Alpha Malik

Aria

“They're here!”

My growl of disdain is caught rough and short as the pressure on my chest grows. Alexa's insistent hands rest against my ribs, as she sits on my stomach. Kicking my knee up, I groan again in protest.

What a way to wake up.

“Get off me!” I snap, but she doesn't move, keeping me pinned against the bed.

My curtains have been thrust open, and a rich, orange morning sun streams in, lighting up the makeup-smeared face of my best friend.

Her hair has been gathered up into a wild ponytail that had clearly been slept on, but the elated grin on her face suggests she’s been up for hours.

“Get up, sleepyhead, they're here!” she yells, shaking my shoulders, her exuberant look not fading for a single second.

I attempt another way to get Alexa off my lungs by rolling my body, but she stays there. “Who?”

“Who do you think? Malik's little entourage! They’re here to pick you up,” Alexa tells me excitedly. I stare at her blankly for a few moments, letting the information sink in.

It has to be early, so my mind was everywhere, still taking in the wild dream that I had experienced earlier.

Now I've awoken to a nightmare.

“You're lying,” I say slowly.

Then it hits me like a bus. I did get chosen for this competition. This is real.

Alexa jumps off me as I scramble out of bed in a flurry of sheets and pajamas. My heart races as fast as my body is moving as I grab my bathrobe, throwing my bedroom door open.

Alexa follows on my heels, as I pull my robe over my shoulders, running to the front door like a crazy woman.

It isn't until I fling the door open that I become conscious of how I look.

It might be the bright-blue pajamas with little fluffy sheep jumping over clouds on them, or maybe it’s my hair, practically standing up on end from the rambunctious wakeup call I got from Alexa.

Whatever it is, the three people standing at my door can’t stop staring at me.

“Welcome!” I hear Alexa say, right by my ear. Her hands are clamped on my shoulders as she looms in at the back of me.

The people at the door are three of the most professional-looking people I have ever seen, fueling the deep-set embarrassment that turns my cheeks red.

The woman between the two large men looks stunned, her pink-tinted lips partly open, her fingers that are wrapped around a dark microphone slightly quivering.

One man looks like a security guard of some kind, as if he is there to protect this immaculate woman in front of me from a knife-wielding girl in sheep pajamas.

Dark sunglasses cover his eyes, so I can’t see them properly. It’s unnerving...

The other man is holding a hefty camera on his shoulder, and if that little light on the side of it means what I think it does, then it is recording.

I just stand there surprised, eyes wide, as I look straight into the camera's lens, wishing I was anywhere but here.

“Today, we are joined by one of the Love Pack contestants!” the woman exclaims directly into the microphone.

I'm shocked for a second as she turns the microphone towards me.

Without any introduction, these people have shown up to throw me into the spotlight, holding me up like some kind of prize for Malik to see.

And I have no doubt he’s watching this... I’m tempted to flip the camera off, but I pull myself together.

If I have to show my face to the world, to save my family that is probably watching in astounded surprise, then so be it, even though I could strangle Alexa for forcing me downstairs, but there was no way I was about to let these people boss me around...

“Aria Quade,” I say sweetly, giving the camera the best smile I could.

However, the moment the woman turns around, my smile vanishes, and I walk backwards, straight into my house, slamming the door in front of me.

Both Alexa and I stare at the door, before she says something.

“What are you doing? You can't just close the door... oh God,” Alexa mutters, flustered.

Rolling my eyes, I turn on my heel and walk towards my bathroom door, looking over my shoulder for a second at my friend.

“Let them in,” I say. “And tell them that if they have any decency, they will let me at least brush my hair.”

I close the bathroom door behind me.

This isn’t what I signed up for. Cameras? No thank you. All I wanted was to get that necklace and get out of there. If I can do that, then I'll never have to show my face to the world like this again.

Then I look in the mirror… and scream.

A thick line of lipstick runs across my top lip and down my chin to my jawline. There is some kind of purple eyeshadow on my eyelids and... is that mascara?

My eyelashes are completely stuck to each other.

Immediately, I thrust my face into the sink and begin splashing soap and water onto my face in an attempt to get this off.

This has to be Alexa's doing, because there is no way I would be caught with this kind of makeup on my face. All over my face.

I hear the bathroom door open and close.

“I can explain...”

Turning off the water, I look up at my friend, mustering the biggest glare onto my face that I can. She looks at me meekly, before handing me a towel to dry off my wet face.

