67

The warm water pounded down on me and since I was alone for the first time, I tried to process everything that had happened. Images from the last few days ran through my memory like lightning, triggering pure emotional chaos in me. From love to hate, from fear to excitement. It all went through me at the same time and made me so confused that none of my thoughts seemed clear.

My skin starting to soften, I hesitantly turned off the faucet and wrapped myself in a large white towel to quickly sneak back to my room.

My room ...

It was a strange feeling to think about a different room than my childhood room, which I missed so terribly.

As soon as I ran to my suitcase and opened it with a loud click, I was immediately greeted by the familiar smell of home. Several minutes passed, in which I only sniffed at my clothes and forgot everything around me for a moment. I missed my dad terribly, but I was more concerned that he was alone. Without his daughter by his side. He's had to lose the love of his life and always blamed himself for it. Then me for an alpha from the south. It made me sad to think about it, so I tried to distract myself from the bad thoughts by grabbing the second suitcase, which didn't have the familiar smell. Looking at the content, I immediately understood why that was. Killian swapped one of Melina's suitcases for mine

That ca n't be true ...

So now I had a suitcase with underwear, socks and tops and one with dresses and make-up. There weren't a single pair of pants in the two suitcases, nor in my backpack, which only contained a few books. For better or for worse, I had to put on a dress and of course all the dresses were exaggeratedly short. That was so typical of Melina.

When I got up, I glanced at the wardrobe and briefly thought of putting on a pair of his trousers. But, shaking my head, I threw the idea out of my head and turned to the clothes. I didn't want to just go into someone else's stuff, much less have his smell on me.

Do n't be such a coward...

I reluctantly selected a dress from the suitcase, angrily pulled it on and, fully dressed, walked over to the mirror and rolled my eyes at it. The white silk dress looked sexy, but it didn't suit me and my petite frame at all, but I had no choice anyway, so I accepted it and tied my wet hair in a high bun.

Driven by curiosity and hunger, I ran out of the room and down the long hallway. There were several doors on this floor, none of which were open except for the bathroom. At the end of the hallway there was a large spiral staircase that went both down and up. I hesitantly padded down the steps and was curious to see what or who would be waiting for me there.

Once at the bottom, I stood in the middle of a huge open space that took my breath away for a moment. The room was larger than the ballroom, but still felt warm and comfortable. Two sides consisted of pure window fronts, through which one had a good view of everything around. The other two sides consisted of white walls with various paintings hanging that went well with the rest of the furniture in terms of colour. The large window panes made me feel a bit like a fish in an aquarium, but that didn't stop me from continuing to look around curiously.

To the left of the stairs was an open brown kitchen, the hue of which was reflected in the dining table next to it. Twelve people could have sat at it, but one half of the table was filled with books, magazines and other small items.

I turned to the other side, on which was the front door, next to which a dark blue living area spread out. From this one had a good view of the black flat screen, which looked modern and expensive, just like everything else.

Since nobody seemed to be there, I went hungry over to the kitchen. I had a queasy feeling at the thought of going to someone else's fridge without permission, but he'd kidnapped me after all, so I couldn't have felt bad about it.

The fridge was so full I felt like I was in the supermarket. My father could only ever buy the bare essentials, had to shell out every penny, and more was stored here than could be eaten. Life was just unfair, I shook my head in frustration and grabbed a carton of milk.

The glasses were easy to find and while drinking the cold milk I noticed a fruit basket in which a red apple smiled deliciously at me. I was relieved not to have to take anything out of the fridge. As long as I was a guest here, I preferred to wait until I was offered food. So much decency had to be. With the apple in my hand and my short white dress on my body I stood there alone in a huge palace.

As I savored the apple, I stepped to the front window and with this view I had the feeling that this house was in the middle of the city. Surrounded by a stream and small trees, it stood on a flat hill. So you could look down on the whole city. Impressed, I gulped down a piece of apple and then walked over to the couch to sit on it.

Bored, I turned on the TV. Going out alone in a strange city wasn't an option for me, so I decided to do a documentary about owls. They immediately made me smile with their cute googly eyes and beautiful plumage.

When I had just made myself really comfortable and was following what was happening on the television with my thoughts, the door was suddenly thrown open with a bang. I widened my eyes in shock, while my heart slipped into my pants from shock and from now on there were several men in the room who fortunately didn't notice me at all. I only recognized Resul, who smiled and collapsed onto the couch next to me while the others stormed the kitchen. When I saw her, I realized why the refrigerator contained so much food.

I turned back to Resul, who was sitting next to me, watching me nervously. His gaze slid down my face until he raised an eyebrow and looked into my eyes in horror.

"Do you want him to kill us both?" he stuttered, pointing at my bare legs sticking out from under the short dress.

"It's not my fault, it's his. He didn't give me a chance to pack my own things. I don't have anything else."

I hunched my shoulders innocently and smiled halfheartedly at him.

"Come on! We'll go to my place. My sister is a bit older, but I'm sure she has some modern things left."

Without paying any attention to the others, I followed the curly head outside, where a pleasant breeze immediately blew in my direction, giving me a brief cool-down.

We strolled in silence through a small park where children were playing while men and women grilled and laughed. The atmosphere was super relaxed and welcoming. I would have loved to stay here, but I didn't want Resul getting in trouble with his alpha because of me, so I kept following him until we turned a corner and stopped in front of a small house. The curly haired man took out his keys and put them in the door of the house, which somehow reminded me of my home, as cozy as it looked.

"Hellooooo?!" Resul called as we stood in the hallway, throwing his keys into a basket that was on top of a small dresser.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone there," he said, and then gave me a hand signal to follow him through the narrow corridor.

When he then opened the rearmost door and stepped into the small room, I stood in the doorway and looked around shyly. While I was noticing the mess, Resul was digging clothes out of a closet and throwing them all into a black backpack and after apparently gathering enough items, he stood up and looked at me with a grin.

"She'll freak out. But if Killian sees you like that, I'm dead," he murmured and threw the backpack at me, but I didn't have a chance to react so quickly and it hit me directly in the stomach. It didn't hurt at all, but Resul's eyes widened as if he'd just given me the killing blow.

"Oh god, sorry! That wasn't my intention!" he stuttered almost in panic, taking a step towards me, but I just waved him off and smiled lovingly to calm him down.

"Don't worry. Didn't even hurt you wimp," I grinned cheekily at him. I didn't have to be shy with him. He was playful and brought out my playful side as well. I really enjoyed being around him. A deep exhalation on his part and he had that warm expression in his eyes again and those sweet dimples on his cheeks.

"The bathroom is at the back, wear what you like. I'll wait outside."

Arrived in the bathroom, I examined each item from the backpack and finally decided on black leggings and a red blouse. It fit me like a glove and I was glad I didn't have to walk around in the short dress anymore. I packed the rest of the things neatly back into the backpack and threw it on my shoulder with a flourish, then walked outside with a smile.