Chapter 39 North Princess

**Valerie**

“Get into the bathroom!” Alyssa signaled to me while pressing her ear against the door to check the movements of guards.

I darted into the small room on the right side, hiding myself behind the door which I left ajar for keeping an eye on what was going to happen out here.

A hasty knock tense me up, goosebumps spreading across my arms.

Alyssa opened the room door slovenly, grunting, “For god sake, do you guys know how late it is?”

She sounded annoyed while pointing at the clock on her nightstand. “Don’t you understand that it’s very impolite for a guy to knock at a lady’s door after the sunset?” She grumbled.

“Ms. Woodland, my apology.” The leading guard bowed respectfully, “We’re looking for a human slave who just escaped. Have you seen any suspicious human girl passing across?”

“I know.” Alyssa rolled up her eyes, folding arms against her chest, “You’ve made such a fuss about it. But I haven’t seen anyone more suspicious than you guys. What are you trying to do, Red Moon fellows?”

“Please excuse us. It’s out duty to comply with Alpha’s order, Ms. Woodland.”

“Oh, do you mean that it’s Xavier who told you to interrupt me at such an inappropriate time?” Alyssa’s voice harden, fury blazing behind her eyes.

The guard seemed to be flustered. Bowing down his head again, he said in a reverence, “No, Ms. Woodland. It’s not what I mean. We just have to do our best to find that girl.”

“Okay, suit yourself then.” Alyssa shrugged, “I don’t see there’s anything to do with me.”

She was about to close the door while the guard pushed his forearm at it to stop.

“What?!” She roared furiously.

“Please wait a second, Ms. Woodland,” the guard frowned with a severe expression, “Are you sure you haven’t seen anyone here just a while ago? We noticed that someone dressed in a female servant uniform were passing the corridor on the stairs, but when we reached the second floor, she disappeared.”

My heart started thumping fierily as the guard’s eyes flicked to the bathroom door where I was hiding behind. I flinched backward, trying to conceal myself further into darkness.

“Are you challenging me, Mister?” Alyssa retorted with arms akimbo.

“No, it’s just double-check.” The guards squinted at her, looking skeptical, “Would you mind us checking your room for any unexpected intruders?”

“Of course yes!” Alyssa exclaimed, “who the fuck do you think you are? To check my room? Are you out of your mind?”

“It’s for——” The guard tried to explain for his ‘good’ intention.

But Alyssa cut him off with a threatening voice, “See Mister, you have no right to interrogate, let alone to search me! Be careful. I am The Eclipse. You don’t want a dispute between two packs, do you?”

The guard grew silently, obviously being intimated by Alyssa’s exclamation.

“See Mister,” Alyssa added sarcastically, “The girl’s escape should be blamed on you. If I were you, I wouldn’t have make another stupid mistake to worsen the situation.”

The guard contemplated with worried face.

After a short silence, he apologized, “I’m sorry for my rudeness, Ms. Woodland.”

Then he turned around and shouted commands to his underlings, “Block the second floor! Scour every inch of the corridor!”

Alyssa closed the door and breathed out deeply in a relief. She eavesdropped behind the door again before calling me with a lowered voice, “you can come out. They have gone.”

As I stepped out of the bathroom, Alyssa walked to me with a cheerful smile.

“Thank you.” I smiled back to her.

“You’re welcome! Sit down here!” She looked weirdly vigorous, her face being florid and her voice sounding lively and energetic.

The girl standing in front of me now was way different from the delicate doll I had seen upon her arrival.

I betted my expression must looked utterly astonished and confused, as she huffed with a sigh and said in a disappointed tone, “You must wonder why I don’t seem to be sick anymore.”

“Sick?”

“Yuh,” She showed a frustrated face at me, “Everyone know I’m sick. I have been ‘sick’ since I was 13 years old. So I always look feeble in front of the public.”

“Ugh but it’s not true! It’s all pretended!” She shook her head bitterly before carrying on, “I’ve been playing this role for 5 fucking years and I’m fed up with it!”

*Pretend…What did she mean?*

Her exclamation almost turned into harsh scream as she squeezed her hands hard, as if trying to distract the painful feeling in other places of her body.

“Why are they so obsessed with power and strength? Being weak is never something we could decide, could we? Then why we should have been punished for that!”

She was likely to lose her mind in frenzy if she carried this on. So I caught her wrist and pulled her to sit beside me before patting on her shoulder in a tenderness.

“Alyssa, please calm down,” I tried to comfort her with a soft voice, “you can tell me. And if there’s anything I can help you——”

She cut me off sharply as her voice suddenly turned sullen and cold, “oh yes, of course you can help me. That’s the reason why I saved you from those stupid guards.”

I was stunned. Nervousness grew in my heart as I flinched back under her icy stares.

“Ease,” she grinned wickedly, “it’s not a big favor. On the opposite, I think it’s quite simple to you.”

“What do you mean?” I questioned, beholding her cautiously.

“I want you to hinder the engagement between me and Xavier.” She stated.

“What? To stop the marriage?” I blurted out.

“Yes,” She nodded, lip corner curling into an inscrutable smile, “Simple, isn’t it? Since you’ve slept with him, I suppose it’s not a big deal for you.”

“I don’t understand,” I frowned and shook my head, “I thought… you liked Xavier?”

“What? Hell no!” She nearly burst into a great laughter, shrugging indifferently “You mean I’ve been acting intimately with him, do you? But that’s pretended as well. Fake. Fake. Fake.”

“But why do you want me to destroy this?”

“Just tired of being a puppet.” She huffed with a quite cavalier attitude, “and I’d love to see both of them break down. Wolf hierarchy. Isn’t it sick?”

I stared at her skeptically.

Her eyes flinched with a trace of hurt when she mentioned the word ‘hierarchy’.

She was hiding away the pivotal part of her story.

Taking a deep breath, I uttered frankly, “If you want me to help you, you need to tell me the truth.”

“Do you really think it’s favor, Valerie Davis? You have no choice!” Her voice hardened deliberately while saying my name.

I knew she was trying to intimidate me because behind those eyes, there’s a little girl crouching in helplessness.

“I understand. But I’m not someone who’d cowed by force.” I retorted toughly.

Her chest heaved violently as she snarled at me desperately.

I remained calm and silent until she finally calmed down and flopped into the chair with a self-deprecating chuckle.

“I can’t even defeat a human girl.” She mumbled with a snort and looked at me in compromise. “Okay, I will tell you the whole story. But remember, it’s not a business deal. No fakeness, no cheating and no copping out. You must keep your life on the promise, otherwise I’ll kill you.”

“Deal.” I smiled while extending my right arm.

She glanced at me before lifting up and taking my hand for a tight squeeze, “deal.”