Page 15 of Betrayed By the Alpha

A sound caught her attention, the crunch of dried leaves. Hayley looked over to the hedges. They were wild and overgrown. The gardener had stopped coming since there was no one to pay him after Hayley left. Greta decided she would do it herself, and Hayley appreciated her for being hardworking, but Greta was terrible at it. Hayley made a mental note to hire a gardener soon, as well as maids to do the house cleaning because she didn’t like Greta having to do everything.

"Hold on." Hayley was sure she saw someone hiding behind the bushes. "Hey Zach, is that you?" Her reply was a panicked squeak, and the person burst into a run. She knew immediately it wasn’t Zack. The Alpha wolf would never run from her. "Hey, stop!" she shouted and went after him, but he was faster—way faster. "You know, I could glue your feet to the ground! I know a spell for that." Occasionally, Hayley lost touch with her true identity. After years of blending in with humans, she had mastered the art of concealing her abilities, even when alone, out of fear of being discovered by humans. There were hundreds of paranormal towns in the world, but the humans didn’t know, and it was better that way. Once a paranormal stepped out of their town, they must immediately act just like any human until they returned.

Hayley decided to let him go. As long as there was no damage done—she hoped—she didn’t have to worry about him. She walked back to her door, and was about to walk in, but she noticed something lying on the floor.

"A letter?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You didn’t have to be so sneaky just to leave a letter." She went down to pick itup. The letter had no address, and the only words written on a black envelope that said, ‘Hayley Green.’ "Well, that’s me," she said. Her eyes scanned through the letter. A particular sentence caught her attention straight away.

Return to the city if you want to stay alive.

Hayley chuckled. "Is this a joke?"

"Hayley!" She immediately squeezed the paper and tucked it into her back pocket when she heard Greta’s voice. "Are you back? You won’t believe what just arrived for you!" She had never heard the elderly woman sound this excited, not even when Hayley returned to Bellefleur.

"I’m c—coming." She looked back, studying the same path she had seen the hooded man hiding. Hayley sighed. She would handle that later. She walked into the house, shutting the door behind her.

"A letter arrived for you today," Greta said. "It’s from the Mayor!" She announced excitedly, waving a piece of paper wildly.

"Bruce?"

"Yes, he has invited you to the biannual moon festival at his grand hall."

Hayley let out a shout of joy. "Really? Are you serious?" She ran and snatched the letter out of Greta’s hands. "This is real. I can’t believe this. Why would he even invite me? I thought only rich people and celebrities attended the festival, I’m not even a werewolf. Why would they want me?" She took the paper from Greta and scrolled through the invitation. She was flattered that they even thought of her when planning the invitation letters.

"You are the ‘rich people,’ Hayley. I guess they deem you worthy now that you will be getting your inheritance."

She scoffed. "Deem me worthy? I don’t know if I should be insulted or flattered by that." Hayley chuckled. "But I’m excited. This is going to be fun and help take my mind off things. I can’t wait—Hold up now."

"What?"

"Over here, the last line says I have to show up with my mate." She looked up from the paper to Greta. "What is that about?"

"Surely you don’t expect to attend the moon festival without your mate by your side. To the wolves, the moon festival is a huge celebration, eighty-five percent of werewolves find their mate in the moon festival."

"Where did you get your statistics?"

"Somewhere…" Greta shrugged.

Hayley bit her lower lip as she delved into her thoughts. "I don’t know about this. But I’m tired, I’ll think of it later. I need a shower and a few hours of sleep."

"Okay, darling."

Hayley took off her shirt when she got to her room, flinging it to a corner close to her wardrobe. She walked lazily to her bathroom, taking off her clothes completely before she stepped inside. Hayley took a quick shower and rushed to collapse on her bed after drying her body, stark naked. She closed her eyes to sleep but then remembered something. Her eyes moved to her windows; they were open.

She jumped up, remembering that Zach could show up at the oddest time, walk in and find her naked. He would never let her hear the end of it if that happened. She rushed to grabthe first gown she got her hands on and threw it over her head. "Better," she said to herself, but instead of going back to sleep, she decided to call her friend.

Elena answered on the first ring. "Hey, Hayley, how are you?"

"I’m fine," Hayley answered, sitting on her bed. "But—" she dragged out the word. "—there’s a problem."

"What happened?"

"I got an invitation from the Mayor to attend the moon festival."

"Girl!Lucky you."

"That’s what I thought until I found out I must come with my mate. What do I do about that?"

"You take your mate. Isn’t that what this whole deal with Zach is all about?"

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