New Day

A knock on the bathroom door startles me awake. The sun has started to go down, and the bath water is ice cold. I pull myself up and step out of the tub, wrapping myself in a towel. Another knock on the door.

"Hello, are you in there?" the voice says.

I freeze for a moment. Is she talking to me? She must have the wrong room.

Knock Knock Knock again, "Hello?"

"Comming," I say, quickly walking to the door and opening it. A beautiful blonde is standing before me, dressed in all black. She smiles at me and begins speaking.

"Dinner is in a few minutes, and I was sent to check on you as you did not come down for lunch." she finishes.

I look at her, confused; she seriously can't be talking to me like that.

"I'm sorry, I think you might have the wrong room because you definitely have the wrong person," I say, smiling lightly.

She laughs and shakes her head. "No, I'm here for you."

Ahe sticks her hand out, "I'm Avery,"

I grab her hand and shake it, "Ivory," I say, then drop it.

She grins, her white teeth blinding.

"It's nice to meet you. Please let me know if you ever need anything. I am the omega on this floor." She finishes.

I snort-laugh, causing her to cock her head and look at me funny. I clear my throat and say,

"Okay, now I really know that you have the wrong person."

She shifts uncomfortably and clears her throat before speaking.

"No, Ma'am, I certainly do not. You are Miss Moore, and you are on the Gamma floor. I am the housekeeper for the floor. And I was sent up specifically to make sure you were okay." She finished.

Guilt overwhelmed me. I had offended her and made her feel stupid. that was not what I wanted to do. I look down at my feet for a moment before looking back up at her and speaking.

"I am so sorry. I did not mean to offend you. I am just surprised; please forgive me." I finished.

She nods her head and smiles slightly before walking towards the door.

"Please head downstairs for dinner when you are ready." She stated, closing the door behind her.

I breathe deeply and lean my head back on the door frame of the bathroom door. My goal was not to screw things up, and here I am, insulting someone trying to help me and just doing her job. Good going, Ivory! I think to myself.

My stomach growled loudly, making me realize that I hadn't eaten in over 48 hours. Food did sound good, and I was invited to eat, according to Avery, vs. having to steal scraps when I could. I look around the room, and there is no sight of my backpack. I panic and start pulling drawers open to see if it was put in them. Nothing; they were all empty. I start pacing the floor, running my hands through my hair, trying to think of how I will get downstairs with no clothes to wear. A knock on the door draws me out of my thoughts.

"Yes?" I say

Avery opens the door slightly and peeks her head in,

"Is everything okay? I heard a commotion." She asked

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to find the bag that had my clothes in it," I reply

"I believe it is in the closet. would you like me to show you?" She says

"Oh no, that's okay, I am good. Thank you." I say back

She nodded and closed the door again. I didn't even think of looking in a closet. I never had one, so it never crossed my mind. Feeling stupid, I walk to the other end of the room and into the closet. Flipping on the light, I find my bag placed on a shelf. My two outfits are hanging up, and next to them is a beautiful emerald green blouse. I run my fingers over the silk fabric, its smooth, soft texture feeling so good. I am tempted to wear it, but I think it would bring me too much attention that I definitely don't want. So instead, I grabbed a pair of jeans with a hole in the knee and a baggy shirt. I pull my hair up in a ponytail and make my way downstairs to eat.

Reaching the end of the hallway, I take in the room; I only assume it is the entry to the house. The slightly spiraled staircase leads down to beautifully kept tiled floors, and the walls reach the second floor's ceiling. Large windows, I imagine, let in so much light in the morning, sprawl over the courtyard. Looking out the windows, I see groups of people sparing on the field below. They are all in such good shape, and I swear all of them are gorgeous, almost godly with their looks and physique. I feel a pang of self-consciousness wash over me, knowing I would never amount to them. My tiny frame makes me look like I have yet to hit puberty. My stomach squeezing with hunger brings me back from my pitty fest and turning to walk down the steps.

Reaching the bottom, I am met by two men walking towards the front door; they stop for a second and look me over. Their questioning looks are cut short when two equally beautiful women walk up to them and grab them by the arms, but it wasn't long before the women gave me their own questioning looks while walking out the door. I am about to run up the stairs and back to my room when I bump into Avery. She gasps and then looks me over.

