My Most Precious Human

lan took me to the town center and parked the car right in front of a cell phone shop. It was a lively street, full of stores and boutiques. It resembled a high-end shopping district... only smaller, far less crowded, and much more friendly. As I walked out of the car, I instantly saw the smiling faces of people passing me by. They all looked carefree and peaceful... I narrowed my eyes, scanning their almost unreal happiness, which made me wonder if their smiles were genuine, or false, and I found myself on the Truman Show's set. Ian walked out of the car and glanced at me questionably.

"Aren't you going to go inside?" He pointed at the shop's door.

The sound of his voice broke me out of a daze. "I am... I just..." I looked back at him, not knowing how to explain my weird behavior. "I'm going inside right now." I shot him the beamiest smile possible. "Fine. I'll wait in the car," he tossed, opening the door on the driver's side.

"Actually..." I stopped him halfway, "Can you give me like an hour and pick me up? I'd like to look around and buy some girls' stuff."

He sighed at my "girls' stuff" issue, making a troublesome grimace. "Fine. I'll be waiting here at half-past twelve."

"Thank you," I said, trying to put as much politeness into my tone as possible.

"Yeah, whatever," he tossed, getting back into the car and driving away.

I clicked my tongue. I could see more than clearly that he hated the task he was given, but it wouldn't hurt him to at least show me a little courtesy. "The new girl wasn't impressed by my skills and was now demanding, treating me like her chauffeur." I bet that was what he thought about me. Well, I wasn't the type to openly complain about someone's bratty behavior, but I hoped that merciful fate would allow me to kick his ass one day.

I shook the annoyance off my shoulders and walked into the shop to pick a smartphone. It seemed like I was the only customer. I walked around and stopped by the wall filled with shiny new devices. I realized that the last time I felt I needed a phone was to contact Carla. Her number had been the only personal contact I had saved. A sudden sting in the heart reminded me of the night at the casino. I rubbed my chest, cringing.

"Are you all right?" A lovely female voice asked.

I looked up at the source of the sound and saw a tall blonde saleswoman with long curly hair and sparkling bright-blue eyes. She had a caring, motherly-like smile while her bright eyes expressed concern. "I'm fine... Just an unpleasant memory popped into my head."

I didn't even know why I said that. I was never the person to expose her privacy in front of a complete stranger, even in the slightest detail. As soon as I heard my voice, I tried to cover my blunder with an awkward smile, but to my surprise, the woman patted my shoulder.

"I don't mean to pry, but I recognize that look. You lost someone." A compassionate smile painted her face.

"A friend..." I mumbled, suddenly feeling the irresistible need to confide in someone. "It's a stupid thing, but I had only one number saved on my previous phone, and it was hers." I shrugged and smiled, trying to mock that fact.

"Sounds like she meant a lot to you." The blond-haired woman's warm voice sounded almost therapeutic.

As I realized she might take me for a lunatic, I stepped back and put an "I'm OK" forced grimace on my face.

"I'm sorry. That must have sounded weird..." I laughed nervously, "I swear I'm a normal person... kind of..."

She burst out laughing. "You are adorable!" and added, chuckling, "I'm glad that we will have someone like you in our pack."

"W-what?" She startled me.

"I mean, you are Lilith, right?" she smiled, teasingly.

"H-how did you know?" I stepped away from her, cautiously checking if I truly was alone with her in that store.

"You match the description perfectly," she smirked and then leaned forward to sniff my smell, "a dazzling human green-eyed brunette."

I should have expected that everyone already knew about me, but still, I found that creepy. Besides, I wondered who passed on that kind of description... "Wow," I muttered, along with an awkward laugh.

"I'm Valery Elrod. A pleasure to meet you." The woman reached out her hand, grinning.

"Lilith Leber... same here," I smiled, pushing my nerves aside.

"So what kind of phone do you need, Lilith?" In less than half a second, Valery transformed from a friendly neighbor to a perfect saleswoman.

"A well-secured one," I responded.

"Do you assume that someone from the pack might break into your phone?" she asked, with a hint of suspicion.

"No. Not from the pack..." I chuckled, a bit intimidated by her intense stare at me. "I would need three smartphones like that."

Valery raised her hands in surrender. "Ok, no questions asked," she giggled, and reached for a few models to show me.

I was kind of surprised by how knowledgeable she was. She described every device in the slightest of detail, explaining the safety mechanisms used in each. I ended up choosing three iPhones with additional security apps that Valerie suggested. I paid using the money I saved while working at Argent Investment Bank. Well, at least I finally had a chance to use my payment on something...

"Can you tell me where the post office is?" I asked on my way out.

"Sure thing," she grinned, "It's just around the corner. You need to go left until the end of the block. It's impossible to miss."

"Thank you, Valerie," I said, nodding goodbye.

"Bye!" I heard her sing cheerfully as I was closing the door behind me.

I had already done the first part of my plan. Now it was time for the next move. Certainly, the two other phones I bought weren't for me. Each phone had two other phones' numbers saved, and I was going to send them to Martha and Kanan. It might have seemed rather complicated, but I needed to make sure that no one from Elora's surroundings would know that we were remaining in contact. Knowing what Elora was capable of, using new phones was a reasonable precaution.

The post office was just as easy to find as Valery mentioned. I walked inside and instantly met a little too friendly gazes. I felt as if everyone already knew who I was. I kept smiling, nervously stretching my mimic muscles until they hurt. All of the people at the post office seemed kind, and they surely were sincerely curious about me, but the way they all looked at me was slowly driving me insane. I felt as if they were already preparing to come with my wedding with their Alpha, but, of course... no pressure, Lilith! Anyway, I did everything I could to ignore them... to some extent, and then I focused on my task.

I knew that I could casually address the package to Kanan. Except for his most trusted servants, no one would dare check anything that came to the Prince. However, sending a phone over to Martha was a completely different story. I had to use a little trick, hoping that Martha would receive the phone eventually... The problem was, I couldn't say that I trusted the person I addressed the package to a hundred percent or if he was going to be "in the mood" to help me. Of course, I could send both phones to Kanan, hoping that he would pass one to Martha, but then again, I didn't want to risk someone finding out that the two of them were plotting something.

"God... so many complications just to contact somebody," I chuckled to myself while writing the recipients' addresses.

Finally, I walked to the postal clerk's desk to send the packages.

"How quickly do you need them to be delivered?" asked the young man sitting behind the desk.

"As soon as possible," I said, smiling.

He looked at the address I wrote and grinned, "How's today before the evening sound?"

"Amazing!" I called out. "Would that be really possible?"

"A special delivery goes to New Argent City once a week, and that is today. The place you want to send those packages is on the way," he explained and winked at me.

It didn't sound like a normal service they had provided, but I couldn't refuse such a generous offer. I gladly handed over the packages and then walked out of the post office as all of the workers watched me go. As much as I didn't appreciate lan's attitude towards me, I couldn't say anything bad about his punctuality. He came right on time, opened the door for me, and then took me back to Alpha's cozy fortress. Once we arrived, lan helped me out of the car, visibly glad that his dull task of driving me came to an end.

"Oh, I have a message for you, Ms. Lilith," he tossed as I was about to get inside the mansion. "Alpha Draven invites you to eat lunch with him. It'll be at one o'clock in the dining room, downstairs on the left." I nodded, thinking that there was no reason for me to refuse his invitation. Besides, lunch felt "safer" than dinner with candles... and wine! Lunch didn't require drinking alcohol. I hoped. I went upstairs and checked the time on my way. It looked like the Alpha dearest was generously giving me ten minutes to walk down and join him. I sighed and walked into my room, but then I quickly noticed something was lying on my bed.

It was a dress, a white, delicate cotton and lace dress. It was slightly flared, extremely girly, and gave off the feeling of purity and innocence. There was a card lying on the dress saying, "Wear me." "Why does everyone want to dress me?! Am I a doll or something?!" I called out to the walls in my room, annoyed, but then sighed and decided to submit and wear the dress.

I changed my underwear to white and delicate and then put on the outfit prepared for me. I heaved a sigh of relief when I noticed that the neckline wasn't as deep as in the dresses Dominique used to make me wear. Just when I thought that Alpha Draven showed tact and decency, I glanced into the mirror and froze. The fabric from which the dress was made was light enough to see through my whole underwear... "Innocent dress, my ass!"