"I suggest you let her go if you want to keep your entire hand." Asra snarled, furious.

A shiver ran down my spine as he pressed himself into my back. I felt every hard plane of his body, and the way his chest widened as he sized up the male. The male's eyes widened, but before he could let go, Asra was grabbing his wrist and snapping it. The crunching and cracking of his bone hurt my ears, and the man yelled in pain.

I stumbled in fright, pushing my body more into Asra to get away from the sickening sight. My stomach churned as the male's hand now stood at an angle from the wrist, Asra's fingers still tightly wrapped around it.

"You do as I say." Asra snarled.

"Yes, Alpha." The male whimpered.

Asra growled, not letting go. "Touch her again and I shall do more than just break it."

"Yes, Alpha."

The male was wincing with pain but bowed to his alpha, apologising profusely. Asra's anger was permeating the mate bond, my body weirdly noticing it. He whimpered once when Asra threw his arm to the side, before running away with his tail between his legs. Asra was silent as he watched him go, only turning to me after he snapped at the crowd.

"Back to what you were doing." He glared.

I stepped away from him the moment his attention was elsewhere, but as soon as I did, he grabbed a hold of me. His dark eyes studied me, his spare hand moving to caress my jaw. I flinched at the contact, knowing what that hand had just accomplished.

"Tulip..."

I swallowed nervously, holding his gaze. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

My jaw ticked with agitation. I was perfectly fine doing my job and protecting my co-workers and he had to come and snap some damn man's wrist to show that he was the boss. It was infuriating, making me seem weak in front of two dozen people.

"It's fine. I had it handled." I grunted.

"Yes, bad-mouthing a male unmated wolf is really clever." He rolled his eyes. "You nearly got hurt."

"I didn't." I glared. "It was me or her."

He studied me, wonder lighting up his eyes. I kept my gaze steady, eyes narrowed as I dared him to continue. I knew if I stood my own, I had a chance of looking strong. Darius hated it when I stood up for myself, and a deep part of me feared if Asra would ever do the same. But ever so slowly, his lips quirked with amusement.

"You get yourself into trouble, Tulip." He tutted, squeezing my cheeks. "You are a troublemaker."

I couldn't help but smile at his lack of care. I expected retaliation, if not for my ability to get into trouble, but by the way I spoke to him. I shrugged him off, losing my glare and replacing it with a smirk of my own.

"I attract trouble, I know." I clicked my tongue.

His thumb moved down to capture my lower lip, pulling it before he let go. "Yes. You do. I think I may need to leash you to my room."

"Like to see you try." I hummed, stepping away from him. "Did you enjoy dinner?"

His jaw tensed at the reminder of my latest hobby, but he nodded. "It was the best chilli I've ever had."

I grinned. "The best?"

"Yes. I would say so," He huffed. "Although I am not happy about you-

I cut him off, pecking his cheek. "Thanks!"

He paused, blinking at my sudden advance. "I really think we should talk about-

I spun around, diverting my attention to find a distraction. I made eye contact with the girl who was approached by the offending male, seeing her still stuck like glue, to the spot we left her in.

"You okay, yeah?" I asked her, ignoring Asra's heated glare.

"Thank you." She muttered, nodding.

"Of course." I shook my head. "He had no right to treat you like that when you are just trying to get some food."

She blushed, avoiding looking at the alpha wolf as she took her plate to a table. I admired the group of them as they animatedly chattered over their dinner. I had taken care of most of the cleaning, so they did not need to worry about cleaning up. I was skilled in taking care of the kitchen, so I already sorted everything in that sense.

"You..." Asra began.

"Me?" I hummed, looking up at him.

"You did a good thing for her." He quirked an eyebrow. "Although it is very against every rule here."

"I know. First of many, hey?" I cut him off again.

He glowered at my ability to avoid his lecture, and I grinned innocently. "Tulip..."

"Butterscotch..."

He blinked, confused, his head rearing at the nickname. "Butterscotch?"

I shrugged. "I thought we were using nicknames."

"And butterscotch is the first thing you came up with?"

"Well... yeah." I nodded.

"Why?" He wondered.

I shrugged, turning to grab my plate from Serenity. She bowed for her alpha, her half-wolf side recognising his status.

"Your dinner, Ailia." She handed me my plate.

"Oh, thank you Ren!" I beamed, taking the plate from her.

"Why butterscotch?" He insisted, following me.

I eyed him from over my shoulder as I made my way over to a table. "You figure it out."

Asra stared at me, unblinking. The humans sat at the table had paused mid-dinner, their eyes wide and heads bowed. I frowned, not liking the way they hid from him. He must have some reputation if they were like this. Turning my frown to Asra, he cleared his throat before nodding.

