place...?" "Claudia? What's wrong? Sit down."

"Wa'ra sitting in tha sama placa...?"

He frowned at me and pulled me inside, sliding the door closed behind me with his other hand. "What's wrong?" he repeated.

"I'm half-human. I should be sitting in one of the rear cars. They'll see you sitting with me, together." I stressed the last word to impress upon him what he'd done. He must have made a mistake, or maybe he didn't ride trains often. It was my first time too, but this was public transportation, and there were rules in place about this. Maybe in this territory, they weren't law, but they were at least social etiquette that everyone followed.

But he narrowed his eyes at me instead of making any move to correct his mistake. "It was intentional," he said, his flat tone brooking no argument. "And you'll sit here with me regardless of who sees."

My heart flipped, and I sat in the seat opposite him without another word until dinner arrived. I was too nervous to say anything in case he changed his mind, but he never did.

"You should sleep while you can. We have a little farther to go. The detour is long since the bridges are all flooded."

It was still very late and indeed, my eyes were slipping closed. I nestled against the window and let the passing world of darkness outside lull me to sleep.

I must still have been anxious, though. The dream that came to me was a memory, one of the afternoon when I'd enrolled in my freshman year. Enraged at the idea of attending the same high school as me, Elly and Maria had forced me to strip, then threw my clothes into the equipment shed.

"If only you were a proper werewolf," they had jeered. "Then you could shift and go get your clothes. What are you going to do now?"

I'd cowered in the locker room for hours until the kindly custodian lent me her coat. When I finally returned home, I discovered Elly and Maria had lied, saying they didn't know where I'd gone.

Alpha Kris ordered me beaten for trying to run away. I sobbed against the wall as two of the human slaves slapped me and pulled my hair until he was satisfied. I didn't know how long it lasted, but when I limped back down the hallway, Elly and Maria were nowhere to be seen, sleeping peacefully in their beds.

I awoke with a start. Evan was standing in front of me, hand on my shoulder.

"You're crying," he said. "Are you having a bad dream?"

I nodded before I could stop myself. I should have pretended nothing was wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to regret it when he leaned over and pressed a long, gentle kiss to my forehead. So warm...

He straightened and draped a soft blanket over my shoulders, making sure it covered everything below.

"We hit a cold front," he said lightly. "Stay warm."