The Luna’s Second Chance Mate

Larissa’s POV

I haven’t had such a good night’s sleep in years. My body felt awfully relaxed as I stretched my limbs on the comfortable sheets. It felt nice, I could literally wish for this not to end if only I didn’t have to work.

Rustling under the sheets, my thoughts drifted off to the moody toddler beside my room. The woman who I’d seen yesterday called herself Gwendoline, and it seemed Declan wasn’t particularly fond of her. He seemed to dislike my presence as well. But then, he was now in my care. And he needed to go to kindergarten today.

I stood up from the bed gingerly, taking a quick bath before covering myself up in the only other dress in the closet. It was an unflattering dull grey ensemble, but whatever. I had to wear it like that, and probably search for some new clothes once I got paid.

I tied my blonde hair up in a ponytail and smiled to myself, hoping that I looked nice enough. There was no mirror in the room. Applying some ointment that I had been given, I heard my wolf groan in relief and I giggled back. Huffing one last time, I opened the door and left the room.

As soon as I flung the door open, I turned only to see that the door to Declan’s room was slightly ajar. Was someone already in the room? It was still early. Curiously, I took careful steps to his door and pushed it open. There was nobody in the room, even his sheets had been done. What in the world was going on?

“You’re late.” The familiar voice of the alpha echoed through the hallway and I looked up immediately to see him with an infuriated frown. My mouth dropped to the pit of my stomach at his angry stare, I couldn’t let any words out. The black suit he was wearing was basic but he made it work somehow, with his copper brown hair swept back in the middle. A few strands stood out from the sides of his face. I saw his jaw clenching and I looked away. I couldn’t afford to be caught staring like that.

“Is this how you take care of a child?!” He hollered again, approaching me without caution. “You’re a fucking thirty minutes late! My son will not be late for kindergarten no matter what!” He continued. Blood had filled the vessels in his face, he’d turned a brilliant shade of pink.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know that-”

“I’ll warn you for the last time.” He came even closer, practically invading my personal space. ‘If a hair of his head is hurt, I’ll have your head. If he’s ever late, I swear I’ll personally claw your fucking face off.”

The tone of his voice was as serious as ever. Fear gripped me as he finished speaking before stepping away from me.

“Make yourself useful, lazy bones.” He spat. “What have you done? You’re now the housekeeper too, don’t ever forget that. Look around.”

“I’m sorry -”

“Look around! It’s all murk!” He snapped again. “Clean this place up, not even a spec.”

And with that he bounced down the stairs. I stood transfixed there, shifting my weight from one leg to the other. Was this how he treated his servants or was he just particularly hateful towards me? But he hasn’t raised a hand at me yet. That was where I would draw the line.

What line? You have nowhere to go.

I sensed that despite his cold demeanor, he cared a lot about his son. Forcing my legs to move, I followed him down the stairwell only to see him walking out the door with a red haired man clad in a grey suit. He had a black briefcase in one hand and Declan in the other. There was another black haired man who stood by the entrance, bowing at the alpha. But I could barely make out his features.

Looking ahead at the skies through the door, it wasn’t even fully dawn yet. Why did all of them wake up so early? The alpha and the man walking with him looked like they were having a serious discussion in hushed tones, and I saw the alpha run a hand through his hair. Was something wrong? Almost immediately, they were out of the door, plunging the entire living area into darkness save for one chandelier that was turned on.

I returned to my room, shaking off the events of the morning and keeping myself busy with cleaning up Declan’s room. The toddler had quite the number of toys loitering around his bed and small desk, most of which were wooden knives and plastic figures. The thought of seeing Declan running around with the toys in his hands made my heart swell for some reason.

Perhaps if Stefan hadn’t turned out to be the demon that destroyed my life, maybe we would have had little kids like Declan running around at the pack house. They would play the best swordsman with Stefan. Then I would yell at them to come in during the evenings and have Joy prepare them some delicious pudding. I would put them to sleep after a long day and relish in the warmth of just watching them exist. Chloe… Chloe would be the godmother she always wanted to be, telling my kids stories about us that would cause them to laugh. They would call me ‘Mama’. That would have been sweet.

I felt warm liquid brim in my eyes, I didn’t know when a year slipped. I was blankly staring at one of the wooden knives in my hands. None of those things in my imagination could happen now. Never would I have anything to do with him. Perhaps the alpha felt the same about me. I wiped my eyes quickly and rose to my feet, tucking the toy away at the small rack by his bedside table. I arranged his vanilla scented sheets and tucked his pillows before stepping back to admire the masterpiece I’d created. I didn’t mean to brag, but I did a way better job than Gwendoline in taking care of Declan’s room.

Heaving a tired sigh, I wiped the small beads of sweat that had formed on my forehead. Dusting off the excesses on a piece of black cloth in my hands, I left the room and begun wiping the railings of the stairwell. Not a speck of dust, he’d said. As if there was even one speck on the railings. Tsk.

After wiping them, it was time to properly clean. I was in the luxurious living area, just beside where the dining room stood. I had to admit that the mansion oozed of regal authority. The living area had ceilings a lot higher than my self esteem. They held a good number of dazzling silver and rose gold chandeliers, illuminating it more than the natural lights did. The couches and armchairs were made of refined scarlet velvet and black leather, in heavy contrast to the expensive olive curtains that were hung up on every window. The floors were grey marbles, each piece interwoven with its own story to tell like the gold artifacts scattered around.

I gaped, in awe of the impressive architecture. Despite his sourness, the alpha had great taste. Then the realization that I had to clean the entire mansion dawned on me and I shuddered. This entire building? Everything? Was that even in my job description? Speaking of which, he didn’t even tell me everything I would be doing. He could simply give me more and more work because I couldn’t leave. Rather I begged not to leave, my wolf loved having him around.

Now where was I going to get the supplies to clean? Facepalming, I clicked my tongue. I didn’t even know that much. Looking around the living area, I didn’t think it would be here. It also couldn’t be upstairs, I wasn’t sure that the man I’ve only briefly interacted with would leave supplies to breath the same air as Declan and himself.

I turned back to the stairwell, going around it to find the same path Annalise had led me through that day. I walked for a bit, checking around for any room that looked like it was where the cleaning supplies would be. I eventually stopped by a door painted an ashy shade of grey. The wooden door had chipped in several places, letting light and whatnot through the holes. Perhaps this would be the closet.

“Arghh!!!!”

There was a loud shriek as soon as I’d places my hand on the door knob, causing me to jump back in fear. What the hell? There was another shriek and the knob twisted under my fingers. In a moment, the door was pulled open, only to reveal a figure with his eyes reddened like those of a wild beast. His nostrils were bloodied however, covered partially by long, thick, black hair and I slowly began to notice the stream of blood pouring down from his arm. His unusual scent piqued my nose, he wasn’t a beast. He was a wolf just like us.

“What happened to you?” I managed to let out. Who was he, a rogue? A thief that was caught?

“I am neither.” He grunted weakly. He could read my mind? “I really need to get these treated, I can’t heal but Anna is away. Do you know anything about medicine?”

“Y-yes, just a little experiment w-with drugs and herbs…”

“That’s good enough.” He cut in, and before I knew what was happening, he’d pulled me through the door and into the dark room.

Except that it wasn’t dark at all. All I could see were weapon. A whole fucking lot of them.