228- A Question of Control
POV Aldren Valmorin:
“What’s wrong with him, sir?” she asked me, her dark eyes widening.
“That old man claims to have feelings for you and wishes to keep frequenting my house. Be honest with me and tell me if it’s mutual.” Her throat scratched, as if she were swallowing hard. “I know you like your work, but if it’s your wish, I can reduce your workload so you can go out on dates with him.”
“No!”
I unscrewed the cap of the bottle in my hands and took a sip of my tea before continuing.
“You don’t like him?”
She looked away and seemed to think for a few seconds.
“I think he’s an attractive alpha, but we don’t match,” she admitted with difficulty, her cheeks turning red.
I wasn’t sure whether Nerin’s problem was prolonged grief or a lack of trust in Konrad.
“I’ll give you some time to think, all right? Know that I care about your well-being and happiness.”
Nerin smiled.
“I know. Thank you, Aldren.”
Elowen, Elowen, Elowen… Her name thundered inside my disturbed mind.
“How did the… prisoner wake up?” I asked, somewhat uncertain.
“She didn’t wake up.”
“What do you mean, she didn’t wake up?” My fucking heartbeat jumped, and my mind created tragic scenarios.
“Yes. I opened the cage and she only had to step out and lie down on your bed, then she fell asleep again. I thought about making her leave, but I felt sorry for her.”
I relaxed, breathing again.
Apparently, someone hadn’t lied about being exhausted.
“Get rid of those ropes.” The weapons I had thrown out the window were already taken care of.
Nerin pressed her lips together and frowned suspiciously.
“May I know why they’re there?”
“Better not.”
“Hm.” She straightened in her chair. “Aldren, those jars of sweets really were for Elowen?”
“They were. Why?”
“Well… I happened to find her in the kitchen, all excited, and I ended up telling her they were mine.”
I frowned, incredulous.
“Why did you do that?”
“She’s twenty years old and has no one to cling to, Aldren. Have you ever thought that these gestures might make her fall in love with you? I just didn’t want to see her suffer afterward.”
“Never do that again.” She nodded, lowering her head. “Set up a room for her and let her know she’ll be allowed to walk around the village, accompanied by one of my guards. I’ll decide which one.”
“Elowen doesn’t let anything slip… what do I do if she asks me the truth about the sweets?”
“She knows you lied. I asked her whether she’d found the jars and her reaction was surprise—she must have connected the dots. She may be smarter than the two of us combined.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know, Nerin. You lied, you fix it.”
“All right.” She stood up, brushing her hands over her black dress at knee level. “May I go?”
“You may. I’ll wait for your decision about Konrad.” She agreed.
“See you at lunch.”
“I won’t be having lunch there.”
Nerin nodded, as someone who understood my attempt to avoid someone in my own house, and left.
When the door closed, I devoured three fresh rolls with cured ham and scrambled eggs, half a wheel of cheese, and the entire bottle of tea. A hunger I couldn’t remember having felt in a long time.
There were many things to be resolved, but one of them was more urgent.
I grabbed my notebook and went to sift through the recordings from the previous day. The modern cameras identified each person, and I could select exactly the moments in which Elowen appeared.
Every image of her plan was there.
In the kitchen, she talked to Nerin and shortly after picked up the knife. Some time later, she invaded the she-wolf’s room to steal the sedative.
The only image that surprised me was during the early hours of the morning. While deciding whether to kill me or not, she sat outside in the hallway, curled up with her hands over her face.
There, without a doubt, she already knew she wouldn’t be able to do it, because one of my guards might even find her.
Elowen, Elowen…
I deleted all records of her before delegating the task of reviewing the footage to Orion, my traveling friend. The medicinal advancement of the formulas was important, but at that moment, the presence of a traitor would ruin everything.
Orion sent me a voice message with a peculiar request.
In my hands was his wish that I accept into my pack a family of four North American wolves.
The reason? He had fallen in love with one of the couple’s two daughters during his last trip. That matter was still open, and I intended to grant his wish—provided he cooperated with me.
The original lupine people did not wish to live in a purely human society, because the way families are formed is completely incompatible.
We do not age as quickly, and most young omegas do not have full control over their rage or their transformation.
Those who tried to live among humans only caused the deaths of their own.
It was enough for one being to be discovered for mass persecution to begin. Why would they live in fear when they could be in a safe and comfortable place, without needing to hide who they truly were?
And my thoughts always returned to her.
To analyze Elowen’s behavior more thoroughly, I needed to allow her to walk freely through Valmorin. Iulian or Bratvo were good options to watch her, but depriving myself of two men was too much.
Between the two, Bratvo would be the ideal choice, for being more rigid and merciless.
Elowen would not take to him, which didn’t seem like a bad idea at all.
Let her sympathize with no one—except me.