234- Shadows Beneath the Same Roof
POV Elowen Grimwald:
“Well, I’ll go upstairs real quick to change my blouse. Take care, okay?” I touched her shoulder gently.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Surrounded by a cloud of doubts and distressed over Nerin, I went upstairs to put on a long-sleeved shirt.
My plan was also to convince Aldren to remove the visible mark, but I’d been kicked out of the library before I could even bring it up.
My dream was to be able to read some of those books and play the piano.
The memory of when my father discovered I was taking lessons in secret lived in the box of worst memories of my life.
If I closed my eyes, I could relive the beating I took—until I pissed myself in my own bed.
I froze in the doorway the moment I stepped into my room and noticed the familiar object resting on my bed.
No. How?
Overtaken by a sudden wave of trembling that rose from my toes to my head, I moved closer, trying to confirm whether I was losing my mind or if that really was my lost necklace.
On the day I was kidnapped, it was no longer around my neck, which had made me think it had never reached Valmorin. I picked it up with a trembling hand, which grew warm upon touching the metal.
Nerin asked me for time, but I needed answers.
Before going downstairs, I didn’t remember seeing the necklace on the bed or anywhere in that enormous house. It could only have been placed there while I was talking to the she-wolf!
I rushed down the flights of stairs to the kitchen in desperation, forgetting to breathe. Passing through the doorway, I found Nerin at the central island. Her eyes widened as she noticed my distress.
“What happened, Elowen?”
I stepped closer, lifting the necklace to the level of her eyes.
“Did you find it?”
“Find what?” she asked, confused.
Oh… she had no idea about the necklace.
“This necklace. I lost it, and now it showed up on top of my bed!”
Her attentive eyes scanned the object, and she took it from my hand, truly seeming as though she had never seen it before.
“I’ve never seen this piece of jewelry, Elowen.”
“Could it have been Aldren?”
“But where did you lose it? Because since you arrived, this has never been around your neck.” She handed it back to me.
“I lost it in the city…” I stared at the bright green stone, confused. “Are you sure I didn’t arrive with it?”
“I’m sure, Elowen.”
“Could Aldren have found it?”
“I’ll ask, but it’s a distant possibility. He never leaves the village.”
The only options left were the helpers and… Kehin.
Could Aldren have freed him? How would he have entered the house without being noticed?
(...)
POV Aldren Valmorin:
As night fell, a veil of melancholy slid across the sky. At least, that was how I perceived the starless darkness through the skylight of the central tower, seated atop one of my storage crates.
With or without stars, it was my state of mind that worried me.
Orion wanted a meeting with me. Nerin had sent a message asking whether I was coming home, but I didn’t know what to answer.
Drinking Scotch whisky straight from the bottle, I stared into the darkness, hoping to glimpse a light. Ironic.
Two knocks echoed from the door behind me and all the stacked crates, followed by the creak of it opening.
I hadn’t invited anyone, nor did I want to be disturbed. By the scent, it was Orion.
“Aldren? One of the guards told me you’d come up here. I have an urgent matter.”
“I’d tell you to come in, but you already did.”
Being even more inconvenient, he stopped in front of me, blocking my view of the skylight. I lifted my chin, irritated.
“Forgive me, but it’s important.”
“Speak.”
“Felibér met out of schedule with the cargo ship, on the territorial boundary line between Valmorin and Averwyn.”
Felibér. The name Kehin had given me before being taken to Noctheria.
“How did you find out?”
“I saw him on the cameras leaving his post early, so I followed him.”
“Did you manage to hear the conversation?”
“No. I was afraid to get closer and be discovered. I’m sorry.”
I took a swig from the bottle and looked away.
“Thank you.”
“Aldren, you’re not well,” he said, sounding slightly uneasy.
“Now tell me something new.”
“For you to admit that means things are really bad—you never admit it. That’s worrying, Aldren. Tell me how I can help.”
“I’m just tired, Orion. Leave me alone.”
My request was in vain. He dragged one of the crates and sat down in front of me.
“Elowen didn’t leave the house today. Is the problem related to the two of you?”
“And if it is?” I stared at him, ready to release fear-inducing pheromones to make him leave me alone.
“That makes it even more worrying. Why are you pampering a prisoner? Have you developed feelings for her? The girl is really very beautiful and—” I growled threateningly, ready to rip out his throat if he continued with the compliments. Orion startled, but didn’t retreat. “You’re acting the way you did in the past, when the subject was the Unnameable.”
Orion managed to turn my melancholy into raw fury.
Fuck.
“Get out of here before I tear your head off.” He refused.
“You’re my friend, and I won’t let you destroy yourself again. Don’t you find it strange that Kehin fell for her so quickly and you followed right after? Doesn’t that remind you of something, Aldren?”
“Orion, get the idea out of your head that Elowen is anything like Samsara.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I laughed, bitterness coating my throat.
“Elowen is Lunara’s sister. She was only imprisoned because she was looking for her sister. Satisfied, damn it?” He didn’t look surprised. “Something tells me you already knew.”
“How would I know that, Aldren?”
“Fuck it. Get out, Orion. I want to be alone.” The sound of new footsteps made me stand up from the crate, enraged. “What the fuck!” I barked, but had to take a breath when I realized it was Nerin.
“I was trying to get in touch, sir.”
Before answering her, I grabbed Orion by the collar with one hand, forcing him to his feet.
“Next time I tell you to leave, leave.”
“Yes, Aldren.”
“And forget that Elowen exists. Find out what Felibér is plotting and make sure the family of your beloved lives happily and abundantly in Valmorin.”
“I’ll find out.”
I released him and turned to Nerin, finding her crouched near the door. I waited for Orion to leave and asked her to close it.
With my bottle in hand, I sat back down on the crate.
“Do you know what I was thinking, Nerin?”
“Yes, Aldren,” she replied as she approached, stopping beside the crate Orion had pulled over.
“Sit.” She did, and I fixed my eyes on hers. Nerin knew me, and with that look alone she would understand many things. I was tired of locking my feelings inside myself. It felt like I was going to suffocate at any moment. “Edric will have a successor, and I don’t even have a fucking alpha in training anymore.”
“Wouldn’t Iulian be an option?” she mentioned, one of the few alphas in my pack with decades of service and good conduct.
“He still isn’t an original successor.”