In The Shadows Of Two Alphas

You shouldn't mind.

Andrea

Cassie looked hesitant but she responded calmly, her voice ringing like a clear bell in winter.

“Lady Dahlia is a noble lady. Her grandfather holds a position as one of the Elders in the North… But she left the North a while ago, and has been by Alpha King Kael’s side since then.”

Something uncomfortable coiled in my gut. A leaden weight that dropped deep in my stomach, causing chaos in my heart.

“Are they… close?” My voice dropped lower.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask the true question. The truth was I wanted to ask… if they were lovers.

But the word simply refused to leave my lips, as though that would release her.

“Um,” the wide-eyes girl wronged her hands. “I'm not sure. You don’t have to worry about them, Miss. I don’t think Kael is that type of person.”

“Call me Andrea,” I blurted out. “All that calling me Miss feels far too strange.”

She relaxed slowly, her lips curling jnto a small smile. I smiled back though the expression was still shuttered.

If Kael and Dahlia weren’t that close, then why did it feel like Dahlia was jealous? Like she hated me for being close to Kael?

I shook my head imperceptibly, murmuring comforting words to myself under my breath.

All I had to do was take things one step at a time.

Right as I thought that, my Wolf Sapphire spoke to me for the first time that day.

‘Mate. Claim them. Before it’s too late. Claim them, Master. That’s the only way.’

My breath caught.

‘What does that mean,’ I asked Sapphire inwardly. In the past years since I reached my majority, since I became Garrett’s slave and plaything, my wolf hadn't spoken much except to warn me, and that first time I locked eyes with the two men who were my mates.

I was at the bottom of the totem pole, always powerless, with minimal time spent shifting or even caring for my connection with my Wolf. I hadn’t gotten the luxury of that.

‘We must be stronger, Andrea. We should stand by their sides, to be theirs alone.’

Sapphire continued in this way, droning on and on. The desire was fervent within me, nearly making my body tremble. I recalled how Kael had held me, his muscles firm and unyielding, his warm comfort and scent of musk that was an unmistakably attractive sensation.

And then there was Rowan, who scared me so much it sent a thrill running down my back every time he looked at me. I felt like a prey in his eyes, a plaything. Except, unlike Garrett, he cared about my well-being, and would protect me.

Still, imagining the bloody scene that must have surely taken place in this very bedroom left me shivering.

I turned to Cassie and said, “I need a warm bath.”

Her eyes lit up.

“Of course, M— Andrea. I’ll go prepare your bath. Warm and cozy.”

She left the bedroom in a hurry with her hair flying behind her, and I couldn’t help but smile.

Unlike myself, Cassie was incredibly bubbly.

I liked it.

An hour later, I sat in the large bath, just barely tamping down on my amazement. The bathhouse was small, located in the western side of the house, and absolutely alone. The sounds of birds chirping on the outside soothed my nerves, as through they were singing a lullaby to me. Steam rose from the water, clouding my vision and relaxing my nerves. I leaned against the side of the bath, which was as large as a small swimming pool.

Absolutely exquisite.

A long sigh left my lips and I exhaled, my shoulders slumped. This was the very first time I’d gotten such a treatment. Even in Garrett’s pack as the Beta’s Daughter, before my father died, I didn’t get the chance to be pampered like this, not when Garrett was always on the sidelines.

I closed my eyes briefly, only for a faint familiar scent to waft through the air and reach my nose.

I opened my eyes as I heard a small, deep chuckle that reverberated through the air.

“You look like you’re enjoying yourself, kitten.”

Ronan.

I gasped, turning to see him standing there, wearing only a long silk robe, which as tied at the middle. His hair was disbelieved, as though he just rolled out of bed. The doorway was enveloped in golden light, still showing it was daytime, however the dimly lit bathhouse nore a more ambient atmosphere, one that I didn’t fail to notice.

I pressed my lips together, barely restraining the squeal that was likely to leave my lips.

“Y-Your Majesty," I whispered. He chuckled again, amused by my illiterations.

“I’ll be joining you tonight. It’s fate you have the same intentions as I do,” his words sent a jolt running through me, and a strange stirring down my abdomen, settling in between my legs.

“I… I don't know if that’s a good idea,” I murmured, lowering my body deeper into the warm water until only my head was left above it, with my hair strands splayed out, floating on the surface.

“Scared?” Ronan raised a brow, and his eyes darkened as a growl left him. It echoed in the large bathhouse, bouncing off the tiles.

“I… no,” I vehemently said.

It wasn’t that I didn't want this. It was that I was afraid. I thought of the many beatings I’d gotten from Garrett. The scars on my body which had yet to fade. If Ronan saw them, or anyone else did, would it not make them disgusted?

I wrapped my arms around my chest, shielding them from view. For even though the lighting was dim and I was submerged in warm, rose water scented bath water, I still felt his golden eyes rove up and down my body.

It felt like I was being stripped naked, displayed for him.

My chests burned and I looked away, only to catch a flash of skin as he took off the robe.

“Then you wouldn’t mind, Andrea,” he purred dangerously, entering the water.

…