213- Drunken Confessions Beneath the Alpha’s Roof
POV Aldren Valmorin:
Before my eyes, a pathetic scene unfolded, challenging my ability to believe it.
“Konrad?” I called to the man with his neck slumped against the pillar and his body sprawled across my staircase.
“We tried to make him leave, but he insisted on waiting for you to arrive.”
“Aldren?” he murmured, rubbing his eyes. He tried to stand up but fell flat on his ass on the floor, clearly drunk. “I think I drank too much…”
The obviousness showed in his heavy eyelids and vacant stare.
“What do you want?” I extended my hand to him and yanked him up abruptly. With no balance whatsoever, I had to hold him by the shoulders so he wouldn’t fall again.
“I can climb up to Nerin’s window, but…” I narrowed my eyes at his, red as pepper.
“But what?”
“Maybe you’d kill me, you know, you’ve been very murderous lately, so I thought it was better to ask permission to…”
“Konrad, you lunatic, look at the time!”
“I know, I know…” He glanced down at his tacky button-up shirt that he loved to wear, stained with dust. “Can I sleep here? I don’t know if I can make it back to Cyndrael…”
“Where are your guards, you irresponsible fool?”
“I gave them some time off.”
I shook my head. Unbelievable that the lord of morality himself was stumbling drunk at my door.
“Stupid man.” I slipped an arm under his, steadying him, and pulled him down the staircase, intending to leave the place. “If you want to sleep here, you’re going to need to drink more.”
The one who needed alcohol was me.
“Sir, should we accompany you?” Serpentino asked behind me.
“You and Victor stay. The prisoner may need you more than I do.”
I used my inhuman speed to compensate for the drunk at my side, crossing the gates and passing between the trees toward the bar.
The place stretched out behind the main mansion, an area where the grocery store and small shops clustered together, forming a picturesque shopping center. Foreigners would call it a mall, though a rustic one.
“Apparently, I’m not the only one in the gutter…”
“Keep talking shit and I’ll leave you here, in the middle of this darkness, Konrad,” I warned, squeezing his shoulder hard enough to hurt, drawing a pained grunt from him.
“What an abusive relationship, my friend. You hit me, now I can only go to your house when you allow it, we also only go out to drink when you want, fuck…” He snorted, leaning on my shoulders.
“We’re not friends. I merely tolerate you.”
I reached the wooden and stone walls, and the smell of alcohol alone already cured me.
“How rude. Well, I always knew Edric was the favorite…”
I didn’t answer him because, as I entered the warm-lit environment, the only man sitting at one of the wooden tables was Orion. Upon seeing us, he nodded cordially.
This would be an interesting gathering.
“We weren’t invited, but here we are,” I remarked, sitting down at one end, while Konrad occupied the other, swaying.
“You are always welcome to join me, my friend.” Orion raised his glass of whiskey.
I smiled faintly and gestured to Falako, the bar manager, who hurried to our table. Even under the cold night breeze, the man insisted on dressing like a Neanderthal, as if he sewed his own clothes—despite having no skill for it. To complete the prehistoric look, he never trimmed his white beard.
Unlike most, Falako wasn’t born a hybrid; he was turned at fifty. Now he was over two hundred, but his appearance remained.
“If I find one of those pubes in my drink…” I joked. He laughed and patted my shoulder.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had your illustrious presence, Alpha Aldren.”
I shrugged.
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”
“Aldren personally takes care of female prisoners now…”
I was preparing to cut Konrad’s tongue out, but I saw that Stefanya, Falako’s daughter with his wolf wife, was still at the bar counter, and I knew that the next morning she would have foreign language class with the older pups.
“What did I say about your daughter not staying at the bar at night, Falako?” My question startled him, but the slender blonde eighteen-year-old ran to her father’s side.
“It’s my fault, Alpha Aldren. I was bored and decided to stay. I went to get my things to leave, but I heard your voice and came back.”
Even very young and still smelling of milk, the female had been offering herself to me one of the nights I found her at the bar. No chance.
“I understand. Now, your alpha is ordering you to go home.” I winked, and the female melted into a smile.
“Right away. Have a good night, gentlemen.” She leaned her torso forward before leaving.
I turned to her father.
“Falako, you may need to work a handful of extra hours.”
“I’ll stay as long as you need, sir.”
Clever. The patriarch went after our best bottles and served us, while I shot Konrad with my eyes.
“I’m very curious about this prisoner…” Orion commented.
I took a long gulp of the amber drink, which went down warming my throat, before facing my old friend.
“See… many things happened while you were away,” I revealed casually.
“It will be a pleasure to hear, if you wish to tell me, my friend.”
“Well, then why don’t we start with Konrad,” I looked at him briefly, “who decided that my regent is the love of his life?”
Orion burst into laughter, and Konrad pressed his lips into a thin line.
“I didn’t decide that, Aldren. For a year now we’ve had tea and exchanged conversations.” He sounded offended.
“And you secretly fucked dozens of she-wolves during that time, shattering their hearts. Hurt Nerin, and I’ll tear your head from your neck,” I breathed the threat.
“Sounds like a good idea, they’re both old,” the traveler encouraged.
“Thanks for the support, Orion,” Konrad said, resting his forearms on the table.
“Convince me that your feelings are real, and only then will I ask her if they are reciprocated—which I doubt.”
My regent would love only the reincarnation of her destined mate, killed in battle. Konrad, older than her partner ever was, could not be him.
“Oh, come on, Aldren, I’m charming…”
I shook my head and rolled the remainder of the robust, intense whiskey across my tongue, with notes of oak and a spicy touch.
“Charming and with no commitment to life—only good for taking care of ours.”