Chapter 10- Winner
Jo walked ahead of the two fairies who were gossiping nonstop behind her. If she knew fairies were such chatterboxes, she would have never made the deal!
Dante won the hunt and there was a feast tonight in his name. But unfortunately for Jo, that meant she had to accompany Dante as his chosen maiden. Keeping his words, Dante talked to the former Alpha and freed Mina and Daya from the hunt. However, the two fairies decided to spend a week with Jo while a messenger was being sent to the fairy kingdom to have them picked up. Now she had to squeeze them into the shared accommodation. There were already three people in a single room, with the two fairies, it was going to be even more crowded.
‘Polly is going to kill me. And also, where the heck will I get a dress for the feast later, damn it’, Jo wondered in frustration.
As she neared the shared accommodation, she heard someone crying. Immediately she rushed inside to see Lucy bawling her eyes out.
‘What’s wrong Lucy? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you again?’, Jo asked worriedly as she inspected Lucy’s body for any bruises. Being a werewolf meant greater healing power and Lucy’s past wounds were all already healed.
‘Jo, this is so wrong and not fair!’, Lucy cried, her voice full of sorrow. ‘Daisy is pregnant but Drake… he.. marries someone else!’.
Jo’s whole world started collapsing as her unsuspecting friend just revealed her the book’s spoiler. Watching Jo’s expression, Lucy quickly realised the mistake she had committed.
‘Oh no Jo. I am so sorry. I ended up reading ahead while you were gone.. I…’, Lucy started stuttering.
‘Shhh. It’s okay. But please wait for me next time so we can discuss the book’, Jo said painfully trying to find forgiveness in her heart.
‘It’s okay, Jo. Lucy had led a tough life and has finally found a hobby and interest’, Jo tried reminding herself.
Mina and Daya walked into the accommodation as they inspected the room.
‘Bit tight spaced here’, Mina finally spoke as she pushed her wavy green hair away from her face.
‘Sorry girls. You have no other option. Other shared accommodation for omegas is even more crowded than this. Me and Polly, my original roommate were the few lucky ones to get an entire room to ourselves’, Jo replied.
‘Well, this should do for now’, Daya squeaked as she went straight for Jo’s bed where Lucy was sitting and jumped on the soft blanket.
‘Ahh, so soft’, Daya’s voice echoed as Lucy looked at the two fairies in confusion.Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
After Jo introduced them to each other, Lucy listened in awe as the two fairies started sharing their back story.
Jo felt a painful pang in her heart as she remembered the book’s spoiler that Lucy had revealed accidentally. She was only on chapter 17 and did not need to know the spoiler so early on.
‘It’s okay Jo. MUST NOT CRY. BE STRONG’, she encouraged herself.
There was a knock on the door making everyone turn their heads.
‘Jo?’, a familiar high-pitched voice called her as she found Gina standing near the front door.
‘Yes?’, Jo replied tiredly. She was not ready for more dramas.
‘Let’s go, we need to get you ready for the feast later. The former Alpha told me to make you look presentable’, Gina revealed with a bored face as she eyed the room around and saw Lucy and the two bright haired fairies.
‘Wow, a gathering for a group of freakshows’, Gina snickered at them as Lucy immediately looked down avoiding eye contact while the two fairies practically hissed at the evil blonde.
‘Gina, let’s hurry up then. We don’t want to disappoint the former Alpha’, Jo ushered Gina out leaving the two fairies gawking after them.
.
.
.
Gina showed Jo countless dresses as she went on and on about how the dress had to match the makeup, jewelleries, blah blah blah.
Jo could care less about those things, but Gina was persistent. So, she quickly picked a light royal blue dress to shut Gina up.
‘I like this’, Jo quickly said as Gina looked at the dress in her hand.
‘Okay then. Let’s move on to your hair and make up next’.
After spending hours getting ready, Gina was finally satisfied that Jo was ready.
‘You look fab thanks to me!’
‘Sure’, Jo mustered the energy to reply. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and her heart skipped a little as old memories came flooding back up.
She looked so much like her younger self being properly groomed and dressed. A life that she left behind with so much pain and a life she did not want to remember.
Gina had Jo’s hair tied up in a high ponytail with a small jewel bead sitting on top of her head. Her makeup was done looking natural which was weird because Gina usually liked heavy makeups. She had a light lip gloss on along with a pink blush on her cheekbones. Her dress had a v-cut line at the front and was an off shoulder royal blue gown. The material was made from satin and brushed Jo’s skin lightly when she first put it on.
‘Jo, remember that the former Alpha wants the royal guest to be kept happy at all costs!’, Gina warned Jo as she contoured her own cheekbones with a brown shadow palette.
‘I know. Thanks for the help’, Jo muttered under her breath as she left Gina’s room. She knew what she had to do next, so her legs automatically started walking towards the General’s room. He was such a mystery to her. She did not even know it was possible for a werewolf to kill multiple plague demons just by combat.
The scent of lavender and wood filled Jo’s nostril as she inhaled it deeply. It was so alluring, and mesmerising that she could easily get lost in the depths of this scent.
‘Hi Jo’, the familiar voice pronounced her name as a small tingle went though her body. She wanted the voice to say her name again and again, maybe she really was going crazy.
Dante stood before Jo in a full black suit and red tie. The vibrant red colour of the tie matching Jo’s hair that was neatly tied away from her face. He could see her beautiful face more clearly with all the hair away and he had to admit, Jo was without a doubt, the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. ‘You look even more gorgeous tonight’.
