Page 51 of Knocked Up By My Fated Alpha
“Are you alright?”
I sprang away from him, detesting the way my body hungered for even that small contact.
“I’m fine, Mr. Blackwell.”
If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I saw a thread of regret in his turbulent golden gaze.
“Raven—”
But I knew better.
I slid my headphones back on, blocking out whatever else he had to say, as I continued my sprint. If I kept up the formality between us, I wouldn’t have any more expectations from him. Expectations like friendship and a true partnership.
If I had no more expectations of him, then he couldn’t hurt me. I felt the heat of his gaze linger on me as I moved, but he made no move to stop me.
In that moment, Alpha Damien could have forced a sparring session. Forced me to endure the exquisite torture of having our bodies pressed together, to take in his scent, and act like none of it got to me. But he chose not to, and somehow that hurt even more.
I missed him. Which was a strange emotion to feel about someone I saw every day, but it was the only word that could adequately quantify my emotions. I missed our little non-arguments. I missed waking up to his movements in the room next to mine and yelling at him to keep the noise down.
I missed moving around in his space and reorganising his space in his absence to mess with him in retaliation for the cuffing incident. I missed his laughs, as few and far between as they were. I missed our conversations about the things that worried him. The mysterioushuman murders, the council, and the new company he just acquired. I missed listening to his voice.
More than once, I thought of apologizing for overstepping, if that was what it would take to go back to how things had been. I just had to accept the fact that I’d never matter enough to Alpha Damien for him to share anything personal with me.
The fact that I’d actually been desperate enough to consider that option made me angry. So angry. The pain I felt didn’t make sense. The anger. The intense feelings in my chest had nowhere to go, so they just festered within me.
I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t realize my favorite brooding spot in the Shadow Thorn pack house, a tucked away alcove, was already occupied until I sat on the swing and caught sight of a familiar figure sitting on the ground, back to the wall, dark hair falling over his forehead, baby blue eyes shadowed with pain.
Stiffening, I let out a breath.
“Elias.”
I hadn’t seen him since I’d declined his effusive offer to dance at the Silverstone Pack party.
“Go on, gloat.” Elias wasn’t even looking at me, his gaze focused on something abstract I couldn’t see. “I’ve been completely sidelined by my uncle in favor of your child. Your revenge is complete.”
With that declaration, he took a swing directly from the bottle of spirits at his side that I hadn’t even noticed. My lips parted, but I had no words.
As much as Elias had hurt me, I’d never deliberately intended to take his inheritance from him or sunder the fragile relationship between him and his uncle. But it had happened anyway. I stood from my swing, turning to leave to give him his privacy to grieve.
“I’ll get going.”
“You know he isn’t over Rielle, right?”
Elias’s words hit me so hard I couldn’t take even a single step forward. Rielle. There it was again. That name that had caused all this trouble with Alpha Damien to begin with.
“Oh,” Elias’s tone was equal parts smug and insinuating now. “So you do know.”
I swallowed around the lump in my throat, forcing my suspicions into words.
“Rielle…she’s his first mate?”
“Was,” Elias corrected with a flat, dead stare.
Of course, she was. It explained why he’d lashed out at me like that. A deadly curiosity sat on my chest. I knew I had no business being drawn in by Elias’s words. I should have walked out like I’d intended to earlier, but…Rielle.
I had to know more about this woman who incited such depth of emotion in Alpha Damien.
My mind unhelpfully reminded me of how Alpha Damien had reacted the last time he’d caught Elias and me talking in private. He’d gone as far as to forbid it. Jaw clenched, I decided I didn’t care very much about Alpha Damien’s wishes right now. I sat next to Elias on the ground.
