Chapter 4

I was standing on the utmost corner of the hall . Sepehr had gone to bring some champagne for us . I was a little excited , after all, it will be the first time I will be tasting something like that. I have heard it tastes really good . My mother is actually obsessed with its flavor. I have so many empty bottles laying down in the corners of my house.

"Here you go"

Sepehr came and passed me the glass which I took with a little hesitance. It was tulip shaped and tapered at the lip.

"I hope you enjoy it!" Sepehr added, making me smile lightly. I looked at him, with the corner of my eye . He was sipping it with a delightful smile . I took a small sip too. There was a burst of citrus flavor with a nutty and toasty taste lingering on the top of my tongue. Hints of almond and brioche are also present. I almost moaned at the taste , earning a chuckle from the side .

Needless to say , I was embarrassed.

"I am sorry–it just..it just.."I was confused about what I should say or answer him . I feel whenever I am with Sepher , I am bound to be embarrassed.

"It's just really tasteful right ?" He asked with a smile and I just awkwardly nodded.

"I am glad to know that you are enjoying it. How about we go on the rooftop ? I have read that drinking champagne under the light of the moon really does magic to the souls"

"Sounds good"

He held my hand while taking me upstairs , to the rooftop. My eyes kept wandering at the walls which had huge portraits of rich elites who existed before us. They were all dressed up in maroon velvet dresses , along with fur coats and all the luxurious dresses one can think of.

My eyes then fell on the portrait of one lady which was on the side. Her eyes were of a beautiful citrine color along with ginger hair. She had sharp features along with a defined cheekbone which was decorated with a pink blush . But her eyes were quite contradicting these features , as they were gentle as soft by the corners and resembled that of a deer. I kept staring at her for some reason until I heard Sepher's voice from the side bringing me out of my thoughts.

He looked at me for a second and then realized my curiosity about this unfamiliar figure.

"She's Henrietta Margot Clarkson , one of the richest ladies in this entire pack. She was known for her unique beauty and intelligence. Truly a magnificent combination. But she mysteriously passed away . She was my mother's best friend too when they were young . You know what the legend says ?" he asked me , making me shake my head as a 'no'.

"It says she had a daughter, who disappeared after her death . If you weren't the daughter of Mrs. Odessa Everette, I would have thought that you are the lost heir of the Clarksons" He informed me and I just stood there silently , not knowing how to respond to his remark .

"Leave it . Let's go upstairs" he told me and again grabbed my wrist while gently pulling me in the direction he was going.

After walking up through the long round stairs , we finally reached the balcony. Nobody was present there making it feel even better. A gentle cold breeze was blowing and the leaves of the small plants , planted on the sides, kept rustling. We went and sat on the chairs which were present on the side and started drinking the champagne. Sepher looked at the moon for a second and then chuckled while staring at me.

"You know Miss Everette, I have been waiting to be here with you since the past weeks. I haven't been able to shake you off my mind . It's true that every time I looked at the stars in the past , I always thought about the people I met in the past , but since that day , I haven't been able to keep my eyes on stars . It's just the moon which is there for me now. Shining so brightly reminds me of you every second . It truly feels like a dream come true" He whispered and I looked at him for a few seconds.

"I..I feel so happy after hearing such sweet words from you Mr Winslow"

"Drop the formalities Miss Everette. Call me Sepehr" He told me while his fingers brushed through my finger .

"Okay...Sepehr" I told him and he intertwined his fingers with mine.

'What is even happening ??? I was just here to have a talk' I whined . At the sudden skin contact which sent butterflies down my stomach.

"My name has never sounded this good" He confessed.

"Tell me more about yourself, Miss Everette. Your hobbies , your liking and your family. Anything" He told me and I started pondering about myself .

I believe it would be an easy question for anyone except me , because I have never thought about how I was or who I really was. Ever since I was a teenage girl , I was more focused on how to make money for my parents.

"I like to paint" I lied . I have never painted after all , but it was just the thing which came into my mind at first. He won't go around and ask me to paint right ? It was a party afterall not a painting competition. A little lying won't hurt.

"Interesting . What do you like to paint about?" He asked me .

"I like to paint about.." I started and looked around for an idea to support my lies . My eyes landed on the small plants which were growing on the side of the rooftops.

