246- Ashes Beneath the Moon
POV Aldren Valmorin:
With her elbows resting on the counter and one hand supporting her chin, she watched me grill the steaks as if, in the whole world, there existed only one male—and it was me. Adoring looks were offered to me in abundance, but only that bitch’s gaze could unsettle me.
“Go on, now it’s your turn to lie and say I’m the first female you’ve ever cooked dinner for,” she asked, her blue eyes with their lunar glow shining brighter than usual.
“In 350 years? That would be a terrible lie.”
“Oh, how boring!” she shot back, laughing sweetly.
“Let’s work with reality.”
“Let’s, as long as… I’m the last.” She winked. I shook my head, amused by her insistence.
I felt like a laboratory rat, every tiny movement under observation.
“What is it, Elowen?”
“What is what? I just can’t stop looking at you.”
“You’re making a centuries-old man blush.” She laughed.
“Those arms moving that skillet, by the gods…” she whispered, lightly brushing her hand along one of them.
I had tried to bring up her sister when she woke up, and with some excuse, she slipped away to the bathroom. It seemed to me that Elowen was avoiding facing reality.
“You know we need to talk, don’t you?”
She drew her arms in, placing a hand to her forehead, pretending to have a headache.
“Please, no. Just thinking about it makes my head hurt.”
I turned the fillets in the pan, tossing it in the air, and switched off the induction so they could finish cooking with the remaining heat. I pulled the dramatic girl by the arm toward me and lifted her chin.
“Let’s talk about Lunara.”
“I don’t want to know about that pregnant cow.” She knitted her brows, angry.
“Elowen, now I speak and you listen quietly.” She agreed, letting out a sad sigh. “Your sister looked for you.”
Her eyes grew moist, and the little pout she always made when she was about to cry appeared.
“She didn’t look hard enough…” she objected, her voice breaking.
“I assure you she and Edric did what they could, given the circumstances they faced.”
“Edric is…?”
“The alpha of Eldoria village and her partner. At the last Feast of Lust, she confronted me. Since discovering you’re with me, she has been desperate to find you.”
“But why…?” Her sadness mixed with confusion.
“Why haven’t you met yet?” I held her gaze, even though my first instinct was to avoid it. “If you wish to blame someone, blame me. I didn’t allow it, Elowen. You were my prisoner.”
A sepulchral silence settled. Her eyes were clouded, and I could not tell whether I saw hatred, disappointment, or sorrow. Whatever the answer, I deserved it. Still, the possibilities suffocated me. What if she hated me forever? What if she left and abandoned me? Could I live without Elowen?
She opened her mouth, then closed it again before the words escaped. And that was how I knew the truth. I could not lose her.
Not after drawing close to her. After having her daily presence and easy smiles for things as simple as a jar of sweets. After tasting her warm body, her wild and human sides. And certainly not after feeling what she did to me and to my beast.
I had never believed I would lose the reins of my life so completely—and that, in that absence of control, I would be so eager to lose myself entirely.
“Is it true? Really?” she broke the silence, letting tears fall.
“I gain nothing by admitting guilt. I intended to tell you, but Korlina did it first.”
“Don’t blame her, I know it wasn’t on purpose…” Her withdrawn posture melted, and instead of crying in sadness, she seemed to cry in happiness. “Aldren, is my Lunara really pregnant?”
So she was not angry? Or did the joy for her sister’s child overshadow the hurt she felt toward me?
“Aldren?” she insisted.
“She is.”
“Does she live far from here? Is it a boy or a girl? How many months?” Questions burst from her mouth as she smiled and cried at the same time. Her cold, anxious hands rested on my shoulders.
“Do you think I know the timing of a pregnancy?” I raised an eyebrow.
“When can I see her? Please, please!” She bounced with excitement.
An emotion that did not reach me—not when I could not understand what went through her mind.
“Well, that’s a dinner conversation.” I stepped away, intending to serve the meat and sautéed vegetables already prepared.
“Oh, I don’t know what to do… want help? Aldren, I’m anxious.”
“You don’t feel anger?” I asked, unable to hide my confusion.
“Why would I feel anger? How could I, knowing I’ll be an aunt and my sister didn’t abandon me?”
If she did not hate me, did it mean she would stay? Damn not knowing her intentions.
Ignoring her question, I served the plates and pulled the stool for her to sit. Drying her tears, with a shy smile, she accepted the gesture.
I sat across from her, and she breathed deeply, as if trying to contain her emotions, though some tears still fell.
“The steak will taste salty if you don’t stop crying; I won’t cook again.”
“Cut me some slack, it’s double emotion! I’m going to be an aunt, and the hottest alpha of the Tharnak cooked for me.”
A smile escaped my lips.
“You haven’t seen the others to know if I’m the most presentable, Elowen,” I replied, before tasting a slice of my filet medallion.
“And I don’t need to.” She blew a kiss, seductive.
“How can you cry, eat, and flirt at the same time?”
She laughed, wiping her face with the back of her hand.
“A whirlwind of emotions, you know? If you tell me I can see Lunara soon, I’ll be less crazy.”
The uncertainty of losing her struck me again.
The time it took for her to taste the food was what I needed to bring up a detail I could not ignore:
“First, you need to know we are not best friends.” I cleared my throat.
“What did you do to Lunara?” she asked, mouth full.
“Am I so terrible that you don’t consider she might have done something?”
“The troublemaker among the sisters is me, Aldren.”