189- Chains of the Alpha
POV Aldren Valmorin:
“Alfa Aldren.” Smiling shyly, she leaned on her left elbow, which she rested on the tabletop.
“Natarin.”
“Am I bothering you?” She was polite in asking.
“Of course not.” They felt free to bother me at that event; I had given them permission to do so.
“Are you well, sir?” I sensed she was about to ask me for something.
“I’m fine, and you? How is school?” She had immigrated from North America after her former pack was almost entirely wiped out, and she taught English to our pups.
“At school everything is great, and I’m fine too, Alpha Aldren, I just have a small request.”
Of course, just as I suspected.
“Go ahead.”
“So, it’s just that…” Her cheeks turned red. She was embarrassed. I was intrigued.
“Come on, say it.”
“I… I was invited only once to the lust party and I really wish I could go again.”
Her request managed to draw a discreet smile from my troubled soul. As far as I remembered, she hadn’t approached any male, and those who tried to start a conversation had been chased off by her bad temper.
“I understand.”
“I know that on the day I went, I wasn’t very participative… but I was scared.”
“Isn’t anyone from Valmorin of interest to you?”
“I was with Victor…” A flash of hurt crossed her face before she continued. “But we don’t match. I dream of finding my destined mate, Alpha Aldren.” Her eyes shone as she confessed.
“Is there any misconduct by Victor you’d like to report to me?” I preferred to check.
“No, none at all. I swear. We just don’t match,” she denied quickly, her pupils dilating in fright.
“I’ll invite you to the next ones, so you can meet males from other packs.”
My acceptance turned her shy smile into an open one.
“Amen!” She bit her lips before continuing. “If I don’t like anyone, I’m not obliged to…”
“No one is obliged to anything, Natarin. People have sex because they want to. Some just want to have fun and don’t care about finding the famous predestination.”
“Of course, what a silly question that was.”
“Is there anything else?”
“No.” She stood up, seeming relieved. “I’ll let you enjoy your meal. Thank you very much, Alpha Aldren.”
I took my leave of her and tasted some of the roast pork, delicious as always, but my appetite was zero. All I was doing on that cold night was trying to flee the turmoil inside my own head.
I failed. I hated failing.
As usual, I waited until most had returned to their homes before leaving. On the way to my house, I felt as if I were inside a prison, even though the prisoner was Kehin.
The prison of being the alpha. I took each step as if bound by heavy, invisible chains. The gods were witnesses to my desire that there might be another way out, but there was none.
My trust in Kehin was never a question, but a certainty. A damn stray bitch appeared and, twice, he trampled the orders of the one he had always revered.
It was her fault.
Facing my regard for one of my best friends made me believe that loyalty might not be an unbreakable bond. Sooner or later, the one who promises you fidelity may betray you to satisfy himself.
When I went downstairs, I asked that all my men leave, and I was informed that the prisoner was already awake.
I entered the cubicle and glimpsed the most pitiful scene: Kehin sitting on his own legs, smelling the pieces of clothing Elowen had left in the cage.
When he saw me, he stared at me in a somber way.
“If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead,” he reminded me of one of his acts of loyalty, laden with bitterness.
Kehin was gravely mistaken if he thought he could manipulate me with anything related to our past. The weight of all the good moments rested on my shoulders, not just the day I had chosen to erase from my memory with great effort.
The hurt tearing at my chest didn’t even allow anger to approach.
There, in front of him, I was just the man, without the beast.
“For you, I felt a brother’s love, but you deceived me twice, you lied to me. I confess I could deal with the fact that you went to visit her without my permission, but taking advantage of my men’s absence and stealing Nerin’s keys? No, that’s too much.”
“I would never let the prisoner escape, and you know that, Aldren, but you prefer to cling to these little details just to rid yourself of guilt. Admit it.”
Still holding the bitch’s clothes, he rose from the floor and loomed over the bars, his eyes aflame with fury.
“Breaking and entering and stealing from the one who always trusted you have become details now?”
He twisted his nose in disagreement.
“Breaking in? I’ve always been able to enter that fucking house whenever I damn well pleased!” he bellowed, bringing to light a piece of my fury that hid in the sad shadow of my soul.
“Yell at me again and you’ll leave this cage straight for the bonfire.”
Knowing that empty promises never came from me, he swallowed his shouts.
“Elowen and I are connected.” I frowned in disbelief upon hearing that. “Doubt it? She said it herself that she feels our connection. Even though I fell in love with that girl at first sight, I brought her to you.”
I shook my head, full of sorrow.
“I’m facing the most foolish of men. I can’t believe I erred so greatly in my judgment. Was I really going to entrust my people to your care?” I snapped, my face contorting in disgust as I spoke.
“Edric went mad when he found his mate, don’t you remember? Don’t doubt us. Don’t doubt it.”
I had to laugh at his comparison. The case of the alpha of Eldoria was an exception. For hundreds of years, wolves found their companions and didn’t lose control. It was merely fragility and a surprise factor during heat.
“And who said Elowen is your mate, you fucking fool?”
“I feel it. She feels it.”
My beast, previously inert, growled at hearing him.
“You fucking idiot, did it never once cross those shit-filled brains of yours that the female just wanted to escape?”