An Unwavering Promise--Completed

Chapter Nine

Eleanor’s POV

Parking the car a few blocks away from the house, we made our way to the address. It was only a few minutes past eleven o’clock. Though Hailey and Xavier had made it to the rented house, Hailey hadn’t been feeling well after the drive, so it was decided that she and Xavier would stay behind while the rest scouted. I promised not to engage with the person of interest without Hailey.

We had already made a game plan of how to best scout out the place. Berty and Candy would take to the roads and make a list of everything suspicious or useful. Alexander would scope the outside of the house and her car, while I attempted to get inside of the house and dig up anything helpful or any clues about the orc race.

Splitting up, we all went our separate ways. Circling around the house, I came upon a window that hadn’t been locked. I thanked the Moon Goddess for the stroke of luck and snuck into the house.

It was a pretty average home. I had plopped into her dining area. There was a nice, wooden dining table with chairs. A hutch stood in the corner with a houseplant next to it. I silently crept into the kitchen. A few appliance lights showed me a normal kitchen. It was spacious, with quartz countertops and a kitchen table just off to the side. I figured there probably wasn’t anything important on the first floor, so I looked around for stairs to take me up to the second. As I walked around the house, I passed by a smaller room that looked like a library. Halting, I turned and entered the room. In the room were a few bookcases, a piano, and a desk.

Zero-ing on the desk, I went over to it and started snooping around. One of the drawers was locked, which made me suspicious, so I tried the next and pulled it open. Inside the drawer were files. I frowned. Grabbing one, I sat down at the desk and opened it. It looked like a file that a detective would put together. There were pictures of two people: one male and one female. Paperclipped to it was basic information about the male. It talked about his height, age, and occupation. He was a 38 year-old engineer who had gone missing about three months ago. His wife, a 35 year-old teacher, had also vanished that same night. They hadn’t had any children; however, their neighbor had reported them missing after she hadn’t seen their cars for a week. The neighbor was quoted as saying that the Nelson’s always told them when they were leaving for an extended amount of time because she, the neighbor, would look after their three dogs. When the authorities had entered the Nelson home, they found the dogs in distress and the house was a mess. It was clear that the dogs hadn’t been fed or let out.

I reached down and pulled out another file. This one told of a 19 year-old female who had gone missing from the university nearby. She hadn’t shown up for classes the following day. A friend had said that she constantly walked home at night and was worried someone sinister had taken her. Another report spoke of how two children were gone. They had been at school, but when the parent had come by to pick them up, the school reported that someone had already come for them. When the parents asked clarifying questions, the school said that they had received a phone call from them stating that an uncle would be coming that day to get them. The parents had not made the phone call.

Swallowing nervously, I looked around the room, suddenly seeing everything differently. Something was not sitting right with me. Why would this female prc have all of these missing person files? As far as I knew, she hadn’t been with the police. But what if she was? I was breaking and entering. This would not look good if I was caught.

I carefully put all the files back after I took pictures of the ones I had looked at. I knew I didn’t have time to look at them all, but I thought I had enough to at least start my own investigations not only on this orc, but also on these missing people.

“Um, Eleanor?” Alexander’s voice burst into my head, causing me to jump out of my seat and escalate my heart rate.

“What?” I whispered back through the mindlink.

“We have a prob–” he started.

I heard the house door open, followed by squealing. “ALEXI?!”

Alexi? I pursed my lips and listened, hoping that this wasn’t what I thought it was.

“Come in won’t you? I won’t ask why you’re here so late. I’m just so excited to see you!” a woman said.

Footsteps sounded and a few lights turned on, and I pressed myself against the wall. I hadn’t closed the door to the room I was in, and light spilled into it. I carefully slid back into what darkness was left in the room.

“Checking in on me as promised? Finally found me, eh? I did a good job, didn’t I?” she was saying.

“Oh, uh,” Alexander replied, sounding flustered.

Peeking around the door, I could just barely see them in the living room. I saw a tall blonde hanging off of my mate. Her hair was swept into a bun, and she wore a pantsuit that did nothing to hide her figure. She was also planting kisses on Alexander’s cheek. I did my best to stifle my anger, but Alexander’s red face told me that he was simultaneously embarrassed and worried. He could feel the anger brewing from our bond. However, he wasn’t doing anything to push her off him.

“So,” she asked, flopping down onto the couch and kicking off her heels. “Why are you here? Tell me the truth. Remember? We never lie to each other.”

“Brit…” he trailed off.

Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. “You’re hiding something from me, first of all. Alexi, dearest, we were together for a long time. I know you. So, spit it out before I force you to tell me.”

Together? Like a couple? My anger began turning into rage. This is a big f*****g secret to keep from one’s mate. It wasn’t like I had expected him to divulge everything from his past to me, but a long, former relationship should have made the list.

“I don’t think your tricks will work on me anymore,” Alexander chuckled.

“Oh?” Brit said, her voice turning seductive in an instant. She then rose to her knees on the couch and pulled him over to her. “You never seemed to hold your ground when I would use my tongue to lick–”

“Okay!” Alexander said suddenly, backing away.

Brit pouted and reached for him again.

“I have a mate. I found her,” he blurted.

Her eyes suddenly lit up with excitement. “What? That’s amazing! Where is she? Who is she? When can I meet her? This is wonderful!”

Guilt clouded over his eyes, and Brit sat back down on the couch. Alexander joined her.

“Oh,” she said. “She is here. Wait, if you’re both here then…Tell me exactly what’s going on. Tell her to come out from wherever she’s hiding.”

“Damn,” Alexander laughed. “You really can still read me, can’t you?”

Brit gave him a smug smile as Alexander mind linked me to come out of my hiding spot. As I left the safety of the dark room, I felt butterflies in my stomach. I didn’t have time to analyze why I’d be nervous about meeting this woman. But I did fixate on how this was an orc. In fact, she was the only orc we knew, and somehow my mate knew her before he met me, which meant that he had been hiding information from me. It made me wonder what else he was hiding from me.

I stepped into the living room, and watched as Brit surveyed me. Her face was stern, but she couldn’t hold it and quickly broke out into a smile.

“Even though you broke into my house, and I have no idea why you’re here, if you’re with Alexi, then it means you’re here for the right reasons. And, you’re his mate, so I automatically love you as long as you treat him well. He is the greatest man I’ve ever known, and I’m equally happy that he’s found someone and jealous that it isn’t me,” Brit said. “ I will judge you harshly, though, just to warn you.”

“Oh, um,” I started, sitting down across from them.

“Brit, come on,” Alexander interjected. “We’ve mated and have been together for some time now. No need for any of that. She’s well past the stage of interrogation.”

I watched the two of them interact so easily and naturally. I couldn’t lie to myself about how much it hurt me to see them like this. Whoever this Brit was clearly meant a lot to Alexander, but he had never mentioned her. I knew that he hadn’t been seeing her while with me based on her reactions earlier, but it was still shocking to see them together. She was everything I wasn’t, it seemed.

The two were going on about something as I interrupted them saying, “I’m sorry, but how do you two know each other?”

Brit frowned at us. “You didn’t tell her?”

“I, uh, hadn’t gotten the chance to, yet,” Alexