Page 18 of Marked By the Alphas

“A little. All those Alphas…they seemed tense. More tense than I could have prepared for,” she revealed.

“It’s not your fault. Pack politics can be quite unpleasant sometimes,” I said in an attempt to calm her down, taking my eyes off the road to face her. Beautiful, shining emerald eyes looked up to meet mine, and I almost melted in my seat.

Clearing my throat, I turned my attention back to the road ahead of me.

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience that I brought to your pack. It was never my intention to cause any sort of trouble and I’ll be happy to go somewhere else to settle this conflict,” she said softly, and I sighed, reaching out a hand to grab hers while I steered with the other. I stroked her smaller hand gently, enjoying the touch of skin on skin.

“You don’t have to go anywhere. You’ll be perfectly fine here and you’re welcome to stay for as long as you like. The officials will come around soon and will see reason. I think the situation is just a little overwhelming for everybody right now. Pretty soon they will get used to it and come around,” I said, trying to sound as reassuring as I could. It didn’t seem to work because she simply sighed before looking out the window.

I spared one last look at her as I pulled into the driveway. There was just no way that a girl like Elara could have survived in Silas’ clutches. She was just too…fragile and innocent-looking. All my instincts screamed for me to protect her against the world, against myself, against every kind of darkness. But on second thought, that was Silas’ type. How else would he get to powerfulmen to come to him, unless he lured them with innocent-looking girls? But maybe that was just my fear tainting my judgment.

“Go up to your room. I’ll bring you a glass of water,” I said as we walked into the house. Elara nodded her head, moving toward the stairs.

I watched her retreating frame, enjoying the way her curves swayed in her clothes as she moved. Everything about her was so sensual that it was an actual struggle to control both myself and my wolf. As she disappeared from my line of vision, I slowly shook my head to clear it before making my way to the kitchen.

“Welcome back Alpha Rhys. I hope you had a pleasant meeting,” Rose greeted me as I walked into the kitchen. I sighed internally, moving to the fridge to pull out a bottle of water.

Pleasant? If only she knew.

“Thank you, Rose.”

“Lunch will be ready soon. Do I set the table for four people?” she asked and I quickly shook my head.

“No. Actually, Kai and Rowan might be coming back a little late. Just bring two plates to Elara’s room,” I said, and she nodded in understanding.

I moved in the direction of my own room, which was on the opposite end of the hallway from Elara’s room, an arrangement I both hated and appreciated. I hated how I couldn’t be closer to her, how I didn’t always get to enjoy her scent but that was the same reason I appreciated it. I didn’t know what I would do if her sweet scent was constantly surrounding me. It would drive me to the point of madness.

Once I was inside my room, I changed out of my clothes before picking up my laptop from my desk, along with the bottle of water that I had dropped on the bed. I went into the hall and walked toward Elara’s room. I knocked once on the door, pricking my ears to try to pick up any sounds from within the room, but everything was silent. Too silent. My breath caught in my throat, and I knocked again, with more urgency this time, but there was still no response.

I was about to knock for the third time when the door was suddenly pulled open to reveal Elara. She had changed out of her clothes into more comfortable loungewear, but her beauty was still enough to whoosh the air out of my lungs.

“Sorry. I was in the bathroom,” she offered with a small smile and I nodded, moving into the room once she stepped out of the way.

I settled my laptop on her bed before popping the lid off the water and offering it to her. She took it with a grateful smile before drinking from it.

“Thank you, Rhys. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was,” she said with a laugh, moving to settle on the bed. I propped some pillows up for her so she could sit comfortably before pulling the quilt over her legs. After she looked comfortable enough, I settled beside her, pulling my laptop closer. I looked to my side to find Elara watching me with careful eyes. Her fingers were fiddling in her lap. I was starting to pick up on certain habits of hers. Like how she fiddled with her fingers when she was nervous.

“You handled today well,” I said in a gentle tone, hoping to comfort her. She smiled briefly, but soon her expression sobered.

“I suppose. But I still don’t understand what happened. I’m not exactly sure what I could have done to make them so…angry, angry enough that one of them would react so aggressively toward me” she said, finally raising her sad eyes to meet mine.

“Change can be scary sometimes, Elara. When you’ve known only one thing all your life, and then suddenly you’re introduced to this whole other reality, it can be quite difficult to adjust to that.” I paused, watching as the worry settled in her emerald eyes. I spoke again, “If you haven’t noticed, our pack is an all-Alpha pack and most of those people in that hall have never seen an Omega before. Your scent, your pheromones, it’s a big change for them, and they don’t yet know how best to process it,” I said reassuringly. She sighed, relaxing against the pillows.

“I understand and I’m sincerely sorry that I have brought this sudden change to your pack,” she offered, and I smiled at her. She smiled back.

The council’s warning filled my head as I watched her. What kind of destruction could she possibly bring? Her arrival had undoubtedly stirred the pot, but surely it was nothing more than that. There had been several occasions in the past where the council had disagreed within itself, and this time was no different. Although maybe it was. Because no matter how heated past arguments had been, there had never been violence during a council meeting. Never.

Kai hitting Daniel was unacceptable, but it could be settled and forgotten. I didn’t think anything worse could happen now, but I needed to be sure.

“Tell me what your life was like before now,” I rumbled, my voice low in an attempt to sound casual. I watched for any flicker of hesitation or a hint of unease that might betray her.

Elara tilted her head, her emerald eyes wide and innocent. “Life was simple,” she said, her voice soft, lilting. “I moved with the seasons. I settled wherever it was warm and inviting and moved again when the tides changed.” Her voice was calm as she spoke, and I searched within her eyes to find the truth.

I wanted to find anything that would tell me that she was lying, but there was nothing. I pressed further, because her story was just too convenient, too simple for my taste.

“It must not have been easy, traveling alone all the time. Especially through the woods which are usually teeming with rogues. How did you manage to survive for so long on your own?” I tried to force the strain out of my voice, I didn’t want to push her too far.

“I’ve learned to be resourceful, to be safe. My size helps too. It’s very easy to hide. Besides, I tried to stay away from the woods at all times,” she said, and I hummed in response.

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