62

ALEXANDER

Claude and I exchanged a glance. No words needed. He gave a small nod and continued in the direction we’d been heading, while I turned toward Alina’s room.

Something buzzed at the back of my head. A low hum of agitation that I couldn’t name. I didn’t know what the hell it was, but it was crawling under my skin and pissing me off.

“What are you doing here?” I growled when I saw Cassandra standing far too close to Alina.

Alina’s lips were drained of color, her usually warm skin pale and dull. She looked like a shadow of herself, and I didn’t like seeing Cassandra looming over her like that. Another maid stood nearby, but help could be swayed easily. Influence wasn’t hard to buy or break.

Cassandra hadn’t earned the title of snake by accident.

She lifted her hands in a show of surrender when I stalked toward her, palms open to prove she had nothing hidden. It did nothing to calm me. You don’t need a weapon to hurt someone. Not when you’re a lycan.

“What happened to her?” I didn’t know who the question was for. The maid who had come to get me? The others standing there like statues? Maybe all of them. I just knew someone needed to start talking before I lost the last thin shred of patience I was clinging to.

I touched Alina’s forehead. It felt normal. No sign of a fever. Her neck was a little warm, but not enough to mean anything.

“Have you called the doctor?” I finally thought to ask, glancing sideways.

The maid I recognized gave a quick nod, and I exhaled a shallow breath. Not that it brought any real relief.

I took Alina’s wrist and felt for a pulse. It was there. Steady. Present. A good sign. Still, it didn’t explain why she had passed out like that.

“Call the doctor again. Tell her it’s an—”

“I’m here, Alpha.” The doctor rushed in before I could finish the order.

She set her bag on the bedside table and pulled off the stethoscope from around her neck. She moved to check Alina’s heartbeat and I had to grit my teeth to stop myself from snapping at her. I’d already done that. She needed to focus on what actually mattered.

“What is wrong with her?” My hands rubbed against each other, an old nervous habit I hadn’t indulged in since I was a boy.

I caught myself and immediately let my arms fall to my sides.

“I need to examine her properly before I can give a diagnosis, sir.”

“Then what the hell are you waiting for? Do it.” My voice rose, sharper than I intended.

Everything around me felt slow. Too slow. Except for the rate at which my control was slipping.

“Wow,” someone whispered behind me. I shouldn’t call it a whisper since I’m sure everyone in the room heard. The amusement clear as day.

I turned, jaw clenching, ready to silence whoever it was permanently until I saw Cassandra watching me like I was some exotic creature she’d never seen before.

How the fuck did I forget she was still here?

Without giving it another thought, I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out. She didn’t resist. Didn’t flinch. That was what made it worse, how easily she came with me. Like she expected this.

That smug little smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. It should be nothing but her eyes gave her away. They were always too loud, too calculating.

That’s where her power lived. In the lies she spun, the words she sharpened until they cut. She didn’t speak the truth unless it was wrapped in poison. She either lifted people with illusions they wanted to believe or crushed them until they cracked open and bled their secrets. Then she’d read them like a book and toss them aside.

“Just a few months and she already has you wrapped around her little fingers.” She wiggled her own fingers with a mocking lilt. “So sweet. So innocent. I almost believed her myself.”

“What do you want in exchange for shutting your fucking mouth?”

It wasn’t about whatever twisted ideas she thought she’d uncovered. It was about what she could do if she chose to run that mouth.

I had enemies. Plenty. And the more they suspected I cherished something, or someone, the more leverage they had.

Alina was my fated mate. The best possible match I could have for bearing children. She would give me an heir, and that heir would be the strongest Alpha born. Better than me. Greater than me.

The bond we shared told me there was something different about her. Something important. I didn’t want Cassandra sniffing too close or throwing that information around. If people assumed she was just another bedwarmer, they wouldn’t look twice. They’d think I’d simply replace her if something happened.

But the moment they knew she meant more, they’d target her. They’d use her. She’d become a weakness, a weapon to break me.

“Now, after all our years of friendship—”

“Spare me the bullshit. What do you want?” I hissed, the muscles in my jaw working overtime.

I just wanted to go back to Alina. I needed to know she was safe. Awake.

“You’re really tense,” she noted, not hiding her amusement. Then she let out a mirthless chuckle. “Fine. If you insist.”

I waited.

The voice in my head, the dangerous one, was already whispering. Just kill her. End it. Problem solved. No one to talk, no one to threaten.

But her father knew she was here. And unfortunately, he was a powerful ally. Annoyingly sentimental, always letting emotions get in the way. But he’s well respected. People listened to him. Where they might fear me, they honored him. That difference made him dangerous.

I never quite understood how such a soft, gentle man could raise a daughter as cold and venomous as Cassandra.

“I’ll think about it,” she said finally, curling her lips into a lazy smile.

The nerve of this woman.

“Or maybe,” she added, “you’ll realize I don’t want anything at all.”

“I know the sounds you make when you come, Cassandra. Believe me when I say I see through your bullshit.”

The glass doors behind her reflected the hallway, and I saw the maid approaching, glancing around as if searching for me.

“Not a word of this to anyone. Or you’ll regret the day you were born.” I opened the door, but before I could step through, her voice stopped me.

“But what does it feel like? Having a fated mate?”

It wasn’t sarcastic. Not snide. For once, her voice held something real. Curiosity. Maybe even longing.

I turned halfway back, shrugged, and walked away.

“Is she awake?” I asked the maid, who looked confused but nodded quickly.