Chapter 136 136
Aurélie POV
“You really think that far ahead?” he chuckled softly.
“Aurélie… I’m guilty too. I pushed propaganda against your alliance.” His voice grew more serious, steady. “Even if we have two alliances, two packs, but choose to live intertwined I’ll make it work. I’ll make sure of it. Geneviève abducted our son and murdered your parents, and I gave her too much freedom. I gave her a long leash.” His brow creased. “In that… I share the blame.”
He leaned down, burying his nose in my hair, breathing me in as if grounding himself in my scent.
“She left you for dead, Damien,” I said quietly at first then the words hardened, sharpened by something dark and unyielding inside me. “Believe me, when I see her again, I will make her suffer.”
The certainty in my voice startled even me. It didn’t sound like something I meant to say it sounded like something I knew.
“Listen to me, Aurélie.” He pulled me back onto the bed and positioned himself over me, his hands cradling my face, forcing my eyes to meet his. “You mustn’t do anything reckless. Promise me.”
“I’m an Alpha,” I replied evenly. “I can’t turn my back on violence committed against my pack. She has to answer for what she’s done.”
“And she will,” he said firmly. “Once my trackers find her.”
We both knew it then we wouldn’t agree on this.
I was no longer his Luna.
I was an Alpha in my own right.
I commanded warriors who would follow me without hesitation.
He exhaled slowly and softened. “Just… just be careful. If not for me then for the kids.”
He rolled off me and stood, offering his hand as he gently pulled me upright. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be down in a bit.”
The moment he left, I felt weightless.
I had never felt like this before this intoxicating mix of power, desire, and connection and yet I wanted more. He had lit something inside me, a fire that was already burning brighter, deeper. A thirst only he could satisfy.
And I needed him to.
For a moment, I debated following him to the shower seeing if I could return even a fraction of the pleasure he had just given me.
I smiled to myself as I walked down the stairs, pausing briefly to check my reflection in the mirror.
My cheeks were flushed a soft pink, giving my glowing skin a warmth that made me look almost radiant. My eyes were bright green vivid in a way I hadn’t seen in a long time.
I even considered dressing a little more provocatively today. Teasing him in passing. Catching his gaze during meetings, across the dinner table. Gods, I was behaving like a teenager in love.
I headed into the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. As flattering as my flushed appearance might be, I was overheated and needed to cool down.
Lucas sat at the kitchen table, typing briskly on his laptop. I opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. As I closed the door, I caught him watching me an unmistakable smirk tugging at his mouth.
“Alpha,” he greeted, nodding respectfully before turning back to his screen, clearly attempting and failing to hide his grin.
“Beta,” I replied, arching an eyebrow.
Shit. Had he heard my moans?
The water did nothing to cool my face now. Heat rushed up my neck as I drained the bottle and escaped into my office.
I’d fallen behind on emails during the Saint Wolf pack’s visit. Requests were still coming in packs asking to join the alliance—but I wasn’t sure how to respond anymore.
If it was the hospital facilities they were after, maybe I should send Fabrice and Florence to the Bloodnight pack to establish one there too. Because no matter how we framed it, Dominique and Delphine were heirs to both packs.
There weren’t truly two alliances anymore. There was only one and I needed to think long-term. For their future.
“Alpha?”
Lucas knocked lightly on my open office door before stepping inside.
“Lucas, what’s going on?”
“Fabrice asked if I could head down to the hospital. Are you okay with that?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Just checking.” He hesitated briefly. “Can you let Alpha Damien know where I’ve gone? I’ll be about an hour.”
Oh now he decided to give us the house to ourselves.
“Of course,” I replied smoothly, keeping my tone neutral.
Once he left, I finished sorting through my emails, flagging the ones I needed to discuss with Fabrice later. I wasn’t sure why, but something compelled me to open my junk folder something I almost never did.
And that was when everything shifted.