Red

"Alpha Dillion has asked for both you. He's at the garden, resting from his morning run." Another woman, claimed to be the head of the servants, came to my room and said to me and Anna.

She was the second woman we had seen around here, apart from the voodoo, love-potion, strange woman in the kitchen earlier.

"And, I'm Sonya, I will be keeping an eye on both of us as it's my duty." The elderly woman added before leaving the room. Her mouth bare moved and it terrified us but from her scent, we could understand she was a female wolf.

It was a wide garden with snow covering the greenery, most of it. We walked between the ice cold bushes for minutes and it almost felt like we were trapped inside a maze as it was that big. At last, we reached the covered area where we found Alpha Dillion seated, his hand wrapped around a book.

Upon getting a glimpse of him, a thought rang through my void mind. Did he know someone was giving him love-potions?

"Good morning." I said, pushing my freezing hands into my pockets.

"Well, good morning to you two as well. How was your night?" Dillion closed the book and asked.

"G—great!" I stammered, out of fear of being caught.

"Yes." Anna replied. "Although, this woman inside the kitchen, who makes the breakfast, what's her name again?" She jumped right on to questions.

"Brenda. She's loyal, nothing to be worried about."

Yeah, right.

When he got nothing out of us, his face took an unpleasant twist and his brows quirked. "Why? Have you two sensed anything wrong in the house?"

"No." We both said together.

Dillion sighed out of relief. "Good. No witch has entered this house in almost a year but if you two have sensed something wrong or suspicious, I'd really like to know." His face soon became stiff, indicating worry.

"Why? Do you think something is wrong?" I asked.

"A grim has gripped me and my pack for the past few months. There hasn't been a cheerful moment for anyone here. It ought to be Cordelia's work!" He exclaimed with a melancholy frown. "She can't keep her hands to herself."

Of course.

Anna and I shared an expression. "We do know how to break spells but we will have to look around to see what kind of magic she has placed on you and the mansion." She said.

Smart.

"Feel free too. Just avoid the east wing."

"Sure."

We both turned around and our faces quickly changed from a forced confused look to an evil grin. All we needed was Dillion to allow us to wander around his ten thousand sq ft lavish house without any problem and we got the permission.

He only wanted us to avoid the east wing and we were more than eager to find out what was hidden in there.

A human?

A secret?

A witch?

A wolf?

It was the easy way out of this—maybe the only—to learn what was in the east wing.

—

Later on the same evening, Dillion asked us to attend him through this meeting with another Alpha. It was a rival pack Alpha and the only thing we were instructed to do was stand there, behind him, act courageous and a little deadly so the others wouldn't threaten him in anyway or form. It was a small party rather than a simple meeting and we only learned about it when Brenda herself appeared in our room with our clothes.

"Alpha Dillion needs you in twenty." She kept her head low while placing the bag of clothes on the couch.

"Brenda," Anna stopped her. "Is it, right?"

"Yes." She adjusted a smile over her face before replying.

Annabeth made the call to Cordelia earlier, asking her whether or not she knew any woman named Brenda and she didn't, just as we thought. Brenda was placed in the mansion by another witch, someone neither of us were aware about.

"We saw you in the kitchen earlier. How long have you been working for Alpha Dillion and do you usually serve him breakfast?" Anna asked, her eyes cold and filled with suspicion. She was way better in catching liars and manipulators than me.

"Almost a decade, Ms. Anna. I—I should head back, I've things to do." She hesitated, giving an impatient shrug and spinning out of her room before she was caught in her own web of lies.

"She has to be connected to another witch!" I exclaimed, jolting up and running to the door to see her walk away.

"I'm aware and we will see to it, but only after this party, so choose your dress and get ready. I feel like something is about to go down tonight." Anna swung her body by the edge of the door before closing it shut.

I pushed all the air out of my lungs and imposed control over myself to not dig deeper until this little party was over. The dresses—to my surprise—were not dresses for a fact, they were casual clothes, dark in color, thick and furry.

Dillion wasn't aware Anna and I were twins but only distant cousins or those sorts as our accents were different and so were our habits, however, we clothed almost the same, in black and brown. I wore a long, v-neck t-shirt and a black coat over it while Anna wore brown.

Right after twenty minutes, we were called to head downstairs to Dillion's office. As we strolled to him, we heard the manly and deep voices of the males all around the mansion. The rival pack was here, and from the aura they gave, I could assume they were strong.

We leaned by the office door and watched Dillion throw on his coat before he approached us with his arms splayed. "Escort me, ladies?" He was old, old enough to be called a grandfather.

Anna groaned before curling her arm around his. "We are probably your daughter's age." She whined.

I didn't say much, just held his right arm.

"Only if she was alive." He shot us a look and mumbled quietly under his quick breaths.

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