Antiope

It is not the jet lag. It is the realization of what has happened as I look out the window of Magnus's private jet. The landscape is breathtaking but it's not home. Not home. The thought makes my stomach tied in knots but with Magnus sitting across me, studying my every move I am not going to reveal any emotion.

"You are staring at me," I say.

"Am I making you nervous?"

"You are making me annoyed."

I glance at him with the corner of my eye. He hasn't slept at all, reading reports and conferring with his guards in that annoyingly perfect language of his. It was the only good thing in the whole flight. That and the fact that Magnus seems to be a workaholic. That works great with my plan to avoid him like the Devil avoids Holy Water.

"We are landing in a while," Magnus passes a few papers to one of his guards that he never even introduced to me. "We are going straight to the pack house."

"I want to call my family."

"We'll see about that."

"Even fucking prisoners get a freaking phone call."

Magnus leans to me and I instinctively lean back to my chair. He flinches at my reaction and I grind my teeth.

"What? You thought that I'd be comfortable around you?"

"I am not going to hurt you," he growls.

"Of course not," I scoff. "You have no qualms hurting my sister, though."

"I am not going to hurt your sister either."

"As long as I keep being nice and quiet, a good little Luna?"

"I knew you were smart."

He gets up and goes to the front of the plane and leaves me there, stewing in my juices. I hate that guy! I really, genuinely hate him. If it wasn't for my sister...

I take one deep breath and I brace for landing. I am a strong female Beta. I will not crumble down and cry. I will not let that man break my spirit. I am going to be the one to break him, make him regret doing this to me, to Celia. And if I find that he has hurt my baby sister, he will spit his mother's milk.

We land and we get off to be boarded on SUV's. I am on the second one with Magnus while his guards and Thane are on the one ahead of us.

I look out the window and take in the view. It is a beautiful land, with lots of green, vast forests and winding roads. On any other occasion I would be so glad to be here. I would enjoy the endless green grass that beckons at me and the crystal-clear lakes that promise rejuvenation. But I can't. It is all a prison, a beautiful prison but still a prison.

Magnus is quiet but the space is not big enough to make his scent go away. And I feel his energy radiating off him in waves.

"He smells so good," Maximo begs me to crawl in his lap and take in his scent.

"Max, I need you with me on this," I try to reason with her.

"But look at him! And have you seen how his wolf look like?"

I roll my eyes and I let out a frustrated moan. That gains Magnus's attention that turns to me and I meet his gaze. He is back to being an unreadable marble statue and his clever eyes drill into my soul. It would be so much easier if he was some brainless brute. But I can tell that he is not.

I got to give it to Maximo. Difficult as it may have been for her, she always followed my lead on men. But with him, I can see why she has a hard time hating this particular wolf. He is good-looking in that ragged way of his, his square, strong jaw with the stubble, his thick straight eyebrows crowning his blue eyes and those sharp, high cheekbones. If only he wasn't evil personified.

"You are staring, Antiope."

Great!

"You've been staring at me for almost all of the flight," I cough and gather my senses. "Thought I'd return the favor and make you see how uncomfortable it makes me."

"You are not making me uncomfortable. I was staring at you because I find you interesting. Beautiful even. Is this the favor you were returning?"

"He finds us beautiful!" Max is ready to forgive him if he keeps that tough flirtation he has going on.

I will not play this game nor any other game for that matter. An Alpha's ego is inflated enough and I am not keen on feeding more. Even so, there is no point denying that he is a good-looking man. He knows it well and stating against it will be childish.

"I was merely wondering how much ugliness can hide under a beautiful face."

It is as if he hits a wall and that is exactly what I erect between us. I know that he thinks that I am a weak female that will salivate over his muscles and charming smile and that I will forget the wrong he did me. But he made the wrong bet.

For the rest of the ride we stay in silence till I see a vast house unravel before us. It is a two-story modern building made of wood and glass. Behind it I see a lake and on the right a forest with tall trees. Outside the house there is a group of people waiting to welcome the Alpha.

Magnus pulls up and he gets out the car. I am disengaging my seat belt when I see him come round the car to open the door for me.

Chivalrous ass! He opens the door and extends his hand to me. I look down at his hand and give him a cold look.

"Antiope," he warns me.

If he is going to kill my sister because I won't give him my hand, then both me and Celia are doomed. So, I climb out of the car and straighten my back, ignoring Magnus's disappointed sigh.

"Alpha Magnus," a man so blonde his eyelashes are almost white approaches.

"Egil," Magnus takes his arm and they engage in a warm embrace.

Then the blonde turns to me and looks at me up and down. The bearded man has incredibly long blonde hair, half of which is in an elaborate braid. He is thick and strong and tatts are pouring down his sleeves. His blue eyes scan me with interest and piqued emotion and he stops only when Magnus growls.

"What?" Egil says. "Is that...?"

"That is Antiope. Your Luna," Magnus offers. "Antiope, that is my Beta, Egil."

Egil says nothing just turns back to me with a shocked expression then back to Magnus and finally back to me.

"Yeah, I know. Came as a shock to me too," I end this ridiculous exchange and go to the back and get my bag but Magnus beats me to it.

"Just for the record, I am capable of carrying my own bags. Been doing it far long before you came along," I throw at him.

"I am sure of it. But now, I came along," he blinks slowly and grabs my bag.

"Uhm," Egil is still in shock, "I am honored to meet you, Luna."

"Well, that makes one of us," I throw at him.

I am unable to acknowledge the Luna title yet so I just follow Magnus up the stairs. There are a few guards lined up that nod as Magnus passes and around ten women with kids or babies close that smile at him. Smile!

