Hello my amazing reader! How's life going? I know it's been a while but now I'm back! And I hope I won't take long in updating again.

06. Blackmailing is my past time

"Wake up,"

"Five more minutes, mom," I mumble and bury my face in the pillows

"Get up, Hazel."

"I'm not Hazel, leme sleep," I swat away the hand shaking my shoulder

"Get up right now or I'm going to throw a bucket of water at you!" An angry voice commands

My eyes snap open and the first thing they focus on are two orbs of deep, dark blue glaring at me.

A scream escapes my mouth and instinctively my hand goes up but Luke catches my wrist in his hand before my palm could meet his face.

"Have you," he says slowly, jaw clenched tight "lost your mind?"

"You startled me!" I say as he drops my wrist and steps back

Luke straightens and folds his arms behind his back, looking down at me with supreme disappointment.

"So, why the hell did you wake me up?" I say, stretching my arms over my head

"We're going for a run."

My eyes go round with shock "We?"

"We. Meaning you and I." Luke says, his face serious "hurry up, we've wasted enough time already."

"But-But you're a Lycan Alpha!" I say "you're going to complete a round of the plant before I can say 'breakfast'!"

"I'm a Lycan Alpha, am I?" He says, I nod "well, you forgot to mention that I'm your Alpha. That's an order, get up now."

Luke goes out of the room and I fall back on the mattress with a groan of frustration.

After a quick shower, I don't bother drying my hair and put it in a pony tail before rushing out of my room into Luke's.

We go out of the mansion and instantly, a cold shudder passes through me. The sun is barely up.

"We will take three rounds of the 10 miles surrounding the mansion." Luke says to me "it should take about 20 minutes."

"Fine," I say "let's shift."

Luke turns to me and raises an eyebrow "Who said we will shift?"

"10 miles, 3 times in 20 minutes without shifting?" I stare at him with wide eyes "that's impossible! I mean, yeah I'm a werewolf with supernatural speed, but that doesn't mean I'm a machine! And it's 6 in the morning! And without breakfast? I'm telling you, it's madness─

And then I suddenly feel my mouth movement being restricted due to something warm pressing again my lips.

"Shut up," Luke's warm breath hits my face, his finger still pressed to my lips "Who am I?"

"Alpha Luke Winters?" I say, moving my lips with difficulty, the man has strong fingers I'm telling you

"And as your Alpha, I say what we do," his voice is hushed by silence "Understood?"

"Yes Alpha," I whisper

"What are we going to do?" His dark, deep blue eyes bore into my own, I can feel the heat radiating from him

"Run without shifting,"

He stares at me for a moment, with the haughty superiority and authority of an Alpha male, then;

"Good."

"One questions, Sir?" I ask, he nods "Why are we whispering?"

His finger drops from my mouth, face slack for one moment. I grin at him. He scowls.

"Let's get to work,"

***

"Tell my.... Mother that.... It was me who... Ate the chocolate icecream.... In the nights," I huff as I crawl after Luke "And I want... To be buried.... Away from this God forsaken pack..."

"Hazel, get up." Luke crosses his arms across his well built chest and looks down at my sweaty state

For the record, I am not really crawling, I'm just walking very slowly.

"I can't." I huff out

Luke stares at me for a moment and then turns towards the mansion that seems tiny from here.

"Where are you going?" I call after him

He turns around and gives me a passive look "I have no time to waste on pathetic little Omegas."

Anger surges through me like a high tide, crashing away my tiredness. Gritting my teeth, I straighten myself and jog over to him only to pass him and go towards the mansion.

"What are you waiting for, Sir?" I call back "we need to go back!"

Finally, with award worthy effort, I reach my room─ or just Luke's room and collaspe on the bed.

Luke walks in, as fresh as a cucumber and as cool as a peppermint. He spares me a glance before going to the closet, not bothered in the least that I'm on his bed.

"I have a question, Sir." I say to him

"To seem to have a lot of those," he says

"Why didn't you shift?"

