Mated To The Beastly Alpha
Chapter 23

Nicole was tired of just hanging around and doing nothing all day. The boredom and idleness were eating her up. Because she spent all day doing nothing and waiting for Liam, she had time to worry about her current situation. Perhaps, if she was occupied with something, she wouldn't have had the time to question her existence or wonder why life was unfair to her.

At Crimson, she was always occupied with something; whether working as the Luna, completing park duties, or working as Shane's slave. Once, she prayed that the Moon Goddess would give her rest because she was always outdoing herself and had no time to herself.

She attended both the old and the weak, the women and the children, even meetings and conferences. There were still times when she received t*****e from Shane and his sluts. It was a time of never-ending tasks.

Nicole also realized that the pampering and soft treatments weren't going to get her anywhere or set her free. She had been hungry for freedom for a long time, coupled with the fact that she was getting bored and needed something to occupy her time. She knew that she needed to do something, to replace a purpose and sense of fulfilment in her life, so she made up her mind to start working to pay off her debt. It was a small step, but it was something that she could control, something that would give her a sense of accomplishment.

Nicole decided to talk to Alpha Liam about it. As she walked to his office, she felt a stream of nervousness flush within her. Alpha Liam always bore a powerful presence and she couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by him. Regardless, she knew she had to do that, so she pushed her nerves aside and knocked on the door.

"Come in," Alpha Liam's voice boomed from the other side of the door. And as always, it triggered the nerves in her body. Even his scent drove her wolf crazy.

Nicole took a deep breath and opened the door. Alpha Liam was sitting behind his desk, Nicole saw him engrossed in the study of a map of the forest which was on his table. He looked up and his piercing blue eyes locked on her.

As soon as she entered the room, she could feel the intense attraction between them. It was like the air around them was charged with electricity.

"Nicole," Alpha Liam said, his voice low and smooth. "What can I do for you?"

Nicole took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. "Alpha Liam, I wanted to talk to you about something. I've been feeling a little restless lately, and I think that I would like to start working to pay off my debt." Alpha Liam raised an eyebrow. "Working? What kind of work?"

Nicole hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to explain her plan. Her heart drummed in her chest as she felt Liam's gaze."Well, I was thinking that I could do odd jobs around the Pack. Maybe help out with the gardening, the cooking, or even the cleaning. I just want to do something, to contribute in some way."

Scoffing, Liam leaned back in his chair. "Nicole, Nicole, Nicole. I cannot say I understand what you're feeling, but it's obvious that you've become preconditioned to suffering. If not, why on earth would you be suggesting such when you're under my care? Did I ask that you begin to pay debts? Other ladies would be basking in the joy and be proud to not have to lift a finger, but not Nicole, the Ex Luna of Crimson."

From where she stood, Nicole trembled at the slight anger and power laced in his voice. She swallowed and looked away. Her body and mind were busy bringing up their moments together.

Nicole felt a pang of disappointment at his words. It wasn't surprising, but it still hurt. Did he intend to keep her here forever? What would happen when he finally got tired? Nicole didn't want to live in bondage. She had hoped that Alpha Liam would understand her.

She opened her mouth to argue, but he beat her to it.

"Don't Nicole. Don't overstep your boundaries." He says dismissively, "When you're done with your yapping, you can go and sleep."

"What do you suggest, then?" She said defensively, tired of doing nothing.

"How about getting out of my sight until I call for you and knowing your place here?"

The mark and the number of times they had made love gave Nicole's wolf more audacity.

An annoyed growl fell off her lips, startling both her and Liam.

"Did you just?" He trailed off

Realizing what she had done, Nicole stepped back. Her hands clasped around her mouth and she shook in fear.

Liam let out a louder growl and got to his feet.

"You know, Nicole, that I don't have the time for this. You know that I've been busy trying to stop the new enemy roaming the forest, yet you decide to waste my time?

This should be the last time this nonsense will occur. Besides, this is not the best time to be talking about this. We have a new enemy in the forest and I need to focus on protecting the Pack."

"But I can help. If there's nothing to do in the pack, I can help with..."

Liam looked at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Finally, he sighed. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, Nicole. But I can't deal with this now, leave..."

Trembling, Nicole excused herself from his presence feeling frustrated. She had cooked up the courage to go and speak to Alpha Liam, and now he had scared her off. She couldn't continue like that, she needed something to do; she was tired of idling around. Yet, Liam's angry response terrified her so much.