It’s then that I realize how immaculate she looks.

“I tried to make you look pretty... but boy, you move around a lot in your sleep,” Alexa says, as I vigorously rub my face with the rough towel.

There has never been a time in my life when I haven't been so embarrassed...

“What would make you think that putting makeup on a sleeping person was somehow a smart thing to do?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.

Alexa tends to be impulsive, to do things before she thinks them through. Now it’s led her to make me look like the biggest clown in the competition. Surely everyone would see this.

“I’m sorry,” Alexa said, catching the makeup-covered towel as I tugged my hair out of its scrunchie.

Great, there’s a giant kink in it.

“It doesn’t matter,” I tell her. At least I won’t be near enough to stay mad at her. She’ll probably stay at my house, using the key under the doormat to get in and eat all my food while I’m gone.

“There’s no going back now.”

When I finally brushed my hair and looked somewhat decent, I sent Alexa upstairs to get me something to wear. At the very least, I could be grateful for the fact that I had packed the night before.

When I step out of the bathroom, basically a new person, the three devils—as I have taken it upon myself to call them—are rummaging around my living room, with the woman pointing at places where the camera should be filming.

My body stiffened at the sight of them violating my privacy.

Keeping to myself is an essential rule in my personal rulebook. If I didn’t, I think I would go insane.

“Are you done here?” I ask, making the lady jump. The lady nudges the cameraman. “We got some necessary shots of your home.

“All we need is for you to answer a few questions so we can get to know your personality. Then …”

“No questions, until you at least tell me who you are,” I say menacingly. I’m not about to be pushed around by the Alpha’s employees, or whoever they are, even if my shy side disagreed.

I’ve decided it’s the only way I’m going to make it out of this alive.

I hear Alexa come down the stairs, probably with something for me to wear.

The woman takes a deep breath, holding her hand up so the camera would stop filming me.

By the look on her face, as she closed her eyes for a fluttering moment, she knows I am probably going to end her career.

She held it together, though, because when she opens her eyes, she is smiling, and holding her hand out to me.

“Elaine Lorel, here to assist you during your time throughout the competition!”

I stare at the hand, decorated with bright pink, glossy nails. Then I shake it, because, by the looks of it, I’m going to be stuck with this woman.

Clearly, both of us don’t want it, but it is the only way she is going to get a good salary from Malik, and the only way I’m going to get anywhere near him.

Despite that being the last thing I want, though, it’s the first thing I need.

“So, questions,” she insists, brightening up her voice as the cameraman, who apparently doesn’t need introducing, starts recording again. This is where my little acting skill comes into play.

I remember a few weeks ago when Alexa first signed up for the competition that she insisted to me that pleasing Malik’s family was essential.

This means, for a start, a smile on my face.

“What made you decide to sign up for the competition?” Elaine asks warmly, before shoving the camera back in my face.

I pretend to think for a moment. “A fresh start.”

Elaine looks expectantly at me to elaborate, but I’m not about to continue. Instead, I stare at her, hoping my gaze told her enough that I didn’t want her to continue with the questions.

This is a part of the process Grey didn't inform me about, and I want it over with.

“How did you feel when you were named one of the future contestants?” Elaine asks, scraping these questions off the top of her head. I'm impressed. She takes her job seriously, at least.

“Elated.”

“How excited are you about meeting Alpha Malik?”

I pause. I haven't yet taken the time to think about what it's going to be like to meet him.

There isn't much in my arsenal of tricks about talking to men, other than that I loved them as book characters.

As a girl who grew up with no siblings, and clung to a girl as my only friend for my entire life, I'm not the most confident with men.

“Nervous,” I admit truthfully. “I hope he and I will become…well acquainted.”

So I can steal from him.

“How do you feel about meeting the other competitors?”

Living with a bunch of love-struck girls? It doesn't appeal to me, but at least Malik will be a distraction. Hopefully, I can use a skill of mine that has worked for many years. Blending in.

“Can't wait.”

“And overall, what do you plan to get from this?” Elaine asks looking glad she has come to the end of this interrogation.

This time, I look directly at the camera. My words are meant to mean something. It’s meant to make all the girls who had signed up and made it into this competition think for a moment.

To consider something extremely important.

“Love,” I say softly. “And maybe a new mate.”

And to all those girls competing, it’s for their mates who decided to take the plunge and fall in love with a man who wasn't meant for them.