I see the muscles of his back tighten just slightly, his posture becomes stiff. I notice that change in the room's atmosphere.

Maybe that wasn't the best question...

"That is not your problem," he says, withheld anger clear in his voice

Anger issues alert!

I swallow inaudibly, I know what happens when Alpha's lose their heads "Yes Sir,"

"Go and get me breakfast," Luke says "eggs, bacon and a mug of black coffee. Don't take long."

"But I─

He pins me with a death glare, I clamp my lips shut and narrow my eyes at him.

With a huff, I get off the bed but my legs wobble under me and I fall face first on the carpeted floor.

"Damn," I mumble as I rub my nose

"Careful," Luke takes my small hand in his, funny our hands fit together just right "I don't want you to immobilize yourself and complain that you can't work."

Grumbling to myself I go down in the kitchen where a few other Omegas are cooking as well.

One of the perks of being an Omega; You learn how to cook─ fast.

***

Crash!

"Another?" A male Omega, probably someone's mate, glares at me, his Italian accent flaring "you broke another plate?!"

"Sorry!" I say, hurriedly picking up the pieces "it just happens!"

"No, no, no!" He says "not another damage, you understand?"

"No promises," I say sheepishly as I put Luke's breakfast in a tray, grab the coffee and hurriedly get out

Well, just because I can cook doesn't mean it doesn't come with a price.

When I enter the room I almost drop the tray.

"You took your time," Luke says, not looking at me as he picks up a black dress shirt "are you just going to keep standing there? Put it on the table."

I give my head a brief shake and avoid looking at the shameless Alpha buttoning up his shirt in front of me.

Seriously? What would he do if I start changing clothes in front of him?

I glance at Luke, now dressed in a dress shirt, dark slacks and an office jacket looking through a folder, eyebrows pulled together.

He'll tell me to hurry up and not waste time, I scowl at the thought but go back outside

"Wait," a deep voice calls me back

I turn around to see Luke holding out a thin piece of cloth to me.

"A tie?" I hold it up, then realization hits me "you want me to do your tie?!"

Luke raises an eyebrow, eyes gleaming with challenge "Is that a problem, Hazel?"

"Not at all, Sir." I grit out

Hesitantly, I take a step closer to him and reach up to put the tie around his neck. Goddess, he's almost as tall as a camel! I have to stand on my toes to reach him!

"Can't you just bend down a little?" I finally say

"Alphas don't bow to anyone."

Can I chock him with this tie?

I give him a hard look, he returns in with ten times intensity.

"Fine," I grab him by the collar and more out of shock than force, Luke stumbles towards me

I stand up on the bed and look down at him with a sweet smile. This is much better.

I quickly do his tie, avoiding looking into his stormy blue eyes following my every movement.

"There!" I say happily

I step off the bed and grin at Luke, he simply goes over to the breakfast tray and picks up his coffee.

"Another pack is coming in the afternoon," he tells me casually "dress appropriately."

"Why?" I ask with an arched eyebrow

"When I receive them, you're going to be with me." He says, his dark blue eyes threatening to see through me

I look down at my jogging gear. Though I couldn't give a damn about what anyone would think of my dressing, dressing good wouldn't be so bad. I simply nod and go to my room.

I look through my bag and pull out a cream coloured top, a fluffy white skirt and quickly get dressed. I fix my hair and let it down. And done!

Now, what should I have for my own breakfast?

As I go down the stairs, I catch a familiar scent. I halt in my steps, my eyes dart around and land on a man in warrior uniform and brown hair.

He seems to notice me too and looks up, blue eyes meet my own and the next thing I know, I'm racing down the stairs into my Bestie's arms.

"Carlos!" I say, warping both arms around him tightly "Oh my moon, what are you doing here?"

"Same goes for you, Elise." He says but hugs me back just as tightly "on second thought, never mind, I'm just happy to see you."

"So am I brother," I grin as I pull away "anyways, I didn't see you before."

"The pack warriors are staying at another house just a few meters away." He says "who did you come with?"

