Anthony’s POV
Without giving her a choice of either being my maid or leaving the house, she had no choice but to work with me in such close quarters.
I knew that she wanted to leave. I could tell that her hope shattered when I started talking about how I couldn’t possibly accept her as my mate, but at the same time, I wanted to keep her close to me.

I’ve heard many stories about the commotion she’s been causing over the years because she’s past her coming of age, and that would make the werewolves attracted to her until someone claims and marks her.
She belonged to everyone at this point, and if someone had taken it upon himself to claim her, if she had been marked, then something like this wouldn’t have happened.
I stared as she was escorted away, and I groaned. If it weren’t for how weak she was, I would’ve kept her for myself, but there was no way someone of my calibre would be with a wolf as fragile as her.
No one had seen her wolf or even knew the kind she has, and she’s mute, and she has been cursed by her mother and abandoned by her entire family. That’s not the kind of wolf I’m supposed to be with.
Sighing, I poured myself another glass of vodka and downed the content. There are lots of reasons why I can’t be with her and even more reasons why I have to keep her close.
She seemed interesting, and many things about her were amusing. She isn’t affected by my Lycan, and I knew that the fact that she’s my mate wasn’t the only reason she was concerned.

There are other factors, and I have to find out, but for now, I promised her safety, and I have to keep my word, although I didn’t guarantee her any safety from me, just from other werewolves that might want to harm her.
Why isn’t she affected, though? Everyone gets affected. No one could come close to me, let alone touch me, but not only did she come close, she also touched me.
My mind drifted to what happened at the market square, and I remembered that I wanted to pull her off me, but she held me tighter, finding solace in my arms. I would be lying if I said that I wanted to let her go
For the first time in years, I could feel what it was to be held. I felt what it was like for someone not to be scared of me, and it was so new and soothing. I didn’t want to push her away from me, but it would be a disappointment if I accepted the mate bond.

I need someone more muscular, who could speak and stand up for herself if anyone dared to bully her. Finishing off my vodka, I called Michael, and it didn’t take long for him to show up.
“Alpha,” his voice jolted me out of my thoughts as I turned to face him, “you called for me. What do you need?” He asked, and the room fell silent as I thought about what I needed.
“I need you to look into that weak wolf’s family background, and I want to know everything about her from when she was a child until now. I want to know what happened to her,” I ordered, and Michael bowed slightly before leaving.
I wasn’t sure about what I wanted to find out, but I couldn’t help but feel like whatever was happening to me had to do with Darcy or her family background.
“Also, Michael,” I called just before Michael got to the door, and he stopped in his tracks as he turned to face me, “get her so she would report to work.” I finished before dismissing him.
Michael left the room, and I was alone as I tried to focus on working. I stared at the paper in front of me and picked it up. I needed to work. I have a lot of meetings tomorrow, and I need to prepare for it.
Picking up my pen so that I could scribble the main things I would say at the meeting, I couldn’t help but be distracted, and all I could think about, all that kept grazing my mind, was Darcy.
How she looked so innocent, how tears glistened in her eyes as she asked me to help her. I had no idea what it was, but I could feel my body pulsating.
The way her hair fell over her shoulders, her slender neck, and her pale face kept showing up repeatedly in my head, no matter how hard I tried to shake it off.
She’s not supposed to be having this kind of effect on me, and she’s not even supposed to be invading my thoughts.
Groaning, I poured another glass of vodka to distract myself from the thought of her and focus more on working, but nothing I tried worked. I wanted to see her, and I felt like I needed to see her.
I wanted her more than I cared to admit. I wanted to know more about her, and she felt like a mystery I had to unravel, and everything about her was distracting.
How could she have held me without being affected?
My mind was clouded with her thoughts, and nothing was coming to me, at least nothing concerning tomorrow's meeting.
The slight knock on the door jolted me out of my thoughts, and I lifted my head to see that she had walked in already. The sight of her took me off guard even though I was the one who asked Micheal to tell her to report to work.
“Beta. Michael. Told. Me. That. You. Wanted. To. See. Me?” She gestured as her lip moved slowly, and I wanted to hear her voice again. She’d called me at the market square, and her voice sounded like the perfect music to my ears, and now, I wanted to hear it again.
Shaking the thought out of my head as I stared at her, and again, what happened at the market square flashed through my mind.
Could it just be her luck yesterday?
“Come here,” I said, motioning for her to come closer to me, and she did without hesitation. Each step she took was baffling because no one had ever gotten this close to me.
“Take me to my room.” I let out slowly so she wouldn’t have difficulty reading my lips. Her eyes widened, and she looked shocked by my request, but again, she didn’t hesitate to get close to me as she touched me.
Her dainty hand held me as she tried to pull me up, but I didn’t budge. I knew how heavy I was, and I knew it would be near impossible for her to get me to my room even if she resorted to dragging me, but there was something.
Something inside me kept telling me to make her push her limit, to make her suffer, and I had no idea what it was, but I gave in.
I want to make her suffer.