"I will see you after this. I expect you in my office, Ailia." He muttered to me, his hand resting on my back. "We have things to discuss your actions today."

Okay, father, I thought, amused.

"Sorry, no can do." I shrugged, sitting down. "I have to help make dinner for the pack! It's none stop in there with the lack of workers. I will only get two coins and I need those so badly to have a meal later or tomorrow... Did you know some humans have fallen ill? I wonder why..."

His eyes blazed with agitation, his back tensing at my comments. I knew he was smart enough to realise I was hinting at the poor living and working conditions. I made it rather clear, if I'm honest. I would not listen to him. I was a human, and I was going to live like one of them until he realised it wasn't right.

It wasn't like we were at war. That was over with. Humans and wolves needed to live in peace. Life here for me has been so good, so others deserve that, too. Such little pay is preposterous, and being worked like slaves is even worse. Asra must've had a reputation, and I needed to find out more before I let him get any closer. The way people reacted to him had me wary.

"I will see you after dinner." He deadpanned before stepping away.

Asra excused himself, his hand lingering on my back before he walked towards his beta in the corner. Rio smirked at me almost knowingly, before capturing his alpha's attention in a conversation. I hadn't even noticed the man was here, too preoccupied with Asra to look around.

I settled into my chair, grabbing a fork and beginning my lunch. The surrounding girls began to eat too, their pace fast, as though someone was about to steal the food away from them. I frowned, wondering when the last time they had a proper meal was. Serenity had claimed they stole titbits of food, so I was worried about their health.

Asra would wait a while for me, because I would not go to him. If he wanted to talk so badly to me, he was going to have to learn he can't boss me around. I have been bossed and controlled my entire adult and teenage life. It was time for me to be the boss. He couldn't hurt me, it was engrained in his DNA. I had the upper hand, because I did not feel so strongly about him.

Or so I thought.

***

I let out a loud sigh of relief when my body melted in the shower. The water was warm and soothed my aching muscles. I was back in the room I had previously occupied, finding it empty apart from sheets on the bed.

I ran shampoo through my hair, moaning quietly at the feeling of being so clean.

My limbs ached with the need to rest and get off my feet, but it was a welcome burn that reminded me of the happy days when I worked in Evermore. Just like in Evermore, I forced myself to wash before going to sleep, cleaning the grime and sweat away from my body. The kitchen had been hot. Cooking all day with only one break in May time had definitely got me burning some energy.

Closing my eyes, I savoured the feeling of cooling down my body, begging for it. I had only just washed the soap from my hair when the water suddenly cut off. Blind, my soapy hands could not rub away the stings of soap in my eyes.

"What the f-

I never got to finish that sentence. Someone grabbed me from behind, my heart leaping into my throat as they wrapped a towel around me. Still blind to the soap, I did not know who was throwing me over their shoulder. They trapped my arms in the towel, my head banging against their back. The tingles that ran along my forehead calmed my nerves immediately.

"You sure do like to test me, Tulip," Asra snapped.

"Hey!"

I grunted, unable to pull my arms free. I heard the click of a light switch before he pulled a door open. The softness of what I expected to be carpet muted his heavy footsteps. He had one hand firmly wrapped around my body, securing itself on my ass. Somehow, despite only using half his body, he kept me firmly on his shoulder. It was weirdly attractive and only made me squirm to get out of his hold.

"Where are you bloody taking me?" I hissed.

Asra was silent, marching me to an impending doom. I half expected my body to react in fear, but surprisingly, I felt calm. Call it the mate bond or magic. I knew he would not hurt me intentionally.

A door opened softly, the room still dark, going by the shadows on my eyelids. My soapy, wet hair was trailing down toward the ground, coating Asra's shirt. Finally, a light clicked on, followed by the rushing of water. I barely had time to register what was happening before I planted on my feet and thrown into the cold.

I screeched, jumping out of it with surprise. "What the hell?"

Asra growled, and I aimlessly reached out to find the dials to turn the water. I could tell right away I was back in his en-suite by the smoothness of the shower controls. I fumbled for the right one, my mind a mess from being dragged here upside down.

A slap of something hitting the floor had me freeze, my hands glued to the wall. I felt Asra's warmth come up behind me, an arm snaking over my shoulder as he reached for the dial. The water changed its noise and soon I felt the warm splatters of the shower ricochet on my skin instead.

Stepping toward the source, it alarmed me when my body hit bare skin. I was moved to the water, my head covered in soap as the water poured down on me. My eyes burned as I scrubbed the soap from my hair, too long being coated in suds to not ache. One clear, through blurry vision, I scoured my surroundings, only to be taken aback with alarm when a very blurry naked man stood behind me.