Page 50 of Marked By the Alphas

“Of course. I’ll do that,” she assured me, and I offered her a grateful smile.

“Thank you, Rose,” I replied.

On my way back to my room, I met Smith walking into the house with a file tucked underneath his arm.

“Oh, hi, Smith,” I called, giving him a wave which he returned.

“Elara, hi. I haven’t seen much of you lately,” he said as we both made our way up the stairs.

I could remember meeting him only a couple of times, and although I didn’t know much about him, I knew that he was one of Kai’s closest friends. It wasn’t unusual to see him around the house.

“Are you here to see Kai?” I asked, wondering if my mate had come back at some point after leaving the house earlier in the morning.

“No, no. I’m just dropping off some documents for him. I have to be on my way back to the office soon. We have a meeting and Kai gets pretty cranky whenever we’re late…” Smith trailed off as we reached the hallway. He took a subtle sniff of the air and a puzzled expression immediately painted his face.

“W-what’s that smell?” he asked, his tone changing and his voice low. I frowned at his question, taking a sniff of the air myself but smelling nothing.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, and he shook his head, giving me a smile that looked forced before waving goodbye. I stood watching as he walked away from me.

“Uh, Smith?” I called and he paused in his steps to look at me.

“The office is that way,” I said, pointing in the right direction, and his face flushed at my words.

“Right,” he responded, before walking past me in the other direction. I watched him walk away, before sighing and pulling open the door to my room.

I pulled my clothes off my body as I walked into the bathroom, wanting nothing more than to take a long, warm bath. As I looked in the mirror, I caught a glimpse of something different in my reflection. The emerald green of my eyes was gone and it was replaced by a piercing gold. My skin had an ethereal glow to it, and I could immediately feel a primal energy that had always been dormant, roaring to life. A shiver ran down my spine as a voice echoed in my mind.

Hello Elara.

Fear and excitement warred within me. “W-who are you?” I whispered out loud.

I am you,the voice replied.Your wolf. Since escaping Silas, I’ve been healing. Trying to prepare for a moment like this when I could finally talk to you.

My mind whirled at this information, and I was about to ask questions, when the voice came again.

My wolf's voice grew stronger.Something is coming, Elara. I can feel it. You must trust your instincts, trust our mates. You have to tell Kai everything. Only together, with the support, protection, and trust of all three of them, can you face what lies ahead,she said. Before I could ask any more questions, I felt her presence retreat to the back of mind and fade away.

My eyes returned back to their emerald color. A growing sense of unease settled over me as I mulled over my wolf’s words. Intrigued and alarmed, I hurried through a quick shower. As I finished freshening up, a sense of determination replaced my fear. Taking care of Naya the last couple of days had made me realize that I had to come clean to Kai sooner rather than later.

Every time that he came to check on me, I could see the questions that danced in his eyes, and although I was grateful that he didn’t try to force answers out of me, I could tell that the entire situation was wearing on him. I wasn’t sure what my wolf meant by something coming, but one thing I knew for sure was that I needed to come clean to Kai.

Returning to the living area, I settled on one of the chairs. I had the urge to text Kai, but I remembered Smith's words about theirmeeting, so instead, I turned on the TV and settled in one of the chairs to watch while I waited for him.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next time I opened my eyes, it was to find Kai running a finger across my cheek. He offered me a smile once I opened my eyes and I quickly returned it, moving to wrap my arms around his neck.

“Where’s my hug?” Rowan asked and I pulled away from Kai to find that he and Rhys had come home as well.

I laughed, getting out of the chair. He pulled me into his arms once I was close enough, making me laugh even harder.

“Move. It’s my turn,” Rhys said, and Rowan groaned before letting go of me so Rhys could engulf me in his arms.

It felt like the best thing ever, being close to them in this way, and the way that their scents wrapped around me reminded me of how much I had missed them in this last week.

“I’ve missed all of you,” I said when Rhys finally let go of me and the smiles that lit up their faces made my tummy sing with butterflies.

“We’ve missed you too, baby. We didn’t think we’d see you out of Naya’s room. What are you doing down here? That chair is very uncomfortable,” Rhys asked, pulling me gently in the direction of the stairs.

“I was waiting for you. I didn’t even realize when I fell asleep. She woke up. Rose is with her,” I replied, causing them to pause.

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