The comment made Jo’s cheeks even more pink as she tried to brush off the compliment, ‘You look somewhat presentable too, General’.
‘Please like I said before, call me Dante’, he gave her a playful smile as Jo just shrugged her shoulder in defeat.
.
.
.
The feast this year was grand, in anticipation of impressing the royal guest. Alpha Warren made sure everything was perfect, from the food, arrangements, presentations to the dancers, entertainers, and servers. He wanted to make a good reputation for Dark Slayer Pack in the royal kingdom. Even though his son did not win the hunt this year, it was probably better that way. The royal visitors needed to feel superior anyways.
‘Polly, where is the server for this table?’, he yelled with clear frustration in his voice.
‘Alpha, I will have a look into this straightaway’, Polly obediently replied and rushed to the omega quarters.
Alpha Warren looked around again to see if everything was perfect to the T when he noticed General Dante heading towards him.
‘General, congratulations on winning the hunt. It was magnificent to see your combat strengths earlier’, Alpha Warren lied through his teeth. There really was nothing much to see because Dante was too quick in combat, almost invisible like wind.
‘You humour me too much, Alpha. I am just happy to bring my chosen maid along to a feast being celebrated in my name’, Dante smiled shaking the Alpha’s hand.
The two men exchanged some conversation as a bored Jo stood there trying not to yawn. From the corner of her eyes, Jo saw Alpha Jayden entering the festive ground with a proud looking Gina by his side. Gina had a black skin-tight dress with a slit on one side revealing her left thigh. She looked classy until she opened her mouth, of course.
More guest started arriving as the feast started heading towards a full swing. Soon, the place was bustling loudly with people as there was an equally large number of servers and entertainers attending to the royal guests.
Soon the central ground was cleared so that the dancers could perform. A loud music played through the speaker as a group of young-looking female performers danced in the center attracting cheers, whistles, and catcalls.
Jo was now seated next to Dante who was still talking to the former Alpha. Jayden was already swarmed by other she-wolves as a drunk Gina tried to shoo them away.
Jo looked around and noticed that the other general Caleb was not there. She wondered where he was. Not that it was any of her business.
She had no one to talk to even in this crowded celebration, so Jo sneakily grabbed the wine next to Dante and gulped it down in one go. In a matter of few minutes, she started feeling light heated. She probably should not have drunk it so fast because she was not one of them and so the wine had strong effect on her.
‘Yes Alpha, I promise that…..’, Jo heard bits and pieces of a nearby conversations as the loud music covered most of the noise. The word ‘promise’ hit her like a brick as she remembered her vampire book. Drake also promised to never leave Daisy, but he still did and married some one else.
Jo could not be strong anymore as a lump formed in her throat and she quickly rushed outside of the festive ground to get away from all the loud music and celebration.
Once she was finally out of everyone’s earshot, she started letting out all her emotions. She was so invested in this novel and prayed for things to work between Daisy and Drake. Even if her real life was miserable, she wanted to believe true love could at least exist in stories.
Jo covered her face with her hand as she wept her pain away. Suddenly a strong hand pulled her back and turned her.
‘What’s wrong Jo? Did I do something wrong?’, Dante looked at Jo, his golden eyes full of worry.
‘I…Dai…Pregnant…Drake left…’, Jo mumbled her words as the alcohol started kicking in.
Dante hardened his grip on Jo as he tried to make sense of her words.
‘Was Jo Pregnant? And who was Drake? Her past lover? Did he leave her pregnant?’ he thought not liking any of the possibilities.
He was going to find him and kill that bastard. At that moment, the mission did not matter anymore. He only wanted to make Drake pay for making Jo cry.
‘Where does Drake live? How do I find him?’, Dante asked with pain evident in his voice. He liked Jo right from the first moment he saw her when she stepped into the garden. Her vibrant red hair tied up elegantly as she looked at the moon, she was simply breathtaking. And he would relive that moment if he had the chance to. Dante did not even realise when he had started falling for this mysterious maiden.
‘He…married someone else after the…promise. How could he?’, Jo bawled out more as she rested her head on Dante’s broad shoulder.
‘Shh, it will be okay. He will pay for everything’, Dante carefully patted her delicate crying back as he inhaled a vague scent of vanilla and pine.
‘It’s allll…Genny’s fault!’, she revealed, her voice sounding more and more drunk.
‘Genny?’, Dante repeated as he looked at Jo in confusion.
‘She always…writes…stuff with….’, Jo slurred her words as she crashed onto Dante’s arm fully. He held her up carefully as Jo passed out in his hands. He tried analysing her last words as he carried Jo bridal style.
After asking few omegas, Dante finally found Jo’s room. Inside, he found the two fairies from the hunt sleeping on the floor mattress. Slowly tiptoeing, he placed Jo on the empty bed. A book on the nightstand caught his eyes as he saw the name of the author on it. Suddenly everything made sense as he tried to stop himself from laughing.
‘So, she was talking about a fictional male character’, he thought to himself as he stared at Jo’s soft delicate features. He wanted to kiss her plump enticing lips and do things to her he never imagined before. And before he realised it, he knew he had fallen in love with Jo. He wanted to protect her at all costs and give her all the happiness in the world. Heck, he was even ready to kill a fictional character for her.
‘What are you doing to me Jo?’, he whispered as he kissed her right hand gently and left the room.