10. Sinful Ministry

**Desiree’s POV.**

Sitting at in front of my vanity mirror was a daily thing for me, I loved assessing my own flaws, it gave me some sort of sick comfort knowing I wasn’t as perfect as others depicted or that I wasn’t as jaw dropping beautiful as my mother was.

With a sigh, I picked up the red lipstick from the table and popped open the lid- blood red was my favorite type of lipstick, it suited me perfectly and that was what I loved about it. I brought it up and put it on my upper lip before a violent knock bounded my door, “Open up, Desiree”, I heard my brother say from the other side.

I rolled my eyes and let out another sigh before applying the lipstick to my lower lips, “Come in, it is open”. The door was suddenly pushed open and my brother walked in, standing a few feet away from me,

“This is an intervention”, he said, stepping forward, our purple eyes clashed in the mirror since I had not bothered to look back,

“Hmmm”, I hummed knowing exactly where he was going with all this,

“Tell me the truth, Desiree. Where have-“, I cut him off,

“I find it absurd that you assume that because you said I should tell you the truth, I actually would”, I stood up from my chair and tightened the rope on my silk robe.

He let out a frustrated sigh, “Where have you been?”,

“I have been here”, I shrugged and walked over to my bed with my black nail polish in my hand, I could get my personal maid to do it but I don’t have the energy to pick up the telecom and call her or the patience to actually wait for her to get here.

“You know what I mean, Desiree”, he growled, and moved even closer to me,

I placed a poker face on, trying to look as serious as ever, “Honestly, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dwayne”, I crossed my arms over my chest,

“Do not call me Dwayne”, he warned, “I have come by to look for you more than five times on separate nights and you are never here”, he tilted his head to the side, “Do I need to tell dad to increase the security on you?”, I could read the threat in his voice and if there was one thing he knew got to me- it was a threat.

My eyebrows furrowed and my eyes narrowed to slits, “Are you threating me?”,

“Are you ready to tell me?”, he asked back and for a second, I actually considered telling him about Harrison but even I knew that it was a dangerous move- I would be risking everything if I did that, I would be putting Harrison’s life in danger. But, if DJ tells our father to double the security on me, I would never see Harrison again.

“There is nothing to tell, DJ. I was probably in the toilet or doing normal girl’s stuff when you came”, I lied with a shrug,

“Your door was locked”, he pointed out accusingly,

I looked up at him and cocked up an eyebrow, “I might be your little sister but I am also a grown ass woman. This is my floor and I believe I deserve some sort of privacy, after all, I have guards tailing me all day, I don’t need you watching my every move as well”,

“Oh”, he scratched his neck sheepishly as he thought of what I had said, “I am sorry”, I had successfully managed to make him feel bad for nothing, honestly, it was a superpower of mine- manipulation.

I stood up from my bed and walked towards him, “It is fine DJ, I want you to trust me, okay?”, I said this looking right into his eyes, afraid of blinking once as if it would make him see right through my lie. “I am your sister”, I placed my slender arm on his cheek, “Trust me”, spoken like a true manipulator.

He nodded his head and darted his eyes away from mine, finally breaking the torturous visual connection, “Of course, I trust you Dez. I just want you to be safe, you are my baby sister, regardless of your age”,

“And size”, I added,

“No, you’re still a midget”, he laughed while I pouted a frown, “Protecting you and mum is part of me, please, promise me you would be safe”,

“I promise”, I smiled and gave him a hug which he returned. I felt ashamed of myself a little bit- I had manipulated my brother into thinking he was the one at fault for confronting me for something I had clearly done. I was a great sister- sarcasm intended.

We pulled out of the hug shortly after, I gave him a small smile before talking back to my bed to apply my nail polish on the rest of my toes. With the corner of my eye, I saw him drag a chair towards me, “Let me do it”, he offered, it was not the first time that he would be doing this for me but most times, I actually had to blackmail him into doing it for me.

I handed him the nail polish and placed my feet on his lap, “Thank you”,

“Don’t mention it”, we were both silent for him until he spoke again, “So, when do you plan on putting my best friend out of misery?”, my left eyebrow immediately went up at his question,

“Excuse me?”,

“I mean, you can’t deny the fact that you and Alec have a solid connection”, he shrugged and I almost choked on my own spit, what type of connection was he talking about? I prayed to the goddess that he meant WiFi, that would make everything so much easier.

“I have no knowledge of what you’re saying”, my eyebrows were pretty much doing the devil’s tango at this point, that was how confused I was,

“Alec has liked you since forever, when are you finally going to give him a shot?”, he asked as he applied hardener on my nails,

“He has?”, how had I failed to notice that?

“Yes, he is planning on choosing you”, all color drained from my face as he said this, why on earth would Alec even think about choosing me?

I dragged my leg away from him and stood up from my bed, my problems wider than the smudged nail polish on my toe nails, “But I have known him since I was born, he is like a brother to me”, I started to pace around nervously, knowing that if Alec actually had his mind set on choosing me, I won’t have a choice- it was the fucked up misogynistic rule of the lycans, once you are chosen by a male, there is no going back whether you like it or not. You could run or hide but at the end of the day, you would need your chooser, the bond was unbreakable.

“You know him and tolerate him, that’s a bigger reason to be chosen by him. Also, you would be my mate’s beta”, none of his words soothed me to say the least, everything he just said made the situation seem worse. Plus, what would happen to the guy I actually like if Alec chooses me? Were would Harrison and I stand? All my feelings for Harrison would dissolve and the stupid bond would make me fall for Alec- something I was not ready or even committed to do.

“I am not letting Alec choose me”, I declared after much thought,

“Well, I really do not think you have a choice, mum and dad have approved and so do I. Alec has been my best friend for years and I trust him with my life, I also entrust him to treat you well”, he shrugged and stood up from my chair,

“I do not approve, I do not like Alec that way. I mean, I love him to bits but I just don’t see me in a romantic relationship with him”, I tried to reason with him, “I would hate him if he does this to me against my will”,

“You are talking like you have someone else”, he narrowed his eyes at me and a blood immediately rushed to my cheeks on instinct, he let out a dramatic gasp, “Oh my goddess, you do?”,

“No”, I denied, “I don’t but if I do, will things with Alec be any different?”, maybe, just maybe I could slither my way out of this one. Maybe not by manipulation but by telling the truth in a way that it would seem like a lie.

“Probably”, he smirked at me and crossed his arms over his chest,

“Then, we would go with that. I do have someone else”, I shrugged with a smirk on my face, he gave me a small wink,

“Sure, you do”, he knew how much I did not want to be with Alec so he was going along with whatever I said, thinking it was not true. This was proof that no matter how close he and Alec were, I would always come first, he was willing to lie to everyone to make me happy. There was no doubt that he would tell Alec that I had someone else and from there, Alec would tell his mum who would probably tell my mum.

Let’s just say that after my mum should eventually hear this, it would turn unpretty.