Red

The smell of the blonde dye was sickening to my stomach and as I lapped it on my hair, I gagged. "Why do I have to bleach my hair whilst you simply have to throw on a black dye?" My neck snapped at Anna and I asked as she dried her now pitch-black hair that seemed to bring out her features.

"Because black suits me better and you'll look great as a blonde. No one will know we are sisters." Anna whispered, her hair flying around freely while mine were soaked in chemicals.

"Really?" I looked at myself at the mirror and then at her. We had more resemblance than just hair. "Anyone would know we are sisters." I gave her an eye-roll.

Anna didn't respond, she set the hot tool aside on the counter and walked over to me with a pair of scissors wrapped around her fingers. "Not after you've chopped half of your hair." She said, grinning.

"No." I yelped forward. "I'm not going to cut my hair." My stomach hit the sharp tiling of the basin inside the public washroom. We had no place here except for that old, disturbingly uncleaned house that we planned on not entering ever again.

"Come on. Shoulder length, you'll look cute. A little change isn't going to harm you in anyway." She gave me a chop-chop with the scissors and tried hard to persuade me on cutting my hair. "We can't be recognized and if we are, we will have problems with Cordelia and she might just take your life away."

I raised my hand and stopped her before she went on. "Fine, fine, let me get rid of the dye and then you can do it." I went inside the stall and pushed all the dye out of my hair once it seemed like it was soaked in.

After roughly brushing my hair with a towel, I went back outside and allowed my sister to chop my hair into half, till it was shoulder length. The bright blonde looked completely different, it somehow merged and united with my skin tone. The tight, natural curls were still at pace and the more I saw myself in the mirror, the happier I got with the results.

It wasn't as bad as I thought.

"I like it." I agreed at last.

Anna squealed. "I knew it you would. Look how different we look now." She stood beside me and we almost looked like friends. No one could tell who we were or where we came from.

I had a complete change of wardrobe, the long dresses, the diamonds, the rings were long gone, replaced with tight jeans, dark-toned tops, chains and hoops. Between the bogus gold chains rested my talisman along with the Stone of Lycans that still hadn't been rusted after going through a rollercoaster.

Cordelia was sitting outside, across the street and in the air-conditioned car. A snicker followed out of my mouth when I went out of the public washroom and into the car, showing Cordelia ourselves.

"Well, that's a change." She said, swinging her eyes over to me and then back at Anna who sat on the driver's seat. "So glad we could do this."

"A few months, Cordelia." Anna grumbled under her breath.

We all waited for Jayla who still planned on smoking a few more cigars before she could come out of her apartment and attend us. As soon as she did, Cordelia stepped out, took her cue and vanished into the thin air, leaving us with a strange woman.

My eyes tried to follow her trail but she was gone—so quick. Who was she?

"All right, girls, I hope you two are ready!" Jayla slammed her feet into the accelerator and drove off from the filthy streets. The car pushed forward and we across the town, driving off to the other part of it, where the Alpha Dillion resided.

"Where are we going to stay?" Anna asked the real questions that she should've asked before. We still had no place to stay or a bed to sleep on.

"I'll tell Dillion you two are homeless and lost, he'll show some sympathy and allow you stay in the mansion—in exchange of protecting him from Cordelia—which isn't the truth. You two will have enough time to do whatever she wants you to do. We will meet up once every week, and you'll bring whatever evidence or secrets you can find." The woman explained, in her ashy tone.

"What if we can't find anything?" I raised my brow.

Jayla looked at me from the rear mirror and shook her head in disappointment. "Well, then try harder, you will. Go to the east wing of the mansion, it's Dillion's personal space and even though he doesn't allow anyone in there, you two have to make your way. There are a lot of secrets you can find. Get closer and keep your ears open!"

"East wing." I whispered to myself before resting my back on the leather seat and watching the town from the inside of the car. It was nothing hard or deadly, therefore, I wasn't worried.

My heart lurched each time and it took every ounce of my mind and body to not daydream or think about Luciano. There were things I couldn't wait for and one of them was going back to the States and telling him that I was alive and that I would always love him, no matter what.

The car slowed down as we reached the stoned driveway of a mansion that was bigger than any other one I had ever seen. It was acres of land, covered with trees, grass, bushes, and a mansion as much as the size of ten houses. The area where the mansion was could be claimed as a posh area of the town, and just by a single glance, I could tell that they were riches here.

"Stay in. I'll speak to Dillion. When he sends someone, come with them." Jayla stepped out of the car and grabbed a perfume bottle before spraying it on herself to get rid of the cigar and tobacco scent. She stumbled over her steps before walking inside, her purse loosely hanging over her shoulders.

"That is one woman." Anna sighed. "God, she seems like a fucking hooker."

I laughed lightly. "I think she's drunk."

"Or high on drugs—"

My lips turned into a scowl. "You get those here?"

"You get everything, Red. This isn't Brittleburgh and you'll be surprised how differently things play out here." She gave me a glassy stare, trying to terrify me.

"It will be fine." I murmured, not taking her words into account. I hadn't been out of Brittleburgh or Whitebridge ever, those two towns were under the rulership of Luciano—the King and nothing every wrong or bad happened there.

I slid onto the front seat of the car while waiting for the next hint. After a few minutes of complete silence, a man dressed in black walked out from the door and approached us.

"Mrs. Jayla's girls?" His voice was gruff and deep.

"Yes."

"Come in, Alpha Dillion wants to see you two." The man said, opening the door for us.

With our heart racing—or at least mine, I followed the man into the modern, gloomy mansion alongside with Anna. She had her shoulder high up, her brows raised, and faith in her eyes while I was sceptic and unsure of living in a unknown placing, far away from people we knew.

I walked into the gloom, into the dead silence. The mansion was beautiful from the inside, the high walls, the long windows, the aesthetic satisfied me but it was dead from the inside with just acres of emptiness.

The man took us into a room where I found Jayla, seated in front of an old man, Dillion. He had a white beard and his hair seemed to have been dyed more than a few times. His neutral gray eyes stumbled at our direction.

Jayla stood up at our appearance. "These are the girls. Red and Ann." She said with a grin as her hands went behind our backs and she pushed us forward.

Anna leaned in. "I think you're missing an A."

"Anna." Jayla clarified. "I found them nearby, all alone and without a home. I do know they both are quite powerful witches and they'll be willing to work for you."

The man spread his arms wider across the Egyptian couch and folded his leg across the other one while studying us. "Fine. Do they know about Cordelia?" He asked, mentioning the same woman that had saved my life.

"Yes, they are aware of that wicked woman, and for a fact, they both have the same strength and power as her." Jayla pushed us closer and continued, the fakeness in her voice not even taking a second to breathe. "Together, they will ensure your life, keep you protected from that wicked Cordelia and make sure no witch is playing with you ever again."

Something stayed hidden behind Jayla's voice. How did Cordelia play with this man? What even happened between them? I guess we were going to find about it quite soon.

"All right. I'll take your word, Jayla. Let's try these two out for a month, if it works then they'll receive a permanent position in my pack and they will be reimbursed for their powers." Dillion said before he released a sigh and stood up.

"Great. It's always a pleasure working for you."

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