Playing The Alphas

Chapter 90: The Ambush

SAMANTHA

Darlington stood where I had left him, watching me with a smile that was soft and sad and full of something I could not quite name. My steps faltered and my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him standing there, still shirtless, still beautiful, still so utterly confusing.

Pressing my hand to my chest as if that could regulate my emotions, I forced myself to keep walking. Even as tears welled up again and threatened to spill down my cheeks, I kept my head high and my feet moving forward.

Since arriving at this scary place, I had been constantly targeted or faced life threatening situations that pushed me to the brink of breaking. But I did not expect the one person who had shown me respect, the one person who had treated me like a human being rather than property, to be the one who would terrify me the most.

Darlington had been my safe place. And now even that was gone.

I took a deep breath and I paused deeply before stepping outside into the cold corridor. The air was cool against my skin and the torches flickered along the stone walls, casting dancing shadows that seemed to mock me.

After leaving Darlington’s villa, I moved back toward my own penthouse, my mind a tangled mess of thoughts that I could not sort through. What had just happened? Why had he stopped? Why had he apologized? And why did I still feel so guilty?

Out of nowhere, I jammed into someone.

"Sorry," I blurted out, stumbling backward.

When I looked up, I saw that I had bumped into a lady. She was tall and thin with sharp features and cold eyes. She looked very familiar. Another slave, perhaps. One of the new ones who had arrived after Leslie’s banishment.

"Watch where you are going," she snapped, her voice dripping with venom. "Are you blind?"

Her eyes narrowed as recognition flashed in her face and she raised an eyebrow with obvious disdain.

"Well, well," she said slowly, drawing out each word. "If it is not the infamous Samantha Samuels."

Infamous? What had she heard about me. I knew that the girls would be gossiping about me but I did not think that they would say all sorts of slanderous things plus lies! What could they have said to plant so much hatred and envy into the heart of a new comer?

The sneer in her voice made me tense and I felt my shoulders stiffen.

She scoffed and she exaggerated her disdain with a dramatic toss of her head. "Were you not supposed to be serving Prince Darlington tonight? What are you doing out here?" She paused and a cruel smile spread across her face. "Oh... do not tell me... did he kick you out?"

Her words hit very terribly and I felt my face burn with shame. Before I could react, she grinned and the glee in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Tell me Samantha! Did he kick you out perhaps, because you are not as pretty as me? Or...you’re not a virgin as you painted yourself. Oh! I’m sure the girls will have a field day with this. Why are you not talking? Cat got your tongue? Huh?"

"Mmm...." Was all I said. I didn’t want to give her the pleasure of knowing she could agaitate me and instigate anger in me whenever she wished. freёwebnoѵel.com

"I wonder why he didn’t choose the rest of us. We are younger, sexier..sweeter and other men have not seen our nakedness. Unlike you!"

Still, I was quiet.

"Serves you right!" she said with a laugh.

With that, she sauntered away, her laughter trailing behind her like a cruel melody.

I watched her retreating figure and I felt no need to defend myself. For the others, spending one night with one of the princes was a mark of honor, something to be coveted and celebrated. But not for me. If she misunderstood, if she thought I had been rejected and cast aside, perhaps she would leave me alone in the future.

I brushed off her words and I continued walking toward my house.

*****

The corridors were quiet and the torches flickered in their sconces, casting long shadows that danced across the walls. I kept my head down and my eyes focused on the path ahead, trying to ignore the lingering ache in my chest.

Then something strange happened.

The symbols on the walls seemed to be changing. They were moving. The carved stone designs of wolves and moons and ancient battles appeared to shift and twist as I watched, like they were alive and breathing.

I stopped walking and I studied this for a moment, my eyes wide and my heart pounding. The symbols continued to move, writhing like snakes across the stone surface.

When I turned away, I heard laughter. Soft and distant and eerily familiar. And movement. Footsteps that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

But when I turned back, I saw nothing at all.

"Hello?" I called out. "Is someone there?"

No answer.

I cleaned my eyes and I looked again. The symbols were still. The laughter was gone. Everything was normal.

What could be happening? I said to myself. Am I losing my mind? fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

I shook my head and I continued walking, my steps quicker than before.

*****

The living room was pitch dark when I opened the door to my penthouse. The curtains were drawn and no candles were lit and the darkness was so complete that I could not see my own hand in front of my face.

"Joanne?" I called out. "Are you here?"

No answer.

I stepped inside and I reached for the wall, searching for the light switch.

Just as I was about to step further into the room, someone grabbed me tight from behind. Their hold was very tight and very evil and every hair on my body stood on end.

A scream left my throat.

"Argh!! Who are you?"