"Nature!" I beamed .

"Nature sounds like a great thing to paint about"

"It actually is. Nature is full of ideas and inspirations" I told him while mentally adding 'For lies and bluffs'.

"The next time we meet, I would love to see your paintings" He told me and my jaw dropped.

"My–my what?" I asked again to assure myself that what I heard was real or not.

"Your paintings, little one" He said with a smile and I just gave him a small nod.

'In that case I won't meet him ever again. Easy'

"What else do you like ?" he asked me and I looked around to find inspiration but my eyes fell on the window. There was a shadow of a person hearing our whole conversation, from how much time ? I don't know.

The image started to clear up from the dim light and the figure started walking towards us , in the balcony . Under the moonlight , a clear image was formed . It's a figure of a woman dressed up in a gown . As she walked closer , a closer image formed , and my eyes widened in shock to find Sepehr's mother .

"I would like to know what are you doing with this girl ,Sepher ?" She asked in a sharp stern tone, which was filled with the displeasure she felt while looking at the scene in front of her.

Author's pov

"She is Miss Everette , mother"

The face of Mrs. Winslow scrunched at the answer.

"Of course she is. I can see that very well. But my question to you is, what are you doing with her ? All alone on the rooftop?" She asked while scanning Cecilia up and down to check her dress. She almost laughed after seeing Cecile wearing the same dress , which she donated to her mother .

That's right . Donated. She never saw Odessa as a friend . She was like a beggar who used to take all of her unused stuff. In return for which , Odessa kept roaming around her day and night , while listening to all her words and taunts . She felt more powerful ordering around the one who was of a lower rank than her.

"Mother...I was just enjoying this wonderful night with her" Sepher answered in a sweet voice. He couldn't see anything wrong with hanging out with Cecilia. He just thought of her to be way too perfect for him . Even though they met just one time , she seemed to have cast a love spell on him. Not like he was complaining .

Mrs. Winslow laughed at the words of her son.

"So..what you are telling me is that , instead of all the wonderful alpha females and elites like Evalina Hyacinth, you choose to be with her ? a mere omega whose mother keeps licking the sole of my foot? Come on Sepehr . Be realistic and leave her here and follow me downstairs. I will introduce you to all those wonderful girls" She said while extending her hands towards her son , as a gesture for him to take it but Sepher just looked at his mother in disbelief.

"Cecilia isn't just a mere omega and she isn't like her mother !"

"Who said that ?"

"Nobody but I know . I know she is very different" Sepher argued while protecting Cecilia whose heart was beating hard against her chest. Her palms were sweating and a heavy lump was formed in her throat due to the embarrassment. She wanted to cry and run away.

"Her clothes say otherwise. Don't you remember Sepher, this red dress which she is wearing belonged to me ? I gave it as an alm to her mother . But dear , look at this situation, how could I ever know that she will come to the party hosted by my family while wearing and will spend time with my son" Mrs Winslow spat in a venomous voice .

"Mother please stop with these words" Sepehr requested.

"How can I ? And oh dear Sepher won't you have a look at the necklace she's wearing? isn't it the same as the one your cousin Martha wears? or perhaps it is actually the one only"

"Mom that's enough" Sepehr said in a sharp voice , but it didn't make any difference to the way his mother kept staring at Cecilia. It was still full of disgust.

Cecilia broke down and was about to run away , but Sepher held her wrist.

"Please don't leave" He requested but he left the grip when he saw how embarrassed she was and how tears were threatening to fall down her gorgeous citrine eyes.

As soon as the grip loosened , Cecilia sprinted downstairs as fast as she could while leaving one red sandal of her behind on the stairs. She realized that it had fallen and quickly looked behind but her vision was getting blurry due to her tears , so she ran downstairs , leaving the one red shoe behind.

Evalina was drinking wine when she saw Cecilia running downstairs . Due to the need to escape urgently , she didn't care to see where she was going . All she was seeing was the direction of the exit . On the way , she bumped into an Alpha girl and it made the red wine spill on her beautiful pink gown . Ruining it completely . Out of anger , the alpha cursed under her breath and punched her making her fall on the ground . The corner of her lip was bleeding due to the force the alpha applied on her. A tear rolled down Cecilia's eyes which she wiped from her palm harshly.