A lot was going on in her head, so she decided to take a walk. As she wandered about, lost in thought, she nearly collided with Garrett. He caught her by the arm and steadied her with a concerned look on his face.

"Nicole, are you okay?" Garrett asked, his voice laced with worry.

Nicole forced a smile, trying to push aside her disappointment. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a meeting with Alpha Liam." Garrett raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"He doesn't think it's a good idea for me to work right now. With the new enemy in the forest, he needs everyone to be focused on staying safe. The thing is, I need something to do, Beta. I'm going out of my mind staying in this pack house all day. You're a high-ranking member of Dark Moon, so you know my true story. You know that I was bought. I need to earn and pay off that debt. I need my freedom. Dark Moon is a good place to be and the people here are accommodating, but I'm not happy." Garrett nodded with a thoughtful expression. "I see and I know how hard it can be. Maybe there's something that we can do?"

Nicole looked at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

Garrett shrugged. "Well, I've been meaning to talk to you about something. I've been doing some work on the side, helping some of the other packs with odd jobs and such. Nothing too difficult, just things like delivering messages and helping with repairs." Nicole frowned, unsure of where he was going with that. "What has that got to do with me?"

"I was wondering if you might be interested in helping out," Garrett said, his voice tentative. "It's not an official Pack job, but it would serve as a means for you to contribute and earn some extra money to pay off your debt."

Nicole felt a spark of excitement ignite in her chest. The idea of working and having a purpose and a sense of accomplishment was too tempting to resist. "What kind of jobs?"

Garrett grinned. "Well, like I said, nothing too arduous. You mostly have to run errands and do odd jobs from here to other packs. They pay pretty well and it would be a way for you to earn some money."

Nicole thought for a moment, weighing the pros and cons. Alpha Liam wouldn't approve, but she needed to do something. "I'm interested. But how do we keep it a secret from Alpha Liam?"

Garrett's expression turned serious. "We'll have to be careful. We can't let anyone know, especially Alpha Liam. We'll have to meet in secret and come up with a plan."

Nicole nodded, feeling a mixture of excitement and fear wash over her. She liked the idea of working without supervision or protection since she had always been under someone's protection.

She had never wandered past pack borders before and she anticipated moving between borders in secret, especially since Dark Moon had new enemies. What excited her the most was the idea of earning something, becoming purposeful and venturing into the world outside the Pack. It was too tempting to ignore.

"Okay," she said, her voice firm. "Let's do it."

Over the next few days, Nicole and Garrett met in secret to plan their operation. They decided to keep their jobs as low-key as possible, taking on small tasks like delivering messages and running errands for Dark Moon in other Packs.

They secured a safe communication channel to keep in touch and they made sure to cover their tracks, leaving no evidence behind. Nicole was very tempted to let Asha, her only friend, in on the secret, but Garrett scolded her.

He reminded her that he was still testing her skills and until he was sure that she was perfectly capable of handling herself, that it wasn't a permanent position.

In the days that followed, he took her out secretly and showed her hidden routes to follow. He taught her to mask her scent, taught her how to obtain information and a lot of other things that Nicole was new to. Most importantly, he taught her to disguise herself, so she appeared as another wolf.

He reminded her that Crimson was still sore over what happened to them and could come for her despite the blood oath and so, she had to be as stealthy as possible.

Nicole found herself enjoying the work. It was satisfying to feel useful again. She was able to earn enough money to start paying off her debt, and she took pride in knowing that she was doing something other than lounging around and waiting on the busy Alpha Liam. She loved seeing the world outside the Pack.

But the secrecy of their operation weighed heavily on her. She knew that Alpha Liam would never approve, so she was constantly on edge, afraid of being caught.

Before heading out each day, she made sure that Liam would not seek for her for the whole day. To do that, she would purposely go after him and annoy him when he was busy, so he would chase her away and then she could do whatever she wanted for the rest of the day.

It worked for the time being, but deep down she knew that once the problem with the witch in the forest was over, she needed to replace a smarter way to leave the pack without Liam noticing.

It was also crazy that she transferred through the same forest that Dark Moon had warned its pack members to stay away from. Although it was exciting, but Nicole knew that the moment Liam caught her, hell would break loose.