"Where are you going?" She asks

I am about to respond when she takes my arm in hers and leads me down the hall to the dining room.

"You are not skipping this meal," she states frankly.

I am about to protest when the smell of grilled chicken hits me like a wave. My mouth starts watering instantly, and my stomach grumbles. Avery giggles and pulls me further into the room.

There are multiple tables in the large room and a buffet off to the back packed with different types of food. I feel like I have died and gone to heaven. I follow Avery and grab a plate from the pile. Watching her fill her plate with what seemed like 12 different things has me laughing inside. I wait until I have reached the chicken and grab the smallest piece; my stomach turns at the thought of getting anything bigger. Avery sees this and stops me.

"That's all you want?" She says, placing her hand on my forearm.

"Yeah," I say. "I definitely couldn't eat anything bigger," I say, finishing the lie.

It could have been the years of abuse that have me sick to my stomach at the thought of getting anything more than the smallest piece. Or the guilt I have inside of possibly taking food from someone's mouth. I have gone years of eating basically nothing that I have gotten used to the pain in my stomach, and I wouldn't want to do that to someone else.

I smile at her and continue walking down the buffet. I grab a small spoon of peas and decide I have enough on my plate. I look around the room for an empty table and see one in the middle; my heart cringes at the thought of being in the center of everyone and possibly having them all look at me. I wish in my head there was one in the back corner of the room for me to sit at or that I hadn't come down at all. Finally, Avery reaches me and bumps my elbow with hers lightly, causing me to look at her. Her mouth full with a roll, she nods toward the open table in the center of the room.

Damn it!

I followed her to the table, set my plate across from hers, and sat down. I look around the room and see a few people looking at me. I want to shrink and make myself less noticeable. But before I know it, they quickly look away and put their heads down. I look back at Avery and see her glaring at them all. I give her a questioning look, and she just smiles back at me. I decided to let it be and ask her about it after eating. I was two bites into my chicken when he walked in. He was in a t-shirt and shorts and looked fine as hell with his hair slightly messed up. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and about died when I smelt his intoxicating aroma mixed with sweat.

Stop it! He is not interested in you; earlier proved that. I say to myself.

No, you stop it! Athena says back

Oh, look who is back. I say sarcastically. I am usually not like this, but I am pissed that she took Aries's side, tried to justify what he did, and then shut me out.

Athena whimpers slightly at my sharp tone and pauses for a moment before speaking.

I am sorry that you are mad at me, but I truly know that he did not mean it the way you took it. He is our mate... she finished.

Mates aren't supposed to look at each other that way. It is supposed to be with want and love, not disgust. I say back.

I could feel her accept what I had said, even if she wanted to fight it. I looked back at my plate and played with the peas still on it, trying to distract myself. But unfortunately, the feeling of eyes on me made me look up only to see what I was trying to distract myself from staring right back at me.

Looking at me for what felt like a century, his eyes landed on my plate of food. A disapproving look flashed across his face. His brows furrowed, and his smile was gone. I felt like dying right there; I quickly downcast my gaze at my food again, not even remotely hungry anymore.

I shouldn't have eaten at all...I am an outsider and-

My thoughts get cut off by Avery turning around abruptly,

"Who are you looking at?" she says before turning back to face me.

She must have seen my look because she waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh, don't worry about him; he always has that look. It's a staple for Alpha Stone." She finished

Yeah, maybe for an alpha but not a so-called mate. I think to myself.

I shrug dismissively, stuffing the feelings of rejection down, and stand up, grabbing Avery's empty plate and mine. Walking over to the trash cans, I scrape off my plate and stack them with the others. Turning to walk back to Avery, I bump into what felt like a wall. Stepping back, I see I am staring at Aries's chest, the shirt he is wearing pulling against the muscles. I freeze and don't know what to do, I want to touch him, but that could just set him off more and give him a better reason to hate me. I must have been standing there for a long time because Avery finally grabbed me by the arm and addressed him.

"I'm sorry, I think that she is just tired. Please excuse us," she finished, pulling on my arm to get me to walk away. I hold my ground for one more moment before turning to walk away. But not before our hands brush each other. I suck in a breath from the sensation that runs up my arm.