02. Building Trust

Sablecrest Pack House

A groan left Adella's mouth again as she paced around the foyer. It's already been thrice that she's done it and her maids were getting worried. She was obviously stressed and anxious, a look that was foreign on the confident Alpha.

Even she didn't know why she was feeling this way. It made her even more stressed trying to calm down. Another groan came out.

Her eight maids stood around her, glancing at each other to see if the other would do something. When no one did anything, Haylee looked at Christine. She shook her head, but Haylee narrowed her eyes and gestured her head towards Adella. Christine sighed, stepping in front of the pacing Adella and touching her shoulder.

"Are you one-hundred percent sure that he's your mate?"

Adella ran her hand through her hair, letting out a sigh. "I know so. The sparks, the smell. They all lead to that conclusion."

Haylee was bouncing on the soles of her feet and fidgeting her fingers. She was nervous; not only because of the discovery that Adella had a mate, but because her nervousness was rubbing off on her. On all of them.

She opens her mouth to protest. "I don't understand! How? What? Where? When? Why-" But Adella cut her off.

"That is a lot of questions you are asking. A lot of questions that I don't have," she sighed exasperatedly. Rubbing her eyes, another sigh comes out. "I don't know how it's possible."

"Are you scared of having a mate?" A maid whose name was Damineh, one of the older ones, asked.

Adella pauses, thinking over her words. "It's just... it's just not the time."

"Time never stops, dear," Menena wisely states, calling her a nickname in Hindi to calm her down. "If you can't accept it now, when will it be the time?"

"I don't know, I..." She stops with a huff. "...I can't have a mate right now. It would, you know, be dangerous for me and him. All those enemies from our neighboring Packs, the spies, it's just not the time."

"Won't you protect him?" Damineh asked.

"Of course, I just... can't be emotionally attached right now," Adella strained.

"A mate bond doesn't force you to love your soulmate," Yuliana, a newer maid who came straight from Indonesia, asked. "What are you afraid of?"

"It brings attraction. The more I see him, the more I'll want to be closer. I'll desire him in unholy ways and I won't be able to stay away. It's better to keep him far but close."

"But..." Yuliana says under her breath.

Menena shook her head while rubbing her temple. "You'll only be hurting both of you in the end. What will you do when your rut comes and you can't avoid him?"

Adella's eyes falter, and then she looks at Menena with a challenging gaze. "Before that time comes, I'll ask the scouts and hunters to keep me away from him."

"You'll kill everyone in your way to get to him."

"I... can tell them to lock me away in a prison underground until the rut ends."

"A few metal bars won't stop you," Menena scoffs, disappointed at her poor excuses. "You know as well as I do that once you've gotten your rut, all your aggression will pour out and it'll be many times worse. You might hurt him in your fit of rage."

"And horniness," Damineh adds, earning unimpressed glares from the maids.

Adella's jaw clenched at the thought of hurting her mate. She wouldn't want him to fear her more than he already did.

Sometimes, a leader needs advice. That was exactly what her maids were giving.

"How 'bout this," Christine suggests, earning all of their attention. "I'll talk to him, get him used to being here, you know? When he's comfortable, you'll walk in there like the confident Alpha you are and show him you're not as scary as he thinks. Then, when everything's goin' well, you ask him on a date."

The others murmured in agreement but Adella blankly stared, not following her plan. "Wait, what? Why are we going so fast?"

"Don't worry, Alpha. Anybody would be wooed if you asked 'em on a date."

"I would definitely be wooed," Haylee added with a grin.

Christine smacked her up on the head. "Shut up, you simp."

"Ow! What the heck?!"

One of the maids, Himari, was translating everything they said to another maid, Soo-Yun whose English name is Emily, in Korean sign language. She nodded in understanding, laughing with the others.

The atmosphere brightened as the hallway was filled with laughter. Adella no longer felt anxious and instead, she was calm.

No words could explain the gratefulness she had for her maids. If it wasn't for their strange personalities but merry friendship, Adella would still be in a dark place.

Maybe she still is, but having them sure made it easier to live in it.

Later,

Christine enters the room reserved for Adella's mate on the third floor of the mansion. Adella reserved the whole floor for his comfort. It had (almost) everything; a bedroom, several bathrooms, a library, conservatory, and a sunroom. Adella's study room was also there.

In a beautifully styled room, he sat there on the king-sized bed. Everything else in the room was untouched. The open curtains allowed light to pass through, illuminating the room.

The man's eyes snapped to the door and focused on Christine, who he remembers seeing earlier. She bites her bottom lip, not knowing what to say. She decides that the best course of action is to calm him down.

"I know it was sudden, but living here isn't all that bad," she says, trying to lighten the mood. "You looked starved when the police found you. Here, you can have a full meal three times a day and a nice warm bed."

Sure, he was glad that he was given a large room to sleep in, but he didn't let his guard down. He had to remember that he was surrounded by roaming werewolves, who could easily take him out if they chose to.

The Alpha was above all of them and could give out the orders to. Although she promised him that none will hurt him, he didn't trust her all that much. He didn't trust anyone.

Christine noticed how he was still stiff. She sighs, playing with her fingers behind her back. "The Alpha always follows through with what she says. If she says she won't let anyone hurt you, then she won't."

He narrows his eyes, as if asking how she knew.

"I know that because I used to be like you." Christine says, dropping her hands to her side. "Me and my sister were always together, and when we met the Alpha, we didn't trust her. We used to be scared like you. And it's okay to be scared, but just know that we won't force anything onto you."

The man scans Christine's face and body language, trying to find faults in her claims. But no fear was shown in the way she spoke. It's like she trusted her words and had the evidence to back it up.

He only relaxed a slight bit, which Christine noticed but didn't say anything.

