Chapter 43
She didn’t get to finish. A sharp ding sounded as the door slid open, followed by the clicking of heels against the floor. They both turned toward the entrance at the same time. What Viola saw made her eyes widen as she pushed Sebastian away and rose quickly from the chair.
Standing at the doorway was Laila, a deep frown on her face, as though she hadn’t expected to walk in on them.
But it wasn’t just her presence that shocked Viola, it was her attire. Laila wore a black net lingerie dress with thin spaghetti straps, the hem stopping just below her most private area. She wore no bra, and the panties beneath could barely be called such. In her hand was a bottle of wine and two glasses.
Viola couldn’t help wondering how she could walk into the Alpha’s office dressed like that. Then realization dawned on her, hot and uncomfortable, and her cheeks flushed. The Alpha must have been expecting her.
“What are you doing here?” Laila demanded, her eyes narrowing at Viola. This nobody wasn’t supposed to be with her man.
Before Sebastian could speak, Viola recovered. “I came to collect this. I am already leaving,” she said quickly and moved toward the door.
Without thinking and almost instinctively, Sebastian reached out and grabbed her arm, but she jerked free and hurried past him towards the door.
As she passed Laila, the she-wolf grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop and leaned closer then whispered darkly, “You and I have so much to talk about, wolfless. But right now, I’m here for a hot fucking with the Alpha. We will meet again p>
Viola tightened her fingers around the papers and walked past her, leaving the office with an uncomfortable, displeased knot tightening in her chest.
Just before the door fully closed behind her, she heard Laila purr, “Have you been waiting for me long, darling? I got caught up preparing for you p>
Viola hurried back to her penthouse, unable to understand why she felt so uncomfortable after the encounter with Laila entering the Alpha’s office like that, and what they might be doing there by now.
Inside the elevator, she looked down at her palm, where the fork had left four small puncture marks on her skin. The wound had already healed with the Alpha’s saliva, yet she still rubbed her palm against her dress, remembering the fact that it had been in his mouth.
She pushed his thoughts from her mind, along with how his gentle voice earlier had made her feel like she could tell him anything. The man was confusing as hell. One moment he was this way and the other moment he was another way. Was he bipolar or simply touched in the head?
She shouldn’t be surprised that he might be sleeping with one of the participants for his Luna position, after all, she knew that despite how he had shown that he loved Natalie in the past, and despite having watched them and envied their love story, it had all been for show. She doubted any man with many mates could remain faithful, capable of long-term restraint, or remain loyal to a dead mate.
Now, she began to question all those rumors about him being the one who killed his mates, but she pushed that thought aside. It was none of her business.
He could do whatever he wanted with his life, and even if she won and became his Luna, she wouldn’t care if he carried a harem of other mates outside, as long as she found the protection she needed from being his wife, as long as nobody would ever beat or hit her again, and as long as she had the power to travel to the Nightshade Pack to find her sister and make him grant her a wish to let Ivy live here.
Though she didn’t want to think about the possibility of Ivy no longer being there, as the moment children turn ten without adoption, they are thrown into the rogue life and forced to become breeding mates to packless wolves, she shuddered at the thought but pushed it away.
She needed to win this. Only then would she be able to find Ivy and give back everything that had been stolen from her twin sister.
When Viola reached her penthouse, she was immediately consumed by the empty loneliness of being there alone.
She let out a sigh, realizing it was part of the reason she had remained sitting in that chair in his office, because she hadn’t wanted to return here, seeking company, even if it came from an infuriating man, who annoy her to no end.
Before anything else, Viola went into the bedroom and placed the contract in a safe, locking it with a code. It was now a treasure she couldn’t afford to let anything happen to. Because she couldn’t trust that Alpha.
She didn’t allow herself to dwell on the silence and proceeded with her nighttime routine to freshen up. She put on another set of bunny pajamas and looked at the soft bed with an ache in her heart. She could never sleep here alone.
Knowing sleep would bring nightmares, and nightmares would bring pain, Viola grabbed her new phone and returned to the living room, sitting down on the piano bench with her legs pulled up in front of her chest.
She looked down at the phone screen, a luxury she hadn’t known she would ever own again after four years of suffering. For a moment, she marveled at the possession before turning it on, steadying herself as she brought herself to text the person she wanted to reach.
She had saved Zoe’s number that morning.
Biting the inside of her cheek, she gave in with a sigh and typed a few lines of messages, then sent them and waited, watching until she saw they had been delivered.
’I hope she wouldn’t think of me as demanding she thought, looking out at the glass as lightning strikes flashed across the night sky, their light reflecting against the glass wall. She couldn’t help but wish that same light could reach her empty heart p>
Zoe was currently sitting at her desk, drawing a new design inspired by an idea that had come to her tonight, when her phone beeped. She put her pen down to look at the message, and her eyes widened before she facepalmed.
“Shoot! She wants to borrow my dog for the night?” Zoe exclaimed to herself. “But I don’t have a dog!” She bit down on her nail as she stared at the text, wondering what she was supposed to do after blatantly lying about a dog she didn’t have, not to mention that dogs weren’t even allowed in the Silver Pack.
That brother of mine. What could he be thinking p>
“Oh no, he won’t get away with this,” she muttered, immediately calling her brother. The phone rang a few times, but he didn’t answer. Well, she wouldn’t be Zoe Kade if she gave up after calling the first time, she called again and again until the phone was answered, and his annoyed “Hello” came through.
“Why did you have to creep into her room last night, hermano p>
Sebastian, who had just stepped out of the shower and noticed the many missed calls and ringing phone, pretended ignorance as he asked, “Creeped into whose room? Be specific, little sister p>
Zoe groaned. “Viola, of course! You didn’t just creep into her room, you left a hickey on her neck, and now she’s asking about my non-existent dog. What am I supposed to do?” She facepalmed again. Of course, Zoe could simply use her authority as the Alpha sister to tell Viola no, but she wasn’t that kind of person.
Not to mention, she didn’t understand why Sebastian did such a thing when he had said and acted like he didn’t care! This man, she could never understand what went on inside his head!
“Why did you tell her you have a dog?” Sebastian remarked nonchalantly, placing his phone on speaker on the bed as he began to get dressed, buttoning up his shirt.
“Well, she was looking for a dog that licked her. I should’ve just told her it was you, that would’ve saved your image in real time, hermano,” Zoe said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. When her brother didn’t reply, she added, “Are you there? Will you be her dog again tonight p>