Amelia sat in her seat, waiting for the experiment to end and the leaves to completely dissolve in the acid.
She built this secret place slowly and asked Marcos to help her through. It was where she conducted most of her risky experiments before taking them to the West family's laboratory.
Marcos was the only one who knew about this place since he was the only person she could trust.
It had been seven hours since she came to this secret hideout and started experimenting, a solace she found to distract herself from the ugly reality of her life.
That had always been the case.
Whenever Alpha Killian rejected her advances or had a problem, she used to run here to experiment.
She sold many things and chemicals from this laboratory and had some mass-produced before closing the line altogether when she feared being caught.
As she sat there, the door of her hideout opened with a bang, and Amelia opened her eyes, her gaze meeting Marcos's anxious ones.
"Miss, the town is under attack," Marcos said.
Amelia raised her brows and picked up her phone to look at the time.
It happened quicker than she had thought. There were three missed calls from Alpha Killian, 10 missed calls from her sister and father, and 15 missed calls from their caretaker, who was akin to their aunt and always supported Hannah.
"Okay," Amelia stood and walked out of the laboratory, locking the door.
Marcos furrowed his brows. He expected his Miss to panic and become anxious, but she was relatively calm. Like she knew something like this would happen.
Or could it be she was hiding her panic to keep him at ease? That was even worse.
"Miss, don't worry. Nothing will happen to your family. The royal soldiers are on their way already. They will handle everything," Marcos tried to comfort her, and Amelia hummed vaguely.
She looked out the window for a few minutes before closing her eyes.
"Miss, I know you love your father and sister a lot. Nothing will happen. If you feel uncomfortable, keep talking to me," Marcos turned to look at Amelia when he didn't receive any reply, and his eyes widened.
Marcos - "(@_@)"
Seeing Amelia lying with her eyes closed, he thought she had fainted from anxiousness like the last time and nearly hit the tree.
He stopped the car hastily and sprinkled water on her face.
Amelia groaned at the sudden cold water droplets, which reminded her of the rain she had suffered all night.
"Hey!" Amelia scowled.
"Miss, are you okay? You just fainted from the panic and –"
"Who said I fainted? I was sleeping. I couldn't sleep the whole night, and now this attack drama won't let me catch a wink there either," Amelia said.
Marcos - "..." Well, he never thought of it that way. But why would his miss, who cares so much about family, sleep at a time like this?
Wait. Could it be that due to being outside the entire night in the rain, something happened to her head? He heard she fell in the ditch. Did she hit her head?
Or could it be that she was possessed? His Miss was beautiful and…
Marcos looked at Amelia with wide eyes.
Amelia furrowed her brows.
"Aren't you going to drive?" She asked.
Marcos snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. He would have to ask his wife to find a Shaman for their Miss. Her miss was possessed. Or why was she not losing her mind?
After driving for some time, they finally reached the town. Marcos was ready to turn towards the sector where their house was when Amelia stopped him.
"Take me to that building. Are the binoculars I used to carry still in the car?" Amelia asked.
Marcos opened the dashboard to check. The binoculars were there.
"But Miss–" Marcos started.
"Do as I say, Marcos," Amelia didn't explain further, and Marcos followed her orders.
Amelia stood on the terrace, leaning on the railings as she used her binoculars to see what was going on the twin at a 2 km distance.
Marcos raised his brows.
"Miss,"
"Can you bring some snacks?" Amelia asked, shocking him even more.
"Miss, aren't you going to help your family? Normally, you wouldn't even leave them alone, and when a situation like this has arrived, are you not worried something will happen?" Marcos couldn't contain his thoughts anymore and asked.
Amelia smiled.
"Nothing will happen. Don't worry," Amelia said as she looked at people running here and there, panicking from the sudden invasion of the wolves.
In her past life, she had panicked in this situation so much that, to help one of the maids in the household, she had nearly been crushed by a burning pillar.
And it was at that time that a werewolf had helped her.
At that time, she thought the wolf helped her so he could take advantage of her, and she ran for her life, deeming them monsters. But in reality, they weren't as bad as they claimed.
And why would they uselessly hurt them when they belonged to the same family?
Healers were a kind from the werewolf community, too. Since their ancestors were lanterns (people who don't find their wolves or find them much later than normal wolves), the chance of finding their wolves for healers was comparatively low, but that didn't mean they didn't have wolves.
She remembered that after a couple of months, her sister had found her wolf.
"Do you want to see?" Amelia asked and gave the binoculars to Marcos, who hesitated but took it.
Amelia popped some chips in her mouth while looking at the smoke.
"Miss! The werewolves got your father! He is kneeling before a man. We should go there!" Marcos said hurriedly.
He turned around to leave, but Amelia held his hand.
"There is nothing you can do. You can't stand against the alpha king. Think about your family. Besides, trust me, nothing will happen," Amelia said.
Marcos pressed his lips into a thin line, finding it hard to decipher his Miss for the first time since he started serving her, from her birth since he was previously her mother's driver.
Amelia watched everything, her sister hiding behind the pillars and watching everything.
She couldn't help but smirk. Even at this time, Hannah wasn't coming forward. It was mock-worthy.
Bored with watching what she knew would happen, Amelia was about to keep the binoculars down when her heart skipped a beat.
A man stepped out of the car, his aura undefeated. She could feel his presence, still smell his scent from her past life as she looked at him.
Only his back was visible, but his broad shoulders were just so…
The overcoat he was wearing made him look majestic. As if he could feel her presence, he suddenly turned around and looked toward her, making Amelia's breath hitch.
King or what? He could not see her there from such a distance, could he?
"Let's go," Amelia jumped down from the railings, and Marcos widened his eyes.
"The alpha king has arrived. I must rush there now," Amelia said.
Marcos, who thought that his Miss, who had been in shock earlier, had finally returned to his senses and was now worrying about her family, quickly picked her up and started running towards their car once they got out of the elevator, not wanting to be late.
As soon as Amelia reached the area, seeing her father begging for mercy from the alpha king, Amelia sighed as she looked at the dominant, overpowered wolf of the werewolf community who had this aura even when his wolf forbade to come out.
"Alpha King," Amelia bowed to him. The man swept his gaze on her briefly, his gaze lazy yet lethal, and Amelia felt weirdly excited.
No wonder he was called a monster.
The royals came soon, and they went in for a meeting.
Amelia helped her father up, pretending to be a filial daughter.
Their aunt, Jessica, rushed to them, and Amelia looked at Hannah, who finally came out.
"Amelia, where have you been? We called you so many times. It was so bad. We were so scared for you," Jessica said.
Thames looked at his daughter, but the royals walked out before he could ask anything.
"We have agreed. As punishment for your sins, you will marry your daughter to the alpha king," the royals said.
Thames widened his eyes and looked at Hannah, who gasped. She was the only daughter of legal age. Thus, it made sense that they were talking about Hannah.
"N-no. Dad, I won't marry that monster," Hannah rushed to her dad to plead to him before she looked at Amelia.
Hannah knew that since the royals had interfered, there was nothing their father could do.
"Amelia, do something; I don't want to marry that monster. If my brother had been alive, he would've protected his sister, hadn't he? Mom would've never let that happen. You will have to help me," Hannah said.
Amelia smiled bitterly.
Right. How could she forget these infamous lines? When she was born, her twin brother died because he couldn't hold onto and her mother died giving birth to them.
Thus, her birth brought death to two people in their lives.
Amelia's eyes teared as she remembered all those things she did in the past to make up for it.
"Sister, please," Hannah said, and Amelia looked into her eyes, pretending to be in a profound dilemma.
"Amelia, Hannah is right. You are strong and quick-witted, but your sister won't be able to survive at all," Thames said.
Hannah nodded before she hugged Amelia.
"Just pretend to marry him, sister. Alpha Killian and I will help you out of there. Besides, you are still not eighteen. This won't be legal," Hannah whispered in her ears, trying to persuade Amelia, who suppressed the urge to scoff loudly.
Help her out of the marriage so they could turn her into a traitor?
"Promise me you will help me out," Amelia said, tears rolling down her cheeks, and Hannah nodded quickly.
"I promise you," Hannah said, heaving a sigh of relief inwardly.
Amelia took a deep breath before turning to her father.
"I am ready to marry the alpha king," Amelia said. At the same time, the alpha King walked out of the house, and their gazes met briefly.
'I will marry him and protect him in this lifetime,' Amelia promised herself.