The Cruel Alpha's Daughter's Mate

Chapter 2

Lara

I arrived at the Omegas living quarters and walked into Heidi’s room. Like I had many times before, I sat on Heidi’s bed to wait for her to return.

She worked in the kitchen which meant her start and finished times all depended upon how busy they were.

“Are you at Heidi’s?” my father asked through the pack mind link.

“Yes. Why?” I replied, hoping he wasn’t going to deprive me of time with my best friend.

“Maybe you should stay at her place tonight. I have an interview so I will have guests at the house,” he replied.

“Is that a suggestion or an order?” I asked him already knowing the answer.

“Take it as whichever one that will see you spending the night at your friend’s house. I will see you tomorrow sometime,” he replied, before cutting the mind link.

I shook my head in frustration. “Does he really have a meeting or is he just inviting Tiffany over?” I asked my wolf, Phoenix.

“Tiffany is probably coming over to measure up things so she can move in and redecorate the house,” Phoenix replied, not sounding thrilled with that idea.

“Please, do not even joke about that. Could you imagine living with her?” I asked, shuddering at the thought.

“What a nightmare. I would rather go swimming with piranhas,” Phoenix announced, shaking herself vigorously as though my suggestion had physically left her feeling tainted.

“Piranhas? Seriously? Well, that ain’t happening because there is no way I would be going near any piranhas, alive or dead. And, I will not be living with that gold digging hoe Tiffany either,” I stated.

“There you go. Now you just tell your dad that and everything will be fine,” Phoenix replied, laughing hysterically.

“That would be a death wish and you know it,” I muttered quietly.

Heidi walked into the room and saw me sprawled out on her bed, she broke out into a grin and asked, “Rough day?”

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

“Well, usually when you have had a rough day, you sprawl out on my bed. It’s kind of funny. I mean, you live in a mansion and yet, you seem more comfortable down here,” she replied, still grinning at me.

“If only she knew how uncomfortable things were at home huh?” Phoenix muttered.

“So? Rough day?” Heidi repeated, still watching me and waiting for my answer to her question.

“Oh, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I replied, running my hands down my face. That wasn’t the best move on my part, because unfortunately for me, every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was Tiffany and my father having s*x in our laundry room. I shook my head, trying to remove the image like one would do with an etcher sketch, but unfortunately the image refused to budge.

“Want to talk about it?” Heidi asked, walking over to take a seat on her bed beside me.

“I can’t,” I replied, giving her a weak smile.

“Lara, how long have we been friends? You know you can tell me anything, right?” she asked, placing her hand on my forearm and giving it a light squeeze.

“Heidi, I love you, I do. But I just can’t say anything. I am sorry,” I replied, laying back on the bed and closing my eyes once more.

Heidi stood up and began to grab her stuff to go and have her shower. Before she walked out of the room, she looked over at me and said, “Just remember that I am here for you if you need me, okay?”

“I know you are Heidi, thank you,” I replied, and she gave me a smile in return before walking out of the room, leaving me on my own once more.

I loved Heidi dearly, but I couldn’t risk saying anything about what I had seen and putting her at risk. It was bad enough that I was the one in the one in my father and Tiffany’s cross hairs over what I had seen earlier.

Goddess only knew what Tiffany was planning to do, now that she knew I knew her little secret. I knew she would do anything to make sure her position within the pack remained secure.

Everyone knew that Tiffany was a social climber. Even before it became known that she was Beta Scott’s mate, she had been incredibly power hungry. Everyone had thought that she would stop with the social climbing once she became the packs Beta female, but now I knew that she hadn’t stopped with her social climbing. She clearly wanted to be the Alpha female. She wanted the authority and prestige that would come from being this pack’s Luna.

How long had she been screwing my dad? Had it started before my mom died? I wanted to know. I needed to know.

I didn’t understand how Tiffany found it so easy to cheat on Beta Scott. He had always treated her so well. Everyone knew he treated her like a princess. But another thought that was troubling me, was my father. My father and Beta Scott had been best friends since they were children. How could my father do this to Beta Scott? How could he screw Tiffany and not even spare a thought for what this would do to his best friend?

As far as I was concerned, the both of them, Tiffany and my father, were horrible, evil people. They clearly didn’t care who they hurt so long as they each got what they wanted. Their apparent greed disgusted me. I couldn’t understand how people who were so well off were not happy with what they had.

Omegas had nothing. They didn’t have their own home. They didn’t have lots of money or expensive clothes. They worked their butts off for the opportunity to eat and sleep with a roof over their heads. If they didn’t work, they wouldn’t eat and they would have to sleep outside and contend with snakes and spiders and other dangerous things, not to mention the elements. But despite all of that, they could find reasons to be happy.

The thought of sleeping outside horrified me. I physically shuddered in horror just thinking about it. I could literally feel my skin prickling and itching like I had creepy bugs crawling all over me.

“Oh stop! For the love of the Goddess! You are letting your imagination run wild over nothing,” Phoenix hissed. “You are making me itch with your horrid thoughts. I feel like I have a flea infestation on spring break living it up on my butt.”

“Sorry,” I replied, snapping out of it.

Why couldn’t Tiffany just be happy with her life? As the Beta couple, Tiffany and Scott had a nice house. Tiffany had money on account of her status within the pack. She was always shopping and buying clothes and makeup and getting her hair and nails done. Yet, clearly that wasn’t enough for her.

And as for my father, well, he had everything. He had money, power, a fancy house, Omegas to wait on him hand and foot. I just didn’t understand why people who had it all were never happy.

When Heidi came back into the room after her shower, she looked at me and said, “If you don’t stop thinking so hard, your brain is going to explode.”

“Good, at least my death will be quick,” I replied.

Heidi looked at me for a moment before saying, “What is going on with you, seriously? You are never one for morbid talk, so why are you acting like this? What happened to you?”

Without waiting for an answer, she came over and sat next to me once more, looking into my eyes and said, “Lara, talk to me, please.”

“It’s nothing, really, I am just tired,” I replied, patting her hand gently.

“You’re a lousy liar, you know that?” Heidi returned.

“If I could tell you, I would. But I can’t. Heidi, when have I ever done or said anything to put you at risk in any way?” I asked her.

“Never,” she replied, without missing a beat.

“Exactly, so why would I start now?” I asked.

She didn’t say anything for a second, then she sighed and said, “You know what, you’re right. I shouldn’t be pushing you to talk about something you clearly don’t want to discuss. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” I assured her. “Oh, and is it okay if I stay here tonight? My father has a meeting and he doesn’t want me underfoot.”

“Of course, you can stay here. You are always welcome here, you know that,” she replied giving me a smile.

“I am just going to wind down for a bit after my annoying day. So, if you don’t mind, I am just going to read a book or something for a while,” she said as she climbed onto her bed and curled up beside me. I watched as she picked up the book that was sitting on her night stand. It was Jack London’s The Call of the Wild. When I saw it, I couldn’t help but chuckle. I knew that was a book that Heidi had read over and over again since we were children.

“You’re reading that one again?” I asked her, still chuckling.

“It’s a classic,” she replied, sharing in my laughter.

“Yep, the yellow doggy eared pages show that,” I replied.

“That’s not what I meant,” she retorted.

“I know. I am just teasing you,” I assured her.

She laughed as she continued to get comfortable on her bed and a moment later began reading her book. I watched her for a moment before rolling over and closing my eyes, and drifting off into the safety of sleep.