Page 8 of Knot my Alphas

“I must check in with my spiders now,” he says. “I haven’t been able to go through the updates since leaving the Solveigs’ property. Can you handle her until then?”

The betas sweep their gazes over me.

I stand before them in a man’s shirt, shivering from cold. They must think I’m a lost puppy their master picked up from the curbside.

“We’ll handle her, Master” one of the women replies.

A cold smile lights up his eyes. Squeezing my shoulder, he walks away and disappears into a shadowy corner.

“Follow us,” one of the women tells me and starts walking toward a faraway doorway.

I meekly follow them, taking note of more darkened hallways that are layered with dust and hanging cobwebs. This manor may look ancient and imposing, but it’s clearly been abandoned.

“Are you responsible for cooking as well?” I ask, wanting to know if there are other people living here.

“Yes,” the shorter woman replies with a backward glance. “Master doesn’t easily trust people.”

“How long have you worked for him?”

“We’ve served him for over three decades. Master trusts us.”

“What’s your name?”

The two women come to a halt.

Turning around, the shorter woman points at herself. “I’m Rita.” Gesturing toward her companion, she adds, “This is Lisa, my sister.”

I give a nod. “I’m Iris.”

“We’ll have plenty of opportunity to get to know each other,” says Lisa. A black pea-sized birthmark on her chin helps me differentiate her from her sister. “But this isn’t the right moment. Master has given us a task and we must comply as soon as possible.” With that, the two women turn away from me and start walking again.

Their stiff speech reminds me of an era that we’ve only read in history books and seen in historical fantasy movies. Until a few centuries ago, the country was divided into smaller kingdoms. Packs with royal blood ruled over them and ran a feudal system of governance.

The royals made sure to keep the beta population under their thumbs at all times. Betas were treated as second-class citizens and were expected to serve royalty without question.

It was only when the alpha population started dwindling that a revolution took place. No one knows why so few alpha children were being born. Some historians believe that the more conservative packs preferred inbreeding which caused their future generations to become sterile.

Many royal packs dissolved simply because there was no alpha to rule them.

The decline of alphas allowed the betas to take over and set up a more democratic system of governance over the years. Everyone has equal rights now but these changes came after a lot of strife and civil unrest.

Lisa and Rita seem to be stuck in the dark ages when betas were treated like servants. They can’t wait to kiss Callahan’s ass to please him.

I’m led further inside the manor and then up a winding staircase.

They stop on the second floor and walk down a darkened hallway. Closed doors are set on both sides of the walls here. Marching to the very last room, they open the door.

“Please enter, Mistress,” says Rita, tilting her head toward me.

“There’s no need to call me that,” I say, forcing a smile. “Call me Iris.”

The two sisters glance at each other before looking back at me.

“Master wouldn’t approve,” says Rita. Gesturing toward the open door, she says, “Please, come in.”

I step through the door and enter a tall-ceilinged room.

Walking further in, I decide it’s wrong to call this space a “room”. It’s large enough to hold my parent’s house within its confines.