Page 19 of Betrayed By the Alpha

"I was about to go to sleep. I decided to make sure the doors and windows were locked. With the news of these bandits in town, one can't feel too safe. I thought I saw someone hiding behind the bushes, but when I went to check it out, I found no one. Instead, I saw this. A letter addressed to you."

Though Hayley remained in her spot and hadn't seen the letter yet, she already knew what it was. She hoped the letters would stop coming after she didn't see them for a few days. She had managed to hide the rest from Greta because she didn't want her to worry.

Hayley immediately regretted her words as they left her mouth. "Is it another threatening letter?" she asked, realizing the weight of her question. Greta was quick to understand what she meant.

Her frown deepened. "Another? What do you mean by another threatening letter, Hayley? There are more? How long have you been getting these and didn’t tell me?"

"It's nothing," she said quickly, but Greta was already alarmed. "Hayley, tell me everything," she demanded.

They stared at each other, fighting a battle with just their eyes. Hayley finally backed down and sighed. "The other day when I returned from a run, I found a letter similar to that one. I've gotten a few more since then, but don't worry, it's probably just someone trying to mess with me. It's nothing." Hayley took the paper out of Greta's hand and threw it away. "Don't let this disturb you. I have a lot of haters, especially those who laughed at me years ago. They just hate that my life is going fine. My job is to ignore them."

"Yes, ignore them. But not when it becomes a threat to your life. This—" Greta hit the paper with her index finger, "—is serious!"

"Greta—"

"No, Hayley, I'm disappointed that you didn't tell me about this. This is serious. Whoever this is, they are a dangerous person. I don't care if they are serious about the threat or not. The fact that they took time out of their day just to do this? That's enough reason to be worried."

"Greta, I know it's just—"

"What about Zach? Maybe he's behind this."

"No, no." Hayley said quickly. "I was with Zach all night. He would never do something like this." The man was weird enough to get into her room through the window, but Zach would never threaten her, not the Zach she had dinner with. He didn't need to say it, but she knew he would never do anything to hurt her purposely. Not anymore at least.

"You were with Zach?" Greta sounded surprised. It was then that Hayley remembered she had lied about her whereabouts that evening. "I thought you told me you were going to see Elena?"

"I lied. I’m sorry. Zach and I are going to the biannual moon festival together as mates. We just thought we should get to know each other better."

Greta nodded slowly. "Okay, Hayley. Is there anything else you want to tell me, like another secret? I've never known you to be secretive, but it seems it's all I have been getting from you since you returned. Is that a new thing you learned in the city?"

"Greta, I didn't mean to. But you don't trust Zach. You think he's evil and—"

"And what do you think about him? Do you trust him? Do you think he has good intentions?"

Hayley sighed, shaking her head. She couldn't handle Greta right now. She could see that Greta's anger was fueled with worry from the letters. Hayley decided to walk away before they got into a fight.

"I'm sorry it seems I've been lying to you a lot lately. But don't let this worry you at all, okay? I’ll be fine. Now, I'm going to get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow, and we can talk."

She walked past the woman, heading for the stairs. "Won't you have something to eat at least?"

"I already did. I promise. Goodnight, Greta, sleep well." She hurried up the stairs to get to her room, afraid she would follow her. Greta was just as stubborn as her. In fact, Hayley believed that's where she got her stubbornness from. When she arrived in her room, and as she took off her jewelry, Hayley noticed she had a missed call and a text message from Zach.

Hayley, please if you won't answer my calls, at least reply to my text, and let me know you got home safely.

"Why does he even care?" she asked out loud. Hayley felt it was her fault. If she could go back in time, she would have turned down his invitation, or at least suggested that they had dinner at her place. She knew Greta would be keeping watch and prevent something from happening.

She debated on texting him back. Her fingers hovered over her phone. She thought back over their evening, feeling embarrassed for losing her cool. She felt she had acted like a teenager who had no control over her emotions. Though hedid her wrong two years ago, Zach had been amazing recently. She knew he had gone to lengths to make tonight perfect, even cooking for her, and she felt bad to have repaid him by nearly turning his house upside down. Thankfully, he managed to calm her down.

I’m already home, Zach.

She read the text over again, before hitting the send button. After that, Hayley went straight to sleep, not bothering to take off her clothes.

The next day, Hayley was determined to forget everything and have fun with her friend at the mall. She’d hardly spent any time with Elena since she returned. The inheritance, Zach and the Mayor’s invitation had taken up all her thoughts, and she felt a bit guilty. She decided the best way to make it up to Elena was to spend time doing one of their favorite things in the world—shopping. The festival was fast approaching, and she wanted to have everything ready.

When she woke up that morning, she called her friend and soon, they walked together, arm in arm, into the store.

"Oh my gosh!" Hayley jumped when she heard a loud squeal behind her. "Miss Green, It's been years. Where have you been?" When she turned around, she was greeted by a super hyper teenager. "Welcome to the store, Miss Hayley Green"

"Hi…" Hayley knew the face, but she couldn’t remember the name. "Yeah. I spent some time away from here…How about you—" She looked at the girl's name tag, which was pinned to her baby pink overall.

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