"I am so-so sorry" She stammered with a broken voice and stood up while running outside quite carefully this time . All the people in the hallway kept staring at Cecilia, after she disappeared out of their vision , they continued their chats.

Evalina's eyebrows frowned at that , and she rushed upstairs to confront Sepher regarding what had happened , after all she saw how they both left upstairs with a glass of champagne in their hands.

Cecilia reached the jungle while running, where she crouched down and removed another shoe , as it was causing her problem in running. She was practically limping because of it. What would she even do in one piece when she has lost the other. Leaving it in the forest , she ran on the main highway road towards her own pack.

Her feet were aching . They were scratched badly due to the harsh road and even had some areas of it bleeding. After crossing the highway , she reached another jungle after crossing which she would finally get near her pack. Or at least she thought so . She was always bad at directions.

After entering the forest , she decided to rest a bit and sat on the ground not caring that she would dirty the fur coat she was wearing . Tears kept streaming down her eyes while rolling down her cheeks which were flushed with cherry red color due to all the crying . Her nose was a little runny too . She sniffled while wiping the tears from her palm.

"How can she do that! how can she say so many hurtful things !" she sobbed .

She stayed there in the forest while trying to control her tears and kept calming herself down. After getting completely calmed down , her heart relaxed a bit and she was feeling sleepy and drained. Without her noticing , her eyes felt heavy and she slept while leaning on the tree .

-----------

After Cecilia left , Sepher looked at his mother in disbelief.

"How could you do that ? How could you hurt someone so much even though you barely knew her?" He asked his mother.

"Let me be clear and very honest with you son. These omegas and poor people are alike . They will go as far as sleeping with you just for some gold coins. They will take it even if it's thrown on the ground , because that's how they are. They are greedy dogs who are ready to jump on any bone thrown on them"

Sepher was shocked to hear such words from his mother's mouth . He surely knew that his mother didn't like poor people but today , he realized she hated them till their core.

He realized it was useless to even argue with her, so he just left the rooftop in search of Cecilia . He wanted to ensure that she had reached her home safely.

As soon as he walked downstairs, Evalina came in front of him .

"What did you do to her ? that she ran away crying like that?" She asked him.

"I will tell that later , but for now tell me where she went?" He asked her.

"She ran outside"

Sepeher ran in the direction where he thought she could possibly go with only one desire in his heart to find her again and apologize.

He thought so many things to do with her tonight , but fate took a twisted turn .

-------------------

In deep slumber , Cecilia couldn't notice the shadow hovering over her. The man could barely see her face due to all the darkness , all he could see was her ginger hair which spread all over her face.

The smell of her fresh blood was intoxicating and filled his chest and nostrils . He took a deep breath to control his urge. Despite being a vampire , he didn't like to kill people aimlessly just because he could. He would rather only drink blood in matters of necessity when nothing else could quench his thirst and it was unbearable.

He had held the red shoe which she dropped in the nearby forest and he put it gently in her leg , but his nostrils again got filled with the sweet scent of her blood ,which seemed too sweet to resist after all she was an omega . The blood of an omega was a deluxe drink for the vampires . He had tasted it many times , but for some reason, Cecilia's blood made it irresistible , so despite his strong principles and morals , the vampire decided to leave it all and have just a small sip.

"It will just be a little bite " He convinced himself and was about to dig into the warm flesh of the omega , when Sepher appeared.

"You vampires won't change !" Sepher grumbled and turned into his humongous black wolf while charging himself towards the tall buff vampire . The vampire was equally strong and skilled as he threw Sepher on the side with all the strength in his arms. Sepehr got up and leaped on the vampire who couldn't dodge this time.

The fight kept going on between the vampire and Sepher who were charging towards each other . The sound disturbed Cecilia's sleep and she woke up only to find herself in the middle of the path on which the two creatures were fighting .

She gulped and quickly got up , when her eyes fell on the shoe with mud over it , which she left in the forest.

'Did he come to return it to me?' She pondered while coming in her ginger wolf form and jumping in the middle of the two men to stop themselves from fighting , before they bleed themselves to death.