Chapter 3 A RIDE TO THE RIVER

Charlotte "Wow, this is beautiful," I commented, looking out the window. The sunlight shone on me, and it felt strange. Back at Blackwood’s, I lived in a room where the only window was so high that it didn’t bring in any sunlight. I watched some men clipping flowers downstairs while others led horses to only the gods knew where. Since Thomas told me that Frederick loved to ride, I craned my neck, hoping to see him.

"Ma'am, would you like to go out and look around?" Loretta asked as she made the bed we had slept on, her face curled in a smile.

"Really?" I raised my eyebrow. "Is there not something I should be doing?"

"You mean apart from Luna's duties?" Davina asked, turning to look at Loretta. They communicated with their eyes and laughed.

"Luna duties?" I was confused. I had never seen my mom do anything besides bark orders, mostly directed at me.

"What do you mean by Luna's duties?" I turned partially from the window. "And I’ve told you to stop calling me ma'am. It’s Charlotte."

"Yes… Char—Charlotte," Loretta stammered. Getting them to call me by my name was going to be a challenge, but being called "ma'am" was uncomfortable.

"So, what do you mean by Luna duties?" I bailed her out, and I could see her heave a sigh of relief.

"You know," she shrugged, "like telling others what to do." She blinked at me, then her eyes fluttered up. "Your parents were Alpha and Luna. You should know more about being a Luna," she said hurriedly.

"Well, sadly, I don’t. I hope that’s not a problem," I smiled sadly.

"My lady," Davina started to say, then caught me glaring at her. "Oh, sorry. Charlotte. You’re hilarious. Would you like to go out with us? We’re going to the kitchen. Food should be ready by now."

"Oh!" I nodded. "Maybe you should just head to the kitchen while I look around."

"That’s what I was referring to as Luna's duties," Loretta laughed, and I joined her.

We all walked out of the room, and I went back to the paintings I had seen during the night. Although the lamps had been turned off, the painting that had made me shudder in the dark still gave me goosebumps.

The house was alive with people now. I went downstairs to the hallway where Frederick had seen me.

"It's all rooms," I smiled. I would have accidentally woken someone if Frederick hadn’t come when he did. As I strolled away, I noticed one of the room doors was open.

"Did you lose your way?" A woman came out of the room, staring at me intently.

"No," I answered politely.

"It feels good to be strolling idly in the morning. This is Melissa, not me." I chuckled at the thought.

"Charlotte, your breakfast is ready. You should follow me to the dining room." Davina poked her head into the hallway. I could hear the woman gasp.

"Ah. What are we having for breakfast?"

"Scrambled eggs," Davina said, falling in behind me. "You'll like it."

The dining table was a very long mahogany table with two king-sized chairs at either end. I didn’t need Davina or Loretta to tell me where I was supposed to sit.

As they served the food, I noticed it was on only one plate.

"When is Frederick joining us?" I frowned, glancing at his empty seat.

"Oh, the Alpha won't be joining you for breakfast," Loretta said nervously.

"Why?" I frowned even harder.

"Hmm… he is…" Loretta stammered.

"He’s having breakfast with someone in the Alpha quarters. He said he regrets not joining you and will do so as soon as possible," Davina finished Loretta’s statement for her.

"Alright then. Alpha duties, I suppose," I nodded, picking up a fork from the cutlery. "Maybe he just doesn’t want to dine with me. Who cares?" I muttered.

I dug a spoon into the eggs and tasted them. They were good, and I found myself unconsciously turning toward Frederick’s empty chair.

"I hope I don’t have to do this alone every day."

A muscular man dressed like an omega walked in. He was a bit older than Frederick, and his eyes scanned the room. Davina approached him instantly.

"What do you want?" Davina asked. "Luna is having some private time."

"The Alpha would like to see you," the omega said.

"Me?" I frowned.

"Yes, ma'am. You," he nodded, then turned to Davina as if to tell her she was not the one being called.

"In his room?" I rose slowly, dropping the fork.

"No, he’s waiting outside. I will escort you." He stepped aside, waiting for me.

I pushed the eggs aside and stood up, following the omega.

When we left the compound, Frederick was on a white horse. He was dressed casually, and I looked around for the visitor with whom he was having breakfast.

"I was told—"

"Would you like to follow me to the river?" He interrupted my question.

"River?" I frowned, surprised that he would ask.

"You heard me correctly," he scolded. "Unless you think we don’t have rivers in Torrance."

"Oh." I chuckled. "Far from it. I don’t have a swimming dress."

"You weren’t wearing one the day I met you." He extended his hand for me to climb onto the horse, which I did, and we rode slowly out of the pack house.

We rode slowly and silently. His breath made my hair stand on end.

"I was told you had a visitor," I repeated the question I had wanted to ask earlier. "Your business partners?"

"No. Just some people," he replied nervously. "I don’t like talking while riding." He kicked the horse, and it moved a bit faster.

"Oh. They must be important since you skipped breakfast. Your omega then?"

"Let’s just focus, Charlotte," Frederick said curtly.