"I'm Christine, one of Alpha Channing's maids. What is your name?" She flashed a friendly smile, hoping the message got across to the man.

No answer came out of his mouth. Instead, he looked around, searching for something. Christine furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, before it finally dawned on her why he didn't answer.

"Oh! You can't speak, can you?" Christine patted her pockets, pulling out a small piece of paper and a pen. She walked closer to him and stretched her hands out to give it to him.

He took them with slight hesitance, before scribbling onto the paper. He handed it back to Christine, whose face cringed when she saw the messy handwriting. The lines were deformed and unreadable, but she was able to make out what he wrote.

"Kie..ryn. Oh, Kieryn?" Christine smiled at him. "That's a nice name. It's good to make your acquaintance, Kieryn. If you'd like, I can bring you some food if you'd rather stay here than go to the dining room. We're having butter roast chicken and sweet potatoes on the side. That'll get some meat on your bones."

Kieryn's mouth almost watered hearing that. Those were foods he could only dream of before, only eating whatever he could catch and some wild fruits he found, and now he was actually going to taste gourmet food. He stopped himself from grinning in delight, watching as Christine left the room.

Whatever was going to happen to him in the future, he would make sure to eat until his belly was plump and round.

After,

A knock at the door alerted the person inside the office. When the door swung open, Christine's face came into view.

"Is there something wrong, Christine?" The Beta's smooth voice made chills crawl down her spine.

Christine had always had a small fear of Beta Madden, even though he never harmed her or anything like that. What feared her was the gaze that was so sharp, that it could cut her in half. What else creeped her out was how he wore a suit every time she saw him, even during summer. He looked like the type of guy that one would call "an arrogant gentleman", if they even called him that. She didn't know.

"U-uhm, I'm looking for the Alpha. Is she not here today?" Christine stumbled over her words and pointed her gaze to the floor. She feared that if she looked directly at him, he would eat her alive.

Fixing his glasses, the man pointed down the hallway. "She told me she would be in her study. I'm sure you'll find her there." He noticed the fiddling of Christine's fingers. "How are things going with her mate?"

Christine gasped, snapping her eyes towards him. "H-how did you know?"

"How did I know he was her mate? I was told by your sister Haylee."

'That little... She never keeps her mouth shut. The whole Pack probably knows by now.' "Alright then, have a good day."

She bowed before scurrying off, not allowing Beta Madden to say goodbye to her. He walks back into the room to finish whatever work he was doing, allowing Christine to breathe.

'Yeah, I ain't ever getting over my fear of him,' she thought.

As she walked, she passed by a couple of other Pack members. They greeted her with small "hello"s and waves, which she greeted back just as politely.

Christine didn't want to admit it, but she was the second most loved maid after Menena, and that alone was admirable.

She stops in front of a door that leads to Adella's study room, a room in which no one can enter without her direct permission. Christine has never been inside, but she imagines papers to be everywhere scattered on the floor and multiple cups that Adella drank coffee from. Pushing away her imaginations, she knocks on the door.

She heard nothing from the inside, so after a few seconds she pressed her ear to the door. Soon, it creaked open, making her jump back in surprise. Only a third of Adella's face was visible, and her eye looked at Christine and then swept the area beside her. When the coast was clear, Adella opened the door wider to beckon her in.

Christine looked confused, glancing around her before walking into the Alpha's study. She shut the door behind her, amazed to see the cleanness of the room. No paperwork was in sight and only one cup of hot tea sitting next to an open book.

"What do you need, Christine?" Adella asks, taking her seat.

"I was going to give you something but... what are you doing?"

Adella sighs. "Menena won't stop nagging me about my mate and getting close to him. I'm staying in here until she forgets all about it."

"So you're hiding?"

Adella flinched, looking at Christine with narrowed eyes. "No, I'm not hiding. I'm just strategically avoiding her."

"You're hiding from her," Christine states.

The woman rolls her eyes with a groan. "Whatever. Yes, I'm hiding. I don't want to deal with any of that stuff."

Crossing one leg over another, Adella sips her tea once. She gestures over to the seat across from her, and Christine obeys.

"So, what do you need?"

"I have something for you." Christine pulls out a slip of paper from her pocket. "I've gotten a bit closer to your mate now, enough so he won't always be on guard. He gave me his name, too."

Adella took the paper and looked at the jumbled handwriting. She reads with a whisper. "Kieryn. It's a very unique name..." She runs a finger across the piece of paper and looks at it as if it was the most precious thing ever.

To her, something small like a mere name could make her happy. She shakes her head and places the paper down.

"Has he gone to the dining room yet? There's butter roast chicken today."

"I don't think he's ready to go out of his room." Christine looks at her with skepticism. "Wait a minute, why are you so curious about him? Don't tell me it's the mate bond."

Adella shook her head vigorously. "It's definitely the mate bond. I'm telling you, this is why I have to keep my distance."

"Do you really want to stay away from your mate, Alpha? I don't want to nag, but Menena is right. Now that you've met your mate, your rut is automatically set to come soon."

Adella couldn't help but stay quiet, thinking over her words. Menena and Christine were right, avoiding him would make things so much harder.

But something deep inside her was keeping her from going to him. Adella couldn't identify what it was.

"I will, just not right now," Adella says,

Christine shook her head in slight disappointment. "Do as you please, but we can't help you anymore than this. You yourself need to find out what you want."

She stands up and excuses herself, walking out of the door and leaving Adella to collect her thoughts. When she stepped into the hallway, she met the gaze of Soo-Yun. Christine searched around for Himari, who acted as a translator and a bridge between them. She was always beside Soo-Yun and was almost never without her. This just so happened to be one of those moments.

She felt a warm hand clasp hers and she turned to look at the woman slightly older than her. Christine smiled reassuringly, holding her hand as they walked off.