Page 114 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts. It would be Diedre. She was the only one polite enough to knock before she unlocked the door. Or it would be Dylan, ready to do the job he had been told he could do. Kill her and be done with it.

But why would Jackson want to kill her when he made love to her like that? Because she knew this dangerous secret? She didn’t want to be there in the first place, so how was that fair?

The knock came again, and then a soft, familiar voice announced that she had brought breakfast.

“Come in,” she called out.

When the key turned, and the door opened, she saw the girl who had prepared her lunch tray when Jackson had taken her to the kitchen. She was also the one who had told her to prepare for dinner the night she had tried to escape in the storm, she was sure. The voice was the same.

The girl smiled briefly before taking the tray to the table, and then she started to walk out again. She was young, maybe about Britney’s age. Why was she stuck working in the kitchen when they were terrified of Jackson?

“Wait,” she called out.

The girl tensed and slowly turned around. She didn’t seem like the three girls who had beaten her up. She was calmer. Submissive, even. She looked like someone bullies like Jackson could easily pick on. But it was also possible that she was a werewolf and just as capable of hurting her as any of them.

“Yes, Miss?” the girl said softly.

“You’re the one who’s been preparing my food?” she asked as she stood from the edge of the bed.

“Yes.”

“Thank you,” she said as she stepped closer. “But don’t you have to be at school or something? Why are you working in this place?”

“I already graduated.”

She inched closer again. The girl seemed a little skittish; she didn’t want to scare her away.

“You don’t want to go to college?”

“I’m going. Alp... Mr King helped me find one not too far from home, but I decided to take a year off first. I guess I’m not ready,” the girl shrugged. “I just help out around the packhouse when I’m needed.”

She didn’t know what to react to first. Jackson had helped this girl? And this was a ‘packhouse’? She stored that information to freak out about it when she was alone and nodded at the girl as if she’d made sense.

“It can be scary heading out alone,” she agreed. “It’s probably scarier for your parents, though. My sister is graduating this year, and I’m already shitting myself thinking about it.”

The girl smiled briefly and then composed herself as if she wasn’t allowed to do that.

“What’s your name again?”

“Faith,” the girl answered.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll kill it out there when you're ready, Faith.”

Faith smiled again, more brightly than before. She looked back at the door before she met her gaze properly for the first time.

“I haven’t been away from home before. What’s it like?” she asked quietly.

“Believe it or not, I’ve never been away from home, either. This is my first time, and when Britney graduates, I’ll finally see the world,” she answered truthfully.

If she lived that long. She ignored that voice and concentrated on the matter at hand.

Faith looked more relaxed now. Her shoulders had loosened, and she had moved closer to her.

“Mum was a little upset that I want to be a doctor as I’ll be away longer than most people. She’s happy running around here, but I want more, even if it’s terrifying me. I hope that I’ll be as excited as you are when the time comes for me to leave.”

Medical school? Impressive.

Though she intended to get more information from the girl, she realised this was the first relaxed conversation she’d had with anyone since she arrived. There was nothing intimidating about Faith; her gentle aura made her want to keep talking to her.

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