Chapter 122 122
Aurélie POV
“Did you brush your teeth?” I call out to Delphine as I lay her pyjamas neatly across the bed.
She was an absolute menace when it came to brushing them, and considering the obscene amount of sugar she’d consumed tonight, the thought of rotted teeth was enough to make me shudder. Cavities were not a good look on a beautiful little girl.
“Yes, Mummy…” she groans dramatically from the bathroom only for the unmistakable whirr of her child-friendly electric toothbrush to start seconds later.
Ah. I knew it.
Cheeky little munchkin.
The room itself was breathtaking. We must have been given one of the superior suites. Cream wallpaper lined the walls, complemented by heavy, luxurious curtains in a deeper shade of cream that framed the windows perfectly. A super king-sized bed dominated the space, flanked by an ensuite bathroom and a wide balcony furnished with outdoor seating.
There was even an outdoor heater for cold nights which, for a werewolf race, felt entirely unnecessary in my opinion.
We didn’t really get cold.
Although… since having the twins, my body hadn’t always agreed with that rule.
There were evenings Fabrice would find me wrapped tightly in a blanket, scrolling through emails, and he’d shake his head fondly and tell me I was pushing myself too hard. That I needed to rest. I supposed it was no different from him refusing to acknowledge when he needed new glasses.
“There, Mummy…” Delphine announces proudly, leaning close and breathing directly onto my face so I could smell the mint on her breath.
“Good girl. Into bed,” I say, pulling back the covers for her.
She and Dominique would be sharing tonight, and although the bed was easily large enough for me as well, the thought of sleeping out on the balcony appealed to me far more.
The day beds looked incredibly inviting.
Once Delphine drifts off to sleep, I step quietly onto the balcony and prepare myself a warm drink. And yes there was a hot drink machine in the room.
Perhaps I should suggest a retreat break here. Maybe Alpha Quentin would allow it.
Although soon, it would be Alpha Simon and Luna Élodie.
I wonder how that would sit with the surrounding packs a beta being trained to take on the alpha role. To me, it hardly mattered. I was an alpha’s daughter who had risen to become the top wolf in her own right.
Birth status didn’t make leadership any easier. Damien’s lineage hadn’t softened the weight of responsibility that came with being alpha it only added expectations. The work remained the same regardless of how you were born into it.
And Dominique…
I could already feel it in him.
He was an alpha in the making. Anything less than that would never be enough for him as a grown male.
Cradling my warm drink, I gaze down from the balcony. The party below is still alive with flashing lights, laughter echoing faintly upward. A slow, romantic song drifts through the air, its soft notes weaving seamlessly into the night sky, stars glittering beside the moon’s gentle glow.
A burst of giggling draws my attention to the left.
Dominique and Damien are outside, kicking a football back and forth. Damien deliberately fumbles a pass, then dramatically throws himself into a goalkeeper’s dive to “save” the ball.
My chest tightens as Damien chases after Dominique, who unsurprisingly can’t outrun a full-grown alpha male. Damien scoops him up effortlessly, flipping him upside down as Dominique dissolves into helpless laughter.
That sound…
It pulls me straight back to when he was a baby, when blowing raspberries on his belly would have him shrieking with delight.
Damien looks younger like this. Freer.
My cheeks warm at the memory of how close we’d been in the garden earlier.
I hadn’t wanted his hands to stop.
Hadn’t wanted his kisses to end.
He kissed me as though I were the only woman he ever wanted to kiss for the rest of his life.
Why couldn’t things have been like this when we first married?
What made him hold back then?
Why wasn’t I as confident back then as I am now?
Why didn’t I understand that those electric tingles those moments when he barely touched me were the mate bond awakening?
Why didn’t I fight for him too?
Why did I run?
Why didn’t I stand my ground and claim what was mine?
We both made mistakes. I could admit that.
Granted… his list was longer than mine.
But back then, he hadn’t known Geneviève had an ulterior motive.
With Delphine fast asleep and Dominique still outside with Damien, I settle onto one of the day beds and finish my drink.
My phone vibrates beside me.
Another message from Théo.
He’d been quiet too far away for the mind-link to reach and unease had been creeping into my thoughts. If I hadn’t heard from him by the time we returned home, I’d already decided I would ask Émilie to try and reach him.
The mate bond had no distance limitations, but Théo and I had agreed he would keep his block firmly in place. We didn’t want to worry Émilie or risk weakening her pregnancy.
His earlier message had reassured me that he was safe, stationed in a secure location. He’d mentioned visiting a town Geneviève had connections to before leaving the Bloodnight pack.
Connections?
I open the new message.
He’s sent me a location pin.
Earlier, I’d asked him to give me an exact address. What appears on my screen now is an old shipping town in the north of the country.
Why would he be there?
And why would Geneviève have ties to a shipping town especially when she’d belonged to the Bloodnight pack before moving to her mate’s pack and becoming Luna?