Chapter 45
When Viola woke up the next morning, it was with tormenting neck and back pain because she had slept off on the piano bench, her head resting against the closed piano cover. Though she had slept a little, it didn’t feel like she had slept at all, and she still felt unrested. She groaned as she rubbed her neck and stretched her head back and forth to get rid of the aches, but it only seemed to make it worse.
She had sat there last night waiting for Zoe’s dog, but Zoe had texted her, saying the Alpha had taken the dog.
The Alpha?
She had wondered in disappointment. What would he do with a dog and why would he take it at a time she needed the creature?
Knowing she wouldn’t be able to sleep, she had tried to use her new phone. Unfortunately, she was no longer used to scrolling through werewolf social media, especially when everything there showed people she didn’t want to see, people who had once tortured her, doing well and living happily.
Viola had put her phone aside to look out at the drizzling rain and the flashing of low lightning in the sky while she absentmindedly played herself a sad song on the piano, which was now her only companion in this big, empty space. She had done that until dawn, and then, at some point, her lids had shut, and she had dropped over the piano, sleeping off in a very torturing, uncomfortable position.
She groaned as she disentangled her limbs from that stiff sitting position. She looked up at the glass walls, which had automatically turned tinted to keep the morning light out, and she spoke to the house system to untint them.
Immediately, a robotic female voice answered,
“Right away, Miss Vee p>
Zoe had set the entire house system with her identity registered as Miss Vee.
The dim glass immediately changed, and she was washed by the warm morning sun, its golden rays falling over her as she opened her arms and took it in.
But just then, there was a ding at the door as it opened, and Zoe, whom she had been somewhat expecting, came in. Only today, she was alone without the omegas, carrying packages in her hands just like yesterday.
“Good morn—oh my goodness, Viola, you look like you didn’t have a good night’s sleep today,” Zoe exclaimed, noticing the bags under her eyes through her round glasses and the slight dullness on her face.
“Was it because of my dog?” she asked with an awkward smile, because Viola had told her she needed the dog last night to be able to sleep, and now she couldn’t help but feel deeply guilty for lying. She should have just told her it was her shameless, creepy brother.
Viola managed a smile as she tucked the strands of hair falling over her face behind her ear. “Don’t mind me. I didn’t sleep early. Good morning,” she greeted.
Zoe put the bags down on the polished glass countertop in the kitchen and said, “You really have to get all the rest you can whenever you can now. It’s going to get intense from here on. Your training starts today until D-Day. Breakfast?” she asked, looking at Viola.
Viola had been worrying that she wasn’t fit for a competition in her current body physique, and hearing about training made her feel relieved. She replied, “Sure. I’ll just freshen up and come back, if you don’t mind p>
Zoe nodded and motioned with her hands in a shooing gesture, urging Viola to hurry.
After her bath and breakfast, where she was given a black overall training gear suit to wear and her hair was packed into a ponytail, they left the penthouse.
Viola felt way too exposed in the gear suit because it clung tightly to her current skinny body, which was still recovering. It made her feel a little self-conscious, as her bones poked out in places, and her breakfast made her look bloated in it, so she kept hugging her midriff to hide it.
She knew she needed to work on her self-confidence again, but for now, she was glad she was getting somewhere, starting somewhere, and slowly reaching her goals.
“The training hall is located at the lower grounds of this building,” Zoe informed her as they stepped out of the long-ride elevator into a large hall filled with rooms, VIP rooms.
Omegas moved about the space, working, cleaning, and carrying out their duties, occasionally casting curious glances at Viola and whispering among themselves.
Almost everyone had seen her participation profile by now, and they couldn’t help but believe she was delusional for thinking she could win the competition, because even omegas like them considered themselves stronger and more capable than her.
Viola ignored the glances and snickering behind hands of the Omegas.
It was while they were walking down that hall that Viola’s eyes fell on someone familiar standing before a door, her head bowed and her hair falling like a curtain around her face.
It was the young woman, the shewolf, who had sat beside her in the dinner hall last night, the one Viola believed had given her a plate of sliced meat when she noticed her struggling.
She was standing there, trembling and hugging herself. Just as Viola was about to speak and ask Zoe what was wrong with the shewolf, the door in front of the woman opened.
A man walked out, and he looked so much like Nick that Viola almost thought it was him, until she noticed this one looked older and had light gold eyes. He was shirtless, and the next thing she knew, he slapped the girl so hard that she fell to the ground.
“You little slut, what are you doing disturbing me?” he growled, bending down to grab her hair and hit her again.
Viola’s insides clenched as though it were her being hit. Without thinking, she unconsciously moved forward, as if to stop him from beating the she-wolf, when Zoe grabbed her arm and said,
“Nope. Wrong person to mingle with. If you don’t want to get hit yourself, pretend you didn’t see anything. Let’s go p>
She pulled Viola away, dragging her from the scene. As she was being pulled away, Viola turned over her shoulder and saw the man’s light gold eyes lift to them, his gaze narrowing on them before a smirk slowly formed on his face.
The man was none other than Javier Kade, the Alpha’s cousin and his rival for the Alpha position.
“Why was he hitting her like that? I thought she was one of the important people here?” Viola asked, remembering that the girl had sat with the elders at the table and didn’t seemed to be an omega.
She could barely contain her shudder at the sight of someone being beaten, because she had been there herself and didn’t like to see it.
“Well, let’s say it this way,” Zoe mused. “That was Sofia, the daughter of the Alpha of the South, and the man hitting her is her husband, Javier Kade p>
Viola’s eyes widened. “Why was he beating his wife like that?” she asked, reining in her outrage, knowing more than anyone that in the werewolf world, people were expected to look away from couple’s matters.
“Well, I haven’t stayed here long, and I didn’t really know Sofia,” Zoe said with a thoughtful look. “But from what I’ve heard, they say she cheated on him, and he decided it was his life’s duty to punish her for it because it broke his soul, since she was his wife, someone he had marked. Javier is my cousin, but I’d like to warn you to stay clear of him. He’s always in a bad mood and wouldn’t hesitate to strangle someone to death for interfering in his personal affairs p>
Her brother had always warned her not to get involved with Javier like she did with Nick, but Sebastian didn’t even need to say anything. Javier’s resentment toward her brother was plain as day, and she made sure to stay away from him and his wife, who many said she had lost her sanity from his constant beatings.
“We’re here!” Zoe announced as they finally arrived at the massive underground training hall.
Viola, who couldn’t help the strange unease that settled in her chest after the way Javier had looked at her, made a mental note to mind her business and stay out of everyone’s way here before turning her attention to the hall they had arrived in.
She hadn’t expected the training ground to possess such grandeur, with rows of advanced, high-tech equipment spread across the vast space, immediately making her blood pump with a mix of nervousness and exhilaration.