I wave at him dismissively "Doesn't matter. But what matters is whether or not you'd take me sight seeing?"

Carlos puts on a thinking expression "I don't know..."

I clasp my hands together under my chin and give him the best puppy eyes I can muster.

"Fine!" he throws his hands up in the air "Goddess you're such a blackmailer!"

"Blackmailing is my past time," I wink and grab his arm, dragging him outside

***

When Luke said the trip would be worth it, he wasn't kidding. After going around for hours and hours, from one rippling stream to the next grassy land slope, from one majestic hill with little adorable houses to the next, a loud rumble interrupts us.

"Damn, I feel like my stomach is eating itself," I slump against Carlos

"Come on, let's get you some breakfast." He puts his arm around my shoulders and takes me to a little tea shop at the bank of a stream.

As I devour my food, Carlos tells me about this Alpha's Hunt.

"So," I swallow my food "they send duos from each pack on an eight week journey through an enchanted forest?"

Carlos nods "Shifting is forbidden, they put a spell on them to make sure of that. And all you get is one map of the forest."

"Sounds simple enough," I shrug "anyways, what time is it?"

"Almost 4 pm, why?" He asks

I stop eating, a deep voice rings in my ears.

When I receive them, you're going to be with me...

"Oh my moon, the guests!" I get up "we need to go back, right now!"

"What happened?" Carlos says as he puts the bill on the table and stands up

"Shit, dude. Knee deep shit." I say as I grab his arm and start running in the direction of the pack house

When we reach the mansion, I see cars lining up in front of the gates.

Crap! Crap! Crap!

"Isn't there another way inside?" I ask Carlos

"Come on," he grabs my hand and races towards the back side of the mansion

"The kitchen back door," he nods towards it

"Thank you!" I hug him tightly once and then bolt inside

From the kitchen, I peek outside and see Alpha, Luna and Luke there، along with the rest of our crew. Strange, a few more members of our pack are here. When did they come?

As if sensing my presence, dark, stormy blue eyes turn my way. Taking a deep breath, I walk over to Luke and stand besides him just as the guests start coming.

Luke leans towards me and whispers "We are going to talk about this,"

I gulp inaudibly and offer him an apologetic smile. He doesn't look happy.

"Alpha Ethan!" Alpha Jax clasps the hand of a young man with brilliant blond hair and blue eyes "it's a pleasure to meet you again,"

"The pleasure is all mine, Sir." Alpha Ethan nods with a bright smile

Then he turns to Luke with the same polite smile but Luke's expressions don't change. Talk about being rude!

"Ah, Luke. Serious as ever, I see." Alpha Ethan shakes Luke's hand

Then his eyes swim to me and I give him a smile.

"Good afternoon, Alpha," I stick out my hand for him to shake "it's an honor to meet you."

He raises an eyebrow, eyes dancing with a strange sort of amusement.

Suddenly the room feels thick with tension, all my pack members─ Omegas and others combined, along with Alpha Ethan's pack stare at me.

Mom's voice floats to my head;

Remember Elise, when you greet a higher rank, you bow your head and greet them. Don't look them in the eyes!

A gasp leaves my mouth and I instantly bow "S-Sorry!"

A small chuckle reaches me and I straighten myself.

"And who might the lovely lady be?" Alpha Ethan takes my hand in his and brushes a kiss to my knuckles

Luke's hand comes down on my shoulder with more than necessary force and pulls me back a little.

"This is Elise," he looks at me instead of Alpha Ethan, and I realize this is the first time he said my name

A strange warmth blossoms in my chest, leaving my slightly breathless.

What is happening to me?

"She's my assistant for the time being." Luke says, turning his stormy gaze to the blond Alpha

"Really? Then we will surely meet again, Elise." He smiles at me "and I will look forward to it."

***

Sneak peek!

Luke narrows his eyes at me, then take a deep breath. The storm in his eyes intensifies. Oh dear.

"Who were you with?" He asks

"Umm, a friend of mine." I say, trying to stop my heart from beating it's way out of my chest

***

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