Page 19 of Marked By the Alphas

Her story seemed plausible, but something still felt incomplete about it. Frustration gnawed at me. I wanted to believe her, but my unease lingered. There was just something about her that I knew I had encountered before. I turned away, thinking about the best way to unravel the mystery she seemed to be shrouded in.

The warmth of her fingertips brushing against my arm sent a jolt through me and it forced my attention back to her. She had a look of concern on her face as she watched me. Her voice, whenshe spoke, was a soft murmur. “Rhys? Are you all right? You look a bit lost.”

I leaned in closer to her and her alluring scent wafted to my nose. This time, however, it was tinged with fear. Her scent invaded my senses, and I could feel the warmth of her body, but I simply pushed away the hair that was hanging across her face, offering her a small smile in response to her question before pulling away.

My wolf stirred within me at my actions, and he whined with longing, desperate for the closeness that Elara offered. I had spent over a decade burying my emotions and living a life of calculated detachment. Now, however, her emerald eyes kept shining with a vulnerability that threatened to tear down my carefully constructed walls. I knew I couldn’t succumb. I had a responsibility to my pack and to myself.

“Tell me something interesting about yourself.” Elara suddenly said and my brows rose in a comical way that made her laugh, the sound of it causing goosebumps to spread across my skin.

“Well…I love to read books. I don’t get the opportunity to do it as much as I would like to, but it’s still one of my favorite things to do,” I indulged, and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Really? I love reading books too. But you really don’t look like a bookworm,” she said with a giggle.

I gasped in fake despair. “Take that back right now. I am the very definition of a bookworm!” I said as sternly as I could manage, and Elara began laughing loudly at my outburst, which in turn made me start laughing too.

A knock came on the door at that moment which calmed us immediately. The door was pushed open to reveal Rose. She walked into the room with a tray full of food.

“I said food for two people, Rose. This looks like a feast!” I said lightheartedly.

Rose chuckled. “My apologies Alpha. I wasn’t sure what Elara would prefer, so I thought it safer to have several options available,” she explained.

Elara immediately began shaking her head. “I’m not picky at all. I’ll eat anything, honestly. Your cooking is so good. I’m sure I’ll like anything you cook, so please don’t go out of your way for my sake.”

Rose smiled, nodding her head in understanding before leaving the room.

I served some food onto a plate, handing it to Elara before doing the same for myself. We ate in silence and once we were done eating, I added the plates to the tray and moved it outside the door so Rose could pick it up.

“What kind of movies do you like?” I asked as I settled back into the bed.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t get to watch a lot of movies,” she replied.

I nodded, pulling open my laptop to search for some movies.

“What sort of movies do you like?” she asked in return. “Let me guess…horror,” she said before I could respond.

I scoffed. “You’re wrong. I actually love musicals. The cliché romance-filled ones where they sing all the beautiful songs that make you cry at the end,” I responded.

Elara looked shocked before she began laughing. “You surprise me a lot, Rhys,” she finally said, and I wiggled my brows playfully at her in response, causing her to laugh even harder.

I eventually found a nice musical, and we both settled close to one another to watch it. By the time the credits rolled around, Elara’s head was resting on my shoulder and her eyes were drooping with sleep.

“That was a nice movie,” she said sleepily, yawning as she spoke.

“I told you it would be,” I responded softly as I stroked her arm. She hummed in agreement.

“Can I ask you a question, Rhys?” she said after a pause and my heart skipped a beat as I tried to figure out what kind of question she would ask.

“Of course.”

“You said most of the people here have never seen an Omega before, and I believe that because I see the curiosity and surprise in their eyes when they look at me. I don’t see it in yours. Have you ever seen an Omega before?” she asked. My heart dropped into my stomach.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, my voice coming out as a mere whisper, I waited with bated breath for her to say something else, but she didn’t, and after what felt like a long time, I checked to find that she had fallen asleep lying against me.

Chapter 11

Elara

As soon as I came awake, my body felt like it was overheating. Each ragged breath that I took clawed at my throat, and with shaky hands, I threw the quilt off my body in a desperate attempt to cool the raging inferno going on within me. It didn’t seem to work. I felt nauseous, and my body felt like it had been set on fire.

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