What is this? I look at these women and all of them are young. Is Magnus having a harem here? Are these all his children? Were they trapped as I was to be his "Luna"? What is the man doing? I study some of these women, especially those with babies, which means that they are the latest addition to the harem. But I get nothing but smiles from them.

Well, maybe they are fine breeding for Magnus but I will not bow down that easily. But damn me if I am going to ask him about them. He will take it as jealousy and it's anything but. In fact, I am happy that these women are here to occupy Magnus and keep him off me.

"Ours!" Maximo is not that magnanimous.

"Who cares who he fucks? As long as it isn't me," I scream internally at a pacing Maximo.

Magnus beckons at me to go closer once inside the house. I do and stand facing him with raised eyebrow.

"This is the pack house," he waves at the big side of the building. "Through here," Magnus opens a door to a glass covered bridge to another door, "is my residence. Our house."

I glare at him.

"I'd rather stay in the common area."

"The Luna stays with the Alpha," Magnus simply says and crosses the bridge.

When he notices I am not following him, he drops the bags and comes to me in those familiar angry strides. He grabs my arm and drags me to the bridge.

"We are going to do as you are told, Antiope."

"Do I get a stripped uniform or do you use orange in that little prison of yours?" I growl.

He looks down at me and his grip softens. But he is not letting me go. He simply opens the door to the other side of the bridge and pushes me inside.

When we enter, I do my best to keep my jaw from dropping. This is truly an amazing place. Two sides are open to the lake and the forest with tall wall-to-wall windows. There is a round fireplace in the middle and cozy sofas all around. There is a big screen on the wall and on the forest side there is a modern, sleek kitchen with a dining table.

"My room?" I demand. "And I do hope you didn't think that I would sleep in the same room as you?"

"Don't you like me to give a tour?"

"I am certain that holed up in here I will get familiar with the grounds."

"Suit yourself," he gives me a hard smile and goes up the stairs.

I follow him and he passes by the first room.

"This is me," he points and he passes by the second door before stopping to a third one.

"And this is you," he opens the door. "Further down is my office in the residence though I use the one in the pack-house more often. You are not allowed in my room but you may use the office."

"Like I would ever enter your room willingly," I spit.

He walks in my room and leaves the bag on the floor. I stay out and glance at the room in the middle. Is he giving me space or...?

"You are never to enter that room!" He barks.

Startled by his show of emotion, I turn to him. He is not joking. He looks more menacing that ever. What is in that room? Torture chamber? Parts of wolves and humans as trophies? That's a mystery.

"And while we are at it, I am setting some rules. Simple ones. We are having breakfast at 7. I work most of the day, usually next door, in my office in the pack house. But, except rare occasions, I will be back here at 6. We are having dinner at 7. You have to learn all there is to know about this pack."

How Swedish of him, I roll my eyes.

"I hope I am not expected to cook for you. I might be tempted to poison you."

"I'd advise you against it. And no, I will be doing the cooking."

My jaw drops slightly. Big, bad Alpha cooking for me?

"One out of three is not bad!" Maximo triumphs.

"Huh?"

"You did ask for a quiet, nice boy that can cook."

I smile faintly at my wolf's comment and Magnus is quick enough to catch that. His look lingers on my face and I occupy myself surveying my room.

Damn it! It is perfect. It has a vast window to the lake that is breathtaking, a big comfortable bed and an indoor bathroom of which I am grateful for. It has that elegant Scandinavian simplicity that appeals to me.

"Write a list of the things you need and I will make sure you'll get them."

"Easy. See my sister. Call my parents."

"That can be arranged."

"When?"

"We've had a long flight and you need to rest."

"Never assume what I do or don't need!" I raise a finger at him.

Frankly, I have never seen anything move as quickly as he did. Within a fraction of a second, he was upon me, my raised hand caught by the wrist, my back thrown against the wall. His face is inches from mine and his chest rumbles in annoyance.

My sister, I regret my insolent ways. It would have been so much better for Celia if her sister was a quiet, nice girl that could cook and longed to pop out her first pup. Celia would be safe be now, giving Magnus what he wanted. But no, she had to have me and my big mouth will be her demise. I need to try.

"I am-"

"I do enjoy your rebellious attitude, Antiope," he cuts me off. "But do not mistake my amusement for weakness. You will respect me if not as your mate, at least as your Alpha."

With that he presses his whole body against me, showing off how much stronger than me he really is. And exactly how much aroused.

"Oh, he wants us," Maxino all but leaps with joy in the back of my mind.

Me? I get a terrified expression on my face, scared that he will rape me, holding my sister's life over my head so he can do it again and again, till I give him a pup. Magnus sniffs the air and releases me instantly.

"You fear me," he says.

No shit, Sherlock. I have never felt fear in my life but here, trapped in this place with that ruthless Alpha that has my sister in his mercy I feel succumbed by terror. What am I do to? How am I to get my sister out of this?

"You don't need to fear me, Antiope. You are the Luna of this pack and you are under my protection."

To this I scoff and smile ironically.

"Whatever," I say and take my bag from the floor. "Now, as you said, it's been a long flight. I am tired. Leave."

He opens his mouth to say something but when he meets my cold gaze he shuts it back down and walks away leaving the door open. I close it and look for a lock but there isn't any. Fuck! I am thinking how heavy will that desk be to drag to the door. Not heavy enough.

I give up and decide to have a shower and get a sleep. For some reason, that last look Magnus gave me told me that he will not force himself on me. For now. His wolf might have a different opinion on the matter soon.