Payment To the Alpha
Chapter 18

Avery's POV

I woke up feeling completely rested. The bed was hugging me nicely from every angle and my face was buried in the pillows. I rolled onto my back and gazed at the ceiling, rubbing my eyes to ease some of the stinging from the sun hitting me in the face. Then I sighed heavily as I remembered all that was going to take place today. I was ready to get some answers.

'Today is going to be interesting.' I thought to myself.

I stood up from the bed and went to the huge bathroom.

'This is something I'll never get used to.'

I turned on the shower, leaving it quite cold so that I would wake up quickly and put my hair in a messy bun before removing my shorts and t-shirt.

I stepped in the shower, shivering as I let the cold water hit my body. My heartrate was speeding and my teeth quivering. After about ten minutes I was done washing my body and stepped out, wrapping a towel around my body and went to get dressed.

I pulled on a pair of ripped jeans and a simple white t-shirt and then went to stand by the window.

'Please, Please, Please let this go smoothly. Let me get answers, I feel like I deserve them'.

I pleaded, to who? No idea, but it was something I did quite often when I needed support and guidance.

I made my way to the stairs and saw Amber standing there talking to a girl, she seemed young, around fifteen maybe.

"Hey, Avery!" Amber yelled waving for me to come over. I walked over to the two girls and gave Amber a quick hug.

"Avery, this is Elisabeth, she's an omega and helps with the cooking and organizing whenever there's an event. She makes the meanest brownies!" Amber said in her usual bubbly tone. Elisabeth giggled and looked a little embarrassed.

"And, Elisabeth, this is Avery..." things got quiet and awkward really fast, Amber clearly didn't know who to introduce me as.

"It's nice to meet you Luna"

Huh? I looked at Amber whose eyes were wide and she scrunched her nose, not knowing what to do in this situation.

"Uhh, please, call me Avery, I'm not sure what a Luna is but I'm guessing my lovely friend here is trying to figure out a way to explain it to me." I said looking mockingly at Amber.

"Of course, Avery, I have to leave but it was nice meeting you, I will see you at breakfast," she then turned to Amber and gave her a slight bow.

"Gamma, thank you for helping me," She then turned around and skipped down the stairs.

I turned my head to Amber with a raised brow.

"Gamma? Luna?"

"Uhm..."

I looked at her expectantly with a little smirk on my face. I knew exactly how uncomfortable she was in this situation. One thing I had noticed is that James calls the shots, if Amber were to say something she shouldn't or in a way that she shouldn't, James wouldn't be happy.

"Relax, it's fine haha. I'm hungry, let's go eat." I started to feel bad for her, Amber doesn't ever not speak. So if something manages to make her speechless, it's big.

I walked down a few steps and noticed she wasn't following me, so I turned around with a big smile on my face,

"you coming?"

Amber looked highly unamused and glared at me like she wanted to push me down the remaining steps.

"You little..." She didn't finish the sentence. My smile turned into laughter as I went back up and took her hand. I then proceeded back down to the dining hall.

The first person I saw when we walked into the huge dining hall was Alice, she was standing by the oven, taking something out that looked like hash-browns. The smell was amazing. To the left was the biggest room I had ever seen with four long tables put about. There were at least 80 people sitting and eating. Some were getting up to grab more food and over by the big windows on a little platform, were James, Alex, that Damon guy from yesterday, one other guy and two girls I didn't recognize, sitting and eating. James, as if he sensing me coming in, turned his head towards me and his face was void of emotions.

"Good morning ladies," Alice greeted us as we came in.

"Good morning," Amber and I said simultaneously.

"I didn't know you cook, Alice," I smile at her while grabbing a plate.

"Well she is the packs cook," Elisabeth, the omega I was introduced to said with a smile, I realized she has dimples and long brown hair. She was really cute.

"Oh, well then. I would have thought a 'pack' with this many people would have had hired staff for that."

was that rude? No, I hope not. I still wasn't comfortable with the word pack, it sounded strange to say the word.

"Well, usually a pack member is assigned to different tasks. Alice has been the cook for over 30 years! She first joined the pack with her family when she was 15, James' grandfather Albert was the alpha back then and when he learned of her love for cooking he told her that she was welcome to start off as kitchen assistant and when she becomes of age she can become a cook!" Elisabeth rambled on and I realized when she was done, everyone was completely silent.

I looked around and saw that all eyes were on us, and they seemed to be on edge.

"Well, that was nice of him. Was that how you met James' dad?" They seemed to be a lovely pack, or more like a family. Everyone was aware of each other's backgrounds and history. Kind of like my village back home.

Alice looked taken aback by my question. Her eyes went between mine and James'.

"Everyone has met the Alpha's father. He was a wonderful man, it was hard on everyone when they passed -"

Passed? What does she mean passed? Alice was James' mother.

Suddenly like another fucking lightbulb I remembered my conversation with my mother.

'Their protection and help in exchange for you. They agreed on the deal and said that you will marry their eldest son and that they will come for you when the time is right. And he did. Before James' parents passed they told him as much as they could'.

Before they passed.

They had passed.

Alice wasn't James mother.

My plate suddenly fell from my grip and crashed to the floor. Breaking into pieces. I stared bewildered at Alice who looked at me with fear and guilt. Guilt, an emotion I have gotten quite accustomed to.

Elisabeth's sentence was cut short when her eyes dimmed over, this was the mind linking that Amber had told me about yesterday. When her eyes were back to normal her hand flew up to her mouth and her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head.

By now I was getting really pissed off at all the lies and deceit. It didn't help that I hadn't eaten anything and my stomach was growling at me.

Alice and Elisabeth's eyes diverted, looking behind me. By the way my body was acting I knew who it was. I turned around and saw James already looking at me.

"I think it's time we talked."

I turned around and looked at the two women once again before walking out of the dining hall.

I stopped at the exit and turned around when I realized I was once again walking alone. I swear to god I will drag him after me too if he refuses to come.

However when I turned to look at him, James was holding a plate, piling on food and grabbing a glass of orange juice.

When he was done he walked over to me and handed me the plate and the glass.

"You haven't eaten," and then he walked away towards the staircase.

I looked down at my plate and saw sausages, hash-browns, eggs and watermelon. A small smile creeped up at the gesture. I followed after James and we walked to the first floor. We then took a right and went past a bunch of doors and then took another right until we reached the end of the hall. We were standing in front of a big white colored wooden door and when James opened it I saw that I was about to get my answers.

There was a big table in the middle of the room that could easily fit 50 people. Down to the left was a sitting area with a brown leather seat couch and opposite to that one was another and in between was a glass table. I'm guessing this is a conference room of sorts.

On the couch by the wall there were two people seated.

Lydia and Natasha. James took a seat on the armchair situated in between the two couches a bit further down. I stood frozen in my steps not sure if I should sit or stand. However, my decision was made for me as someone came up beside me and grabbed my hand. It was Amber, she gave me a light squeeze and a comforting smile as she led me to the couch opposite to Lydia and Natasha.

Behind us, Alex came in along with Damon and they sat on either side of the two women in front of us.

This was it. I didn't know how to react or if I should talk or just sit quiet. A hundred thoughts were spinning in my head. Questions and lies were nagging at me.

I felt like I wanted to scream.