After walking for a while, Zayd stopped in front of a room, opened the door, and shoved her inside.
"Woah!" She breathed, catching herself as she stumbled in. Just as she turned to head back toward the door, a pair of soft hands grabbed her arms and dragged her deeper into the room.
"We are to dress you in the next thirty minutes. Don't slow us down," came a familiar voice.
Now facing Madam Agnes, Lilith stopped resisting. If Madam Agnes was involved, there was no point in fighting, it would only make things worse. But why were they dressing her up? And why had Zayd brought her here himself? Could it be… they were going out?
Her eyes widened as the realization hit. She was going out. Her mind began to race, already spinning with ideas for escape. This might be the opportunity she had been waiting for and far sooner than she expected.
Exactly thirty minutes later, she was dressed and escorted outside, where a sleek entourage of cars awaited.
"My lady," said a plain-looking man, gesturing toward one of the vehicles. She gave him a polite smile and began walking toward it. When the door opened and she stepped in, her expression faltered as Zayd was seated inside, silent and unreadable.
They were riding together?
"Move," he instructed the driver without sparing her a glance. Then, he pulled out his phone and began typing.
With a light shrug, Lilith turned to face the window, unfazed by his coldness. She didn't care if he was angry. If she managed to escape today, his anger wouldn't matter. The more he ignored her, the more space she would have to make her move. She just hoped his men weren't keeping too close of a watch.
The drive lasted an hour before they reached their destination. Stepping out of the car, Lilith was momentarily stunned. The mansion before her was small but carried an undeniable air of luxury. Whatever event was happening here, it was clearly meant to impress.
"Don't leave Ben's side. And behave yourself," Zayd said, snapping her out of her thoughts. She turned to find his gaze locked on her, stern, with an edge of warning. But at least she wouldn't be stuck by his side. She would take his beta over him any day, any time.
"Alpha Zayd," a voice called, and Rose appeared beside her, quickly making her way to Zayd and wrapping her arm around his. She was enticingly dressed and had half of her breast visible to the eyes that almost made Lilith shake her head. How desperate could one be for a man's attention?
So that was his date? Then why bring her here?
"I didn't know she would be here too," Rose said, shooting Lilith a disdainful look.
Lilith responded with an exaggerated roll of her eyes. If she had a choice, she wouldn't be here or even at the pack house in the first place.
"I decide who follows me," Zayd replied simply, then walked off with Rose hanging onto him.
"Lady Lilith, here," Ben said, offering his elbow. Lilith looped her arm through his, and together they walked inside, following closely behind Zayd and Rose.
"Alpha Zayd," a middle-aged woman greeted warmly, pulling Zayd and Rose into a round of polite chatter. The greetings dragged on for another ten minutes, but Lilith's mind was elsewhere. Her eyes scanned the hall, searching for an escape route. Strangely, there was only one entrance and exit and it was the main door. It felt intentional, like they were preventing something or someone from escaping. Halls like this usually had more than one opening, both for ventilation and crowd control.
"Alpha Zayd!" A small voice squealed. A little girl, no older than five, darted toward him. Zayd picked her up effortlessly and tossed her into the air three times before catching her with ease. That brief display caught Lilith off guard, who would have thought someone so infuriating and shameless could be so gentle with kids?
"Have you been listening to your mum?" Zayd asked, his tone lighter than she had ever heard it.
The girl pouted, then nodded.
"Good girl," he said, giving her cheek a soft squeeze, making her beam.
"Then do I get to marry you now?" She asked suddenly, and the surrounding family burst into laughter.
"Beatrice!" A petite young woman, likely her mother, exclaimed, blushing with embarrassment.
"If you keep behaving, I might grant that request," Zayd played along.
"Yayyy! Alpha Zayd will marry me!" The little girl shouted, drawing another round of laughter.
Clicking her tongue, Lilith shook her head and muttered, "You have such poor taste in men," forgetting Ben was right beside her. His amused glance made her eyes widen.
"I meant… good taste!" She lied quickly, forcing a chuckle before turning away.
"Seems like you brought an extra guest today, that's new," an older woman remarked, drawing all eyes to Lilith.
"Ah! This is my new assistant. She oversees international calls," Zayd said smoothly, glancing at Lilith as he spoke. She almost scoffed at how easily the lie rolled off his tongue. Clearly, bringing her here wasn't part of the plan, it was probably just to keep her away from Elijah. How had she not seen it sooner? Elijah was right: Zayd had no intention of letting her go and she needed to get his help.
"Oh, I almost thought you were cheating on our Rose," the older woman teased, flashing a warm smile at Lilith, who returned an awkward one in response. What was she supposed to do? Laugh?
"Alright, we will leave you ladies to your business," one of the men said, retrieving Beatrice from Zayd and handing her back to her mother. "We men will go and be men."
'Finally,' Lilith thought as she watched the group of men, including Zayd, step away.
"This way," a young woman, close to her age, appeared beside her and gently linked their arms before leading her off.