Married to the alpha, marked by another

Chapter 6

Drew’s pov

Elara didn't wait for someone to call her. She never did. I could feel her before I saw her. The air changed subtly, and the guards stiffened half a second too late.

Old instincts stirred where they shouldn't have been. "Still pacing?" she asked in a calm voice as she walked into my solar and acted like she owned the stone under her feet.

I didn't turn around. I put my hands on the desk, and the city below the window stood in orderly defiance. From above, Silvermoon looked calm. It always did."Get out," I said. She smiled.

I could hear it in her voice. "You used to say that when you meant the opposite." "That was before I learned to hold back." "Was it?" she asked, going around. "Or before you learned to be afraid?"

That caught my eye. I slowly turned to face her. Elara stood exactly where she wanted to: close enough to test but far enough away to deny. Her dark hair was pinned back, her posture was perfect, and her eyes were sharp with the kind of confidence that came from knowing she still had a place next to me.

"You're pushing," I said. "Again." "And you're spiraling," she said in a calm voice.

"Sarah collapses, the council breaks up, your mother tightens her grip, and all of a sudden you're protecting an omega like she's a crown jewel."

"I'll protect her," I said flatly. Elara's eyes moved. For just a second. She whispered, "There it is." "You didn't say no." "Say no to what?" "That you care." I moved closer."Attachment is not the same as care."

She laughed quietly. Being aware. "Keep saying that to yourself." I should have stopped there. I should have had her taken away. But Elara knew exactly where to sink her teeth into her old habits.

She suddenly said, "You smell different." "Not paying attention. "Unsettled.""I warned her to leave."

"Is it because she's going to have a baby?" Elara asked in a soft voice. "Or because she doesn't see you as inevitable?" I lost control. Not breaking, but putting stress on it.

What! How did you hear that? Have you been eavesdropping? I asked, and she stayed silent.

"You will not talk about her body," in a voice that was deadly calm. "Ever." Elara looked at me. Looked at me closely. Then she let out a sigh. "You're already lost," she said. "You don't know it yet."

"I am Alpha," I said. "I don't lose my way." "Yes," she said. "You get claimed." The word hit harder than it should have. I looked away before she could see it. I said again, "Get out." "Before I tell shegun to throw you out!”

She stayed for a moment longer before going to the door. Then she stopped and said quietly, "Don't say I didn't try to pull you back when this falls apart." “Because how can you be attached to an ordinary omega!”

The door shut behind her.

I let out a slow breath. After that, I went to Sarah. When I walked into her room, she was awake and sitting up a little bit, with her hair loose around her shoulders and blankets around her. She seemed smaller here. Less noise. And somehow that makes it more dangerous.

"You look like you're brooding," she said. "You have a good sense of observation," I said. She turned her head. "Did I get in the way of something important?" I said, "Elara." That was all it took.

She stiffened her shoulders. "She doesn't like me." "She doesn't like uncertainty." I corrected "You are... a problem." A faint smile appeared on her lips. "I hear that a lot."

I moved closer and stopped at the foot of the bed. The pull was stronger here. More sharp. Her smell was mixed with something warm and steady that made my wolf push forward, demanding.

I said, "You should be resting." She said, "I am." "I'm just awake." There was a long silence between us. Not weird but full. "You didn't ask," she finally said. "Ask what?" "Who is the father of my unborn pup?" I looked her in the eye.

"Do you want me to?" She thought about it. Then she shook her head."Not yet." "Then I don't either." She looked at my face as if she were trying to figure out where something was that she didn't know.

She said softly, "You don't treat me like an omega." "I don't put people in groups." She gently said, "That's not true." "You treat them like they're dangerous." Or duties. "And which one am I?" My wolf said both. I chose the safer truth. "You're not done yet." She let out a soft breath. Not funny. Something more like relief.

She said, "You feel it too." I didn't act like it was different. "Yes." The admission was heavy and couldn't be taken back.

A guard knocked once. "Alpha." I stood up straight away. "Talk." He said, "The council has met without your permission." "And-" He stopped for a moment. "Madam Elara is with them.

"Sarah's fingers curled up in the blanket. I felt it then-the coming together. Past and present are crashing into each other with no time to spare.

I bent down and spoke more softly. "Stay here no matter what happens." "And what if they come for me?" she asked.

I looked her in the eye. Show it to her. "Then they go through me." I turned to face the door. Sarah spoke softly and steadily behind me.

"Alpha." I stopped. "Be careful," she said. I didn't say anything. Because the truth was already crawling up my back. The council wasn't calling me to talk about a deal. They were calling me to make a choice.