Chapter 16 Wisteria

The vehicle started rumbling again, much to her indignation. After her exhaustion earlier, Nat simply hadn’t given her ample time to rest and insisted they leave immediately.
She was extremely disappointed. What she thought to be a ‘chilling session’ had turned out to be some escapade for herself. What’s more, she ended up at the mercy of the man she had coveted for herself. Yes, she hadn’t meant to mark him, but she had never anticipated it would come to this!
A gigolo, who she only wanted his services for one night, turned out to have so many connections with her, the CEO of AD Systems, Corp. It was a good thing she was a puny werewolf because if she was a huge beast, he would have been dead by now. She vowed that in time, she would make him regret messing with her. But first things first. Once he signed the contract, she would have all the power she could over him!
Now, she hadn’t expected that she, the haughty and independent CEO who was the youngest ever CEO in Neon, and a female werewolf, would be subdued so easily by a jobless man who she had retrenched due to her company’s restructuring!
Abrupt braking from the sedan caused her to jolt in her seat. Fortunately for her seat belt restricting, her head barely hit the glass window. The roads ahead were bumpy, and she hadn’t expected Nat to put her into such an inconvenience. Shooting an annoyed glare at Nat, she remained silent with furious emotions written all over her face.
“You know you chose this, right, Alyssa Dawson?” Nat was humming a slow tune, his eyes glued on the road in front of him. “I’m not stopping you if you choose to leave now. But without any phone signal or internet, chances are that you won’t find your way out of the forest.”
Nathaniel Underwood! She screamed his name in her mind. If he hadn’t done it on purpose, then why was he torturing her like this? She clenched her fist into a ball on her lap. Nat gloated again, obviously reading her thoughts. Yet, when their bodies came together in bed, she had felt an entirely different level. She couldn’t explain it, yet he made her feel complete. But being Alyssa Dawson, she was unwilling to admit it!
He halted the car immediately outside a warm-looking cottage. Nat dropped his mean play, appearing courteous and gentlemanly when he invited her out of his car. She knew immediately that it was just an act in front of his grandmother, so she played along, eager to witness the old lady for herself.
The thought of meeting his grandmother also reminded her of her adoptive grandmother, Karen Dawson, when she was still alive. Karen had ignored the fact that she wasn’t her parents’ true child, and doted her for some years before passing from late-stage cancer. Even though she had only five years that they spent together, it was a very memorable five years of her life.
Alyssa peered up at the tall and charming man and without hesitation, she accepted his hand. In the brief one second that their hands brushed against each other, she felt a surge of energy, and sparks in her index finger.
Even just hand contact had excited her like this, how could she even withstand him kissing or making love to her? Focusing her mind, she ordered herself to get a grip. Aria was incredibly drawn to him, despite him just being a human. But she couldn’t allow a man to step all over her. She determined to crush him and put him on a leash like a pet. After all, which idiot would say no to money?
In the contract, she had made Mr. Luckson draft out a generous offer. There was a benefit to her for them being in a contractual relationship. At least, she schemed, by having this black-and-white contract, he would keep the secret of her being a werewolf, and at the same time, her satisfied without the need for her to find anyone else!
“What are you smiling about?” Nat grinned, tightening his hand around her waist. Through the sheer material of her skirt, she sensed the warmth of his hand spreading through her bottom, and could only swallow it down! Resisting him was so difficult! Small wonder that during her younger days, the elders had often talked about marking, because once that mark was put on another, the bond was so blatant that she couldn’t get rid of it easily!
“None of your business.”
“Suit yourself.” He pressed down on the doorbell with his free hand. Alyssa heard some distant coughs, then the repeated tapping of a stick on the ground. After a few minutes, the doorknob turned.
“Grandma!” Nat exclaimed loudly and immediately sprung towards the door before Alyssa could react. He lost no time in chiding his grandmother for walking around the house and not being in the company of the housekeeper he had paid to care for her.
As she came closer to the door Alyssa almost gasped to see the littlest old lady behind the door.
Nat quickly introduced them. She assumed that he reacted quickly because just didn’t want her saying the wrong things, probably intending for her to act as his live-in girlfriend, who she only knew by the name Regina. She could do that, but she wanted to know more to feed her curious mind.
“Wisteria, my grandmother.”
She bowed to Wisteria, looking humble suddenly.
“Alyssa Dawson, my girlfriend.”
Nat’s introduction of her hit her like a stone brick thrown at her. He was not asking her to act as Regina, but instead, he had made her known to Wisteria by her actual identity. Furthermore, he had said to his grandmother that she was his girlfriend. What did he intend to achieve by all this?
“Come on in.” The little old lady was wearing an apron over some strange attire. But her sweet voice and charming self almost caused Alyssa to forget her discomfort and actually feel happy. It was like she had found her grandmother all over again. She almost felt emotional, and a tear brushed past her eye.
Fortunately, Wisteria hadn’t noticed it. They followed her into the cottage, which never ceased to amaze Alyssa. For a rural place, it contained sophisticated equipment, which she presumed was for cooking and for leisure. However, a padlocked room in the corner garnered her attention. Nat signalled to her, and she stopped staring, thanks to their bond that let them communicate.
“It must have been a long drive from the city,” the old lady said with a twinkle in her eye. She returned soon with a tray holding two small plates of food and two glasses, filled to the brim.
“Grandma, you shouldn’t have,” Nat coaxed.
“I was pleased to hear that you are coming. Why couldn’t you let me do something for you for once?” She put the tray down and left them, heading to the living room.
Nat’s shoulders stiffened. Alyssa began to feel there was something wrong, although she couldn’t pinpoint the actual problem. He tightened his grip on her hand, squeezing it hard that she realised something had to be on his mind. The old lady watched them for a bit.
“Let’s eat, Ally.”
Nat just guided her to the table without a further word. She sat with him and savoured the food on her plate slowly. Wisteria had whipped up some steamed fish and rice. With the spoon and fork on the table, she consumed the food a bit at a time. Nat ate very quickly, although he didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
“You’re done?” She was puzzled, clueless about the man at all. He just smiled and whispered in her ear.
“Ally, wash the dishes. I have something to speak to my grandmother about. Later, I’ll explain to you what’s going on. Give us ten minutes, then you can come to the living room.”
“Wha-ttt?”
Did she get him right? He asked her to wash the dishes while he caught up with his grandmother on old times? Who was she to him at all, to wash the dishes?
“Thank you, Ally.”
He winked and before she could say anything, he had walked out of the dining room. She eyed him from a distance, reluctantly picking up his dirty dishes.
He had better give her a valid explanation, she swallowed, venting her anger in her mind. Taking both dishes, she seized them and the tray they were in, dumping them noiselessly in the sink.
They were still talking. She grabbed the wrecked sponge sitting in a small square recycled container filled with water and soap suds.
Darn! It had stank so much, that she couldn’t bring herself to smell the stench. It was gross! And he wanted her to work as if she was a maid? He would most certainly be the death of her!
As she rubbed the bottom of the plates as hard as she could, she heard their conversation loud and clear.
“When is she going to be your wife?”