Alanna didn't want anything to do with the house, so she hadn't bothered to ask anyone on how things worked. She had been thrust into a bigger responsibility that wasn't even hers to begin with, to worry about who was staying in the house after all. Soren had told her to report to work very early on Monday as he would start teaching her the roots.
She was glad he was at least helping her. And even though she knew he was bound by his signature, the man wasn't short on resources to free himself from such bindings. She liked to convince herself, even if it was a lie, that he actually, truly wanted to help. It sounded very delusional but at the moment she could take anything, even the crumbs because she knew she couldn't survive without him.
Soren Elijah Orwell was the king of the jungle and what better way to survive than to stick to the literal king who ruled and everyone else bowed to.
"There you are. I almost thought those people had eaten you up alive." Sienna, with a big, relieved sigh marched to her friend with open arms. Alanna having missed her best friend and needing some comfort, threw herself in her arms, both of their hands quick to lock each other in a tight embrace.
"Might as well have been if I stayed there a second longer." Alanna heaved a sigh and they broke away from the hug. Sienna pursed her lips. "That bad huh?" Allie nodded frantically and Sienna, sympathizing with her friend's plight hugged her once more. "I'm just glad you're fine." Not that Sienna thought they were going to murder Alanna but as far as she knew, the Carmichael's were capable of everything. It wouldn't surprise her if they hid her friend and told the world she never came to them that day. The thought gave her goosebumps, and she tried not to dwell on it too much. Or maybe she just watched too many dramas to come up with such silly scenarios.
After settling in, with Alanna shaking away the anxiety of being with wolves the whole day, she finally told Sienna the whole story, and her friend's mouth had been agape the entirety of her story.
"I'm more surprised by the fact that Soren was there. If I didn't know any better I would think he was just there to protect you from those people," she joked lightly, her eyes narrowing at the thought. Alanna, however didn't find it funny in the least. She rolled her eyes. "I'd bet my last cent on it that the only reason he was there was to incite the siblings and nothing more." Although he looked like a serious person, Soren seemed the type to tease you till you had no tears left to cry. That man was cunning.
Sienna nodded, agreeing as she imagined 101 ways Soren could actually do that.
"Not to sound weird or anything but genuinely how does one leave his entire legacy to a young woman, who yes of course he was going to get married to but didn't because he died, but also didn't know he would die on the wedding day, so in a way a somehow literal stranger and then leave just crumbs to his own family," Sienna rambled, groaning at the absurdity of it. The more she thought about it the more frustrated she got on his children's behalf to have had such a deadbeat father. Yes, the children weren't so likable but literally who does that.
Alanna watched her friend lament in silence. A shadow passed over her features, fleeting but unmistakable and it disappeared as quickly as it came, a smile gracing her pretty face as if the brief change in character wasn't her. "I have no idea either Sia. You would think he would know better after all his years in this world," she drawled in mock sweetnes, her gaze darkening for the briefest moment.
Sienna looked over her friend in surprise, as if she couldn't quite recognize the person in front of her. There were times when she felt Alanna had this dark edge about her, but she would brush it off every time. A prime example was at the wedding, when they were in the dressing room, even then, there were some moments of hers when Sienna thought Alanna felt like a completely different person. Someone she felt she didn't know at all. It was as if it'd slip once in a while and during those times it would just raise goosebumps on her skin because her friend was somehow unrecognizable whenever she let whatever it was take over.
Alanna was a sweet girl. It was hard to even imagine there was more to her than meets the eye which was why Sienna always thought it was just her imagination. She shrugged it off once more and she tried to not think about it too much.
"It's such a big responsibility Sia. I don't think I'm cut out for it and I don't want to be a burden to Soren either," she clenched and unclenched her fists, turning sideways to face her friend, her light green eyes gleaming with such childlike innocence.
This was exactly who Alanna was. Just an angel whose wings had been clipped because she was too good for the world. She didn't know why she thought she could be anything else. It made her feel guilty and she palmed her cheeks. "You're THE boss now, The CEO, hell you're freaking y/n at this point," and this elicited a laugh from the both of them. "You're everything is all I'm trying to say and I know you know it too. Show those people what exactly you're capable of and make your family, make the entire world, regret not having your back. You don't have to prove anything to anyone but let them see why at a point in life your family, your parents were one of the most powerful people in the world, unrivaled by nobody."
Genuine tears filled Alanna's eyes and she burst into tears, leaning into her best friend as she cried in her arms. Sometimes she genuinely thought she needn't pretend in front of Sienna because she understood her in ways nobody had ever done and that terrified her more than anything.
However she was never going to leave her side. Even if it scared her at times on the things Sienna could pull out of her, she was glad she was there. And she was going to make sure to be there for her too no matter what. They were best friends after all. She smiled against her chest, letting all her worries dissolve.