231- When the Alpha Turns the Key
POV Elowen Grimwald:
“Who are you?” Her question sounded like a demand. Beautiful, but ill-mannered.
“Nala.” Bratvo’s voice behind me pulled me back to reality.
My blood heated up before I could even think straight.
Aldren’s lover was standing right in front of me.
Her eyes scanned the bags in his arms, and her eyebrows drew together.
“Are you shopping for Aldren?” she asked him.
“No, the bags belong to Elowen. We need to go,” he replied, shoving me forward with the bags.
The revelation made her eyes widen in surprise, then narrow as her face twisted in disapproval.
When she turned her attention back to me, clenching her fists, I locked my eyes onto hers, trying to send the message that I wasn’t in the mood for games.
“Well, look at that—the bitch responsible for Teneris’s death,” she said in a disdainful tone.
“Nala, be careful with your accusations,” Bratvo warned her.
“It’s fine, Bratvo.” I lifted my chin to glance at him briefly, then turned back to the lover once more. “I remember you—you’re the blowjob girl.” I was deliberately crude.
“Elowen!” Bratvo growled.
I reveled in the fury that seized her eyes, black like dancing flames.
“I could say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’d be lying,” I continued, forcing my best smile, even though I was shaken by being blamed for the death of someone who had almost killed me.
“Funny, I could say the same!” she shouted, losing her composure.
The gods knew I didn’t fight women over men, but what I felt toward her was slipping beyond my control.
Or rather, the fury of my wolf was slipping beyond my control. I hated that woman. I hated knowing she had been with Aldren. I would rip her head off if I could.
What was happening to me?
“Enough, both of you. Come with me, Elowen. Now!” Bratvo ordered, pushing me forward with his own body.
If I had followed my instincts, a flood of insults would have poured from my throat toward someone I barely knew. I took a deep breath and bit my tongue, moving away from her without looking back.
My joy over the shopping drained out of me the moment I got close to that mangy bitch. I didn’t look around, just tried to follow the path back as I remembered it.
When we reached the vegetation and I knew I was alone with Bratvo, I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
“That woman—is she with Aldren?” I stopped walking and stared at him.
“If you want to know that, ask him.”
“Bratvo, tell me! I need to know!” I insisted.
“Walk, Elowen. Do you want me to report your bad behavior to the alpha?” He played dirty.
Snorting, I spun on my heels and started walking again. The only sound was dry leaves and branches crunching beneath our steps. The sun was setting, and the heat softened into something milder.
I really needed to control my temper. What kind of loss of control was that?
I should have been happy and grateful. Aldren had let me out and even allowed me to go shopping, when just weeks earlier I had been his prisoner in a filthy cage.
When we arrived at the manor, Nerin instructed us to take the shopping to another bedroom, not Aldren’s. Bratvo came up with us and left the bags by the door in the hallway.
I entered the room. It was small, with a single bed tucked against the wall and, on the opposite side, a two-door wardrobe. Beside it, a vanity with a mirror and a stool, all made of dark wood. There were no windows.
“Let me guess—I’ve been kicked out of Aldren’s room?” Nerin kindly moved to help me with the bags. “It’s fine, I’ll deal with it.”
She shook her head.
“Accept the help, girl.”
I grabbed the remaining bags and set them on the bed. Nerin helped me put the new clothes away in the wardrobe, where I noticed my other clothes were already there.
“He asked you to put me in this room, didn’t he? Why?”
“Do you want to go back to the cage?” she asked, staring at me with her hands resting on her waist.
“Of course not.”
“Do you want to leave this junk here, or should I store it in the kitchen cabinets?” she said as she moved, opening the last bags, which were from the grocery store.
“Well, I bought for everyone…”
“Aldren tries to eat as naturally as possible.”
Fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs, meats.
“That’s why he’s so delicious,” I blurted out, then covered my mouth when I realized what I’d said.
“Elowen, spare me these topics.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“I didn’t mean to…” Oh, how embarrassing. “Where is he…?”
“I couldn’t help myself.”
“I don’t know, but my advice is that you don’t bother him.” Did I follow Nerin’s advice?
Of course I didn’t.
Hours later, the moment I caught his scent from afar, I ran to his door.
What I didn’t expect was to find it locked. I knocked, but he didn’t answer.
Aldren Valmorin was avoiding me.
(...)
POV Aldren Valmorin:
I woke even earlier than usual and went to the library with Orion, to whom I had assigned the mission of analyzing the footage from the past week, after joining him in exterminating the traitors from my pack.
“Any progress?” I asked, holding my tea, leaning against the piano.
“Not yet, Aldren. When I couldn’t watch it in real time, I switched to fast-forward and paused whenever there was movement, but I still haven’t found anything suspicious.”
I exhaled, frustrated. “If you told me what your suspicions are, I could conduct a more targeted search.”
“I don’t have any suspects,” I lied, for the sake of my people’s safety.
I trusted Orion, but I had also trusted Kehin—meaning my critical sense was far from reliable.
Besides, the story Kehin told could have been fabricated, merely to pin the blame on someone else.
“Aldren, there’s something I need to tell you…” He sounded hesitant, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Out with it.”
“Valmorin, as a whole, is talking about… the new member walking around with an escort.”
I laughed mockingly.
“Of course.”
“What should I do to stop the rumors?”