Page 177 of Rogue Alpha Prince

He opens his mouth again, but I stop him with my hand, putting my palm against his lips.

Hiscold eyes and clenched jaw make my heart race, and not in a good way. But I don’t falter.

“Can you stop talking about rape? I mean it’s one of the most fucking scary and infuriating crimes there is, literally the only one where the victim is blamed first, but… Just stop doing that in front of me. You don’t need that. I’m scared of you enough with the things you actually do for real.”

He sighs and pulls me to himself by the waist. I try to block him with my hands on his firm chest, but he’s too strong and makes me hug him anyway. When I don’t do it myself, he takes my hands and wraps them around his torso by himself.

“I did kill her,” he says softly, while squeezing me tighter.

No apologies, but no bullshit excuses either. I try to swallow the lump in my throat, nod at no one in particular, and squeeze him back with all the force I have in me, just to let my emotions out in some way.

“Okay, that’s enough. Ash. Stop before you crack my ribs. Little wolf.” He takes my arms away and turns in the direction of my aunt.

Shit, I forgot she was standing there waiting for us.

I clear my throat and step toward her with a forced smile. When I try to hug her like always, she takes a step back.

“You reek of him,” she states and bites on her lower lip with a malcontent expression.

I look down at myself with confusion, as if it could clear her weird comment. Cain’s not a real pack-less rogue like Unwanted are, he smells like every other werewolf, and she never met him before to know his individual environmental-dependent scent from cosmetics and stuff—

“Like blood and… death,” she adds and turns around gesturing at us to follow her. “I know why you are here, so let's get it over with.”

“She seems fun,” Beta Lucifer comments with sarcasm and follows her.

“Yeah, you are lucky I promised not to kill your family,” Cain adds silently, and I look up at him with wide eyes.

Am I so accustomedto his dark side, that I didn’t even notice my grand aunt might have acted disrespectfully to him? Is it because I no longer care how he reacts or is he simply overreacting now?

“Where are we going?” I ask when I notice she’s leading us outside of the official University grounds, and the library they wanted to see.

“They know where,” she answers cryptically.

I press my lips together not knowing what is going on, but willing to find out naturally. I keep observing both Cain and his Beta and wondering if it has anything to do with them trying to push their troops to the University grounds. I mean, of course, it does, but I thought it was about access to higher education and resources. Now, the way they just follow my aunt without questioning anything… I don’t know what, but something doesn’t add up here.

Nothing prepares me for the target of our little trip, though.

My aunt opens heavy wooden double doors to the empty Moon Goddess temple. They step inside like it’s their everyday routine… but they don’t even worship her! What the heck is going on here?

I stop one step in and cross my arms as soon as Cain lets go of my hand. He looks around like he is looking for something specific, and so is his Beta. They follow my grand aunt to the breathtaking nightshade-covered altar without a word.

I sigh and go after them.

They look up at the giant Moon Goddess sculpture. Her gray, stone, naked, stereotypical feminine body is covered only by the sheer-looking floor-length cape carved in the same stone, dangling from her shoulders. I was always in awe of the artist’s skill in making this fabric look so real, so translucent despite being the same block as the rest of her body.

My eyes wander over this majestic sight in complete silence, stopping on the hollow tear-shaped spot on her chest and then on her eyes. The only part not made from marble. The artist, maybe the Goddess herself if you believe the legends, used moonstone for them. It feels like her down-cast sight is realand almost soul-shattering…

“The stone is gone,” My aunt says, and I see her pointing at the hollow space on the Moon Goddess sculpture. “No one even remembers what it can do, only the fact it won’t work anyway. Not without fulfilling the prophecy first.”

Cain and Beta look up at the tear-drop space with no fucking question, just… disappointment?

“What prophecy?” I ask the only logical question here.

My aunt shrugs, bows to the Moon Goddess statue, and leaves.

Um… What just happened? Why did she ignore me? I look around.

I could swear Cain is mind-linking his Beta, so I wait not so patiently for them to finish this private conversation. By the time Cain finally reciprocates my gaze, I already have my theories.

---