Chapter 7

Nova

“Nova, I missed you!” Aria, who had been hiding in the back seat, suddenly bounced forward. “I missed you so much that I begged my daddy to pick you up for your first day!”

For a moment, I just stared at the father-daughter duo in the car. Dominic looked somewhat begrudging as he waited for me to get in, but the fact that he had agreed to his daughter’s request at all softened me somewhat.

Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. At the very least, knowing that he’d capitulated to a six-year-old’s sweet request made him seem more approachable.

“Well?” Dominic asked. “Are you getting in or not?”

Realizing I’d just been standing there staring at them, I quickly nodded and opened the door. “Thank you,” I said as I climbed in.

Before Dominic pulled away, he looked past me, his eyes widening ever so slightly.

I followed his gaze to see Susie, Emma, and Lila standing in the doorway on the front stoop. Emma and Lila were waving at us. In the morning light, Emma’s red hair looked even more on fire, and Lila’s golden eyes almost seemed to glow.

For a brief second, I thought that maybe the others were right. The way Lila’s eyes shimmered in the morning sun made her look even more like a werewolf, sort of like how Dominic’s eyes shimmered now.

“I’ll be back by eight,” I called out the window, waving back at my family. “Love you all!”

“Love you!” the trio called back, and I couldn’t help but smile.

As Dominic pulled away from the curb, Aria tilted her head. “Who was that?”

“That was my daughter, Lila—with the dark hair. And my sister, Susie, and her daughter, Emma.”

“Oh. Do you all live together in that tiny house?”

I glanced at the narrow brownstone as it faded away in the rearview mirror. “Yeah. We do.”

Dominic remained silent, but I thought I saw him staring at the image in the mirror, too.

A little while later, I stepped into the Alpha House once again. I’d been here three times in as many days, which was three more times than I ever thought I would. I had spent so much of my life disconnected from the majority of werewolf society that it had never even crossed my mind to work for the Alpha of Wintercrest himself.

This time, a butler—a real butler this time, not the Alpha or Beta—showed me around the sprawling mansion.

As he showed me each room that I was and wasn’t permitted to enter and told me about the house rules and my responsibilities, I couldn’t help but think about how Lila and Emma would giggle when I told them about his funny black and white uniform with its long coattails and white gloves.

“You will be expected to accompany Aria throughout the day,” he explained, walking briskly through the labyrinthine halls, “and fulfill all of her needs. She requires at least one hour of reading and two hours of outside play per day, and is not permitted to watch television unless she has finished that.”

I nodded, glancing around at the ornate decor as we passed through the house. It was beautifully furnished, and had more space than any single father and daughter could ever need, even with the small staff—a chef, a butler, two maids, a groundskeeper, a couple of guards, and the Beta—that lived there full-time.

Throughout the tour, I gathered that I might be the only human here.

By the time my tour was completed, Dominic had left for work. Aria followed me around, which was both easy and enjoyable. The little girl was as sweet as a button, and chatty to boot.

“My daddy works in a big office in the middle of the city,” Aria said, skipping after me as I led her to the library for her tutoring session. “But I don’t really know what he does. I think he just tells everyone what to do all day. ‘Get me coffee! Clean my suit! Where’s my paperwork?’”

I couldn’t help but giggle a little at that. Aria’s image of her father was both adorable and probably accurate. I didn’t know much about the Alpha of Wintercrest’s role either; I just knew he managed the city and controlled everything.

It had to be a lot of work, though. Dominic had my respect in that regard.

“Oh! And this is my tutor, Mr. James!” Aria said as we entered the large library, where the air smelled like old books. Dust motes danced in the shafts of sunlight streaming through the large windows, and a wiry older man with a bald spot and glasses was sitting at a table in the center of the space. He looked up as we approached.

I nodded politely, and although the werewolf tutor hardly looked my way, Aria seemed keen on making sure I felt welcome.

“Mr. James secretly likes chocolate, just like me,” Aria whispered conspiratorially, causing the older man’s face to redden slightly. “If you bring him some chocolates, he’ll probably be your friend.”

James sighed. “Aria… Did you do your reading?”

Aria groaned and plopped into her seat. “Yes, Mr. James…”

Later that evening, I prepared a nutritious dinner for Aria—leafy greens, grilled chicken breasts with the homemade lemon sauce Lila always liked, and a side of pasta. Aria didn’t turn her nose up at the vegetables and ate with gusto.

She really did seem like an easy kid, and was a far cry from the shy little girl I had met the other day. Maybe all of the strangers in the house had just frightened her; the staff here was relatively small, as if Dominic preferred keeping his circle intimate, so I wasn’t shocked.

But she took me by surprise when she suddenly blurted out, her mouth full of chicken, “This is so yummy. I wish you were my mom.”

I froze. I knew Aria’s mother had passed away before Aria was even born, and it was clear that the poor girl longed for a mother.

“Well, unfortunately, I can’t be your real mom,” I said gently, wrapping my arm around Aria, “but we can still be really good friends.”

Aria glanced up at me. “What do you think of my daddy?”

“He… seems like a good father,” I replied, and I did mean it. Other than that, though, I didn’t know much about the man. He seemed aloof and businesslike.

After dinner, it was time for Aria’s bath. I filled the clawfoot bathtub—trying not to gawk at the fact that a six-year-old girl had her own en-suite bathroom that was bigger than my entire apartment—with warm water and watched as the bubble bath mix created a mountain of soapy bubbles on top.

“Miss Nova, can you please get my rubber duck?” Aria asked before climbing in. “I can’t take a bath without my rubber duck.”

“Sure. Where is it?”

“It’s in the bathroom across the hall. I took my bath in there last night and forgot it.”

I nodded and hurried across the hall to fetch it. The house was quiet, and I didn’t expect anyone else to be using that bathroom—after all, it seemed as if there were a hundred bathrooms in this house.

But when I opened the door and stepped inside, I came face-to-face with a familiar form.

Dominic nearly slammed into me, causing me to gasp. He was shirtless, his dark hair wet, wearing nothing but a bath towel slung low around his narrow hips.

My breath caught as I realized I’d just walked in on the man of the house showering, and I quickly whirled around to leave. But the floor was wet, and my foot slipped. The room tilted around me as I began to fall.

Dominic quickly grabbed my arm before I could fall completely, and when he pulled me upright, I slammed into him, my hands pressing into his bare, damp chest.