Page 25 of Choosing Her Alpha
Like a little girl, she poured in bubble bath, dished in salts, tossed a hard round thing that smelled delicious and fizzed when it hit the water, and filled the tub as high as it would go. If Kane didn't care about his water usage, Sasha wasn't going to care either.
She wet her hair and slathered silky coconut scented shampoo in it, as well as conditioner as thick as whipped cream. Sweeping glittery gold soap into a cloth, she washed all her parts with a different scent than the one in her hair. It made no sense to choose just one when there were hundreds of bottles.
After, she made a mess with the lotions. Remembering all the comments yesterday about the rough state of her skin, she picked a variety of lotions for her feet, hands, and body.
It wasn't until she stood in front of the mirror, looking at the chain and medallion around her neck, that she realized some of the glittery products she used left behind a shine. She giggled at the gold sparkles on her cheeks and neck, the purple shimmer on her hands, the white highlights on her feet.
At home, she made do with a nice and bubbly, scentless bar soap that she and the drones made for themselves. She'd never heard that there was sparkly stuff like this. It might be fun to try and recreate it when she got back to her real life.
She dilly dallied so long in the bathroom that a drone came looking for her with Sasha's tea and fruit in hand. She smiled with delight and thanked the servant. Yet despite the bath and all the excessive, indulgent play, she still felt off.
She had practically bathed in lotion, yet her skin felt like it didn't fit her. It was too tight, too hot. This place was making her ill. Sasha couldn't remember the last time anything had made her ill. Normally she was preternaturally healthy.
She gulped the tea, which had a brackish medicinal taste, hoping it would help. "Thank you so much. I'm Sasha. What's your name?"
This girl was younger. She blinked big light gray eyes at Sasha with a startled expression and answered hesitantly. "I'm Davila."
Sasha spent ten minutes chatting with Davila before the girl agreed to find her different clothing to wear, even if it came from her own locker.
Sasha hugged Davila when she brought her a lavender, knee length tunic split at the sides to the waist, and striped blue and purple leggings to go with it. She promised to repay her new friend as soon as she could, even though Davila said it wasn't necessary and she wouldn't take anything besides.
A little older than Sasha and about five inches taller, Davila stood behind her and combed out Sasha's hair when she asked for her assistance.
"You can't put it in a plain braid. You'll look like a drone girl. You have on the alpha's collar, and you’re registered, even if your mark is in a weird place." Davila waved her left hand at Sasha, demonstrating her own little black drone star. "I could do a different kind of braid if you want, but your hair is so beautiful. You should leave it loose."
Sasha smiled at the suggestion. She felt her heart glow a bit at the other girl's quick camaraderie, knowing that Davila would never dare offer advice to any of those sleeping women in the tents in the big room.
"Since I haven't had my estrous, I don't have adult pheromones yet. I like confusing all those alphas and betas when they can't figure out my smell. A braid is fun."
Davila's eyebrows bounced up into her hairline. "You don't care that they might think you are a drone worker?"
Sasha shook her head.
"You like to live on the crazy side. I have to say, I'm pretty sure you don't smell like one of us. Not that I can usually tell. How the betas and alphas would be able to scent anything about you beyond this fruit basket thing you have going on right now, I don't know."
"Maybe it's my own smell that is making my head hurt and my skin feel all tight. I used a lot of different things this morning. Do you think there might be some pain suppressors in here?"
Sasha was looking at Davila's reflection in the mirror as she felt a bolt of cold air brush across her senses.
She knew Kane was upstairs even before she heard the roar.
Davila’s face went white, the girl instantly paralyzed by fear.
"Stay here for a few minutes, okay?" Damp hair like a cape behind her, Sasha ran into the ice rather than away from it. She was all kinds of a fool. It was smarter to avoid this male. But her impulse control was messed up, turned around, and leading her in the wrong direction.
Constantine Kane stood inside the big room, both doors wide open behind him. His white shirt was rolled up at the sleeves to the elbows, revealing cords of muscle that flexed and tensed as he fisted his hands.
His posture and scent screamed aggression as he leaned down into Terasa's space. He wasn't yelling, but the anger behind his words made each of them seem brutally loud. He filled up the entire space with his presence.
"You left her in here?" His outrage had the force of a hammer, pounding at Terasa. "What made you think that I had changed everything I believe in, everything my parents taught me, to suddenly become a pedophile?"
Terasa couldn't seem to look at him. Her head was down, tipped to the side, neck exposed. Sasha's first impression of this woman had been athletic strength and confidence. Today she was just a skinny white stick about to be broken in half.
"Sir, the girl is almost an adult. I assumed you might—"
"You assumed too much. I never said this room. I said a private sleeping bed. I assumed you might take her to the children's wing because she is a child, and I wanted her to have a chance at sleeping. I assumed you would use the alpha senses you were born with and realize that this girl is untouched, and I assumed you would remember how we treat such girls in this compound!"
Terasa shrank before his wrath. He looked ready to kill her.
