All Chapters of Teasing Her Alpha Guard : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Dahlia The Vale estate was beautiful in the way expensive cages usually are. Gleaming floors, tall windows, fresh flowers in every hallway that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe growing up. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought I'd landed in some luxury resort instead of the enemy territory. Too bad I did know better. "Miss Dahlia, this way please." A young attendant with a nervous smile guided me down yet another hallway, the third one since breakfast. Her name was Priya, and she'd introduced herself that morning with a kind of forced cheerfulness people use when they're being watched just as closely as you are. "Do I actually need an escort to the garden," I asked, keeping my tone light, "or is this just Vale hospitality?" "Mister Vale prefers his guests stay accompanied while they're still, um… getting familiar with the grounds." Getting familiar with the grounds? Cute way of saying I wasn't allowed to walk ten feet without someone reporting back on where I went.

Dahlia I found Serena in the estate's east conservatory, surrounded by plants that looked entirely too healthy for a woman who radiated the general warmth of a winter grave. "You're stalking me," she said without turning around, still trimming something green and delicate with a small silver blade. "That's the third time you've walked past this room today." "I got lost." I stepped inside anyway, deciding subtlety had officially left the building the moment she called me out. "This estate has a lot of hallways." "Try harder next time." She finally looked at me, violet eyes unnervingly still, like she was watching every muscle twitch on my face. "You want to ask me something. Ask it." Well. That was one way to skip the small talk. "The bond." I crossed my arms, deciding bluntness was probably the only currency she respected. "Between me and Roman. I know you're the one who made it." Something flickered behind her eyes, brief and unreadable. "You're direct. I like that. Most peopl

Dahlia My phone buzzed against my thigh right as I was pretending to admire a painting I did not care about in the slightest. Roman's message was short, the kind he only sent when something serious had landed on his end. Adrian knew about the chamber. He confirmed construction weeks ago. Watch him. Don't trust the smile. Don't trust the smile. As if I needed a memo for that. I'd been side eyeing Adrian's smile since the day he showed up with an army of flowers pretending my house hadn't just been firebombed. I slid the phone back into my pocket and turned around just as the man himself strolled into the gallery like he owned it, which, fair, he probably did. "There you are." Adrian's grin was warm and easy, like sunlight if sunlight had an ulterior motive. "I was hoping to find you before dinner." "I'm admiring the art." I gestured vaguely at the painting behind me, some moody landscape with far too much fog in it. "It's very atmospheric." "That one's actually my mother's favor

Dahlia Dinner with Gideon Vale was exactly as fun as chewing glass, if glass also asked weird questions about your bloodline between courses. "Tell me, Dahlia." Gideon swirled his wine, watching me over the rim of the glass like I was something he was deciding whether to eat. "Your mother's side of the family. Very old lineage, isn't it. Goes back generations in the Argent pack." "I suppose so." I kept my voice light, cutting into my food like I hadn't noticed the weird laser focus he had going on my family tree. "I've never really studied it much. Boring stuff, honestly." "Bloodlines are rarely boring," he said, smiling in a way that did not reach his eyes even a little bit. "They're the most interesting thing about a person, really. More interesting than personality." Cool. Cool cool cool. Nothing weird about a man treating my ancestry like a wine vintage he was hoping to acquire. Adrian sat beside me through the whole thing looking like he'd rather be literally anywhere else,

DahliaI read the name three times before it actually landed, sitting cross legged on my bed with my back against the headboard, phone gripped so tight my knuckles ached.Roman's message sat there glowing on the screen like it might rearrange itself into something less horrifying if I stared hard enough. I want to be wrong, he'd written. But the tracking traces back to her device. I need you to be careful how you handle this.My mother. My actual, hums while gardening, cries at romantic movies, tucks my hair behind my ear like I'm still eight years old mother. Somehow connected to the man currently keeping a spell room under his estate with my name on a blood verification list.I typed back fast, thumbs shaking slightly. That's not possible. She wouldn't.I know it's hard to accept. His reply came quick, careful. But I'm not accusing her of anything yet. Tracking software could mean a hundred things. Someone else using her device. Someone spoofing her signal. I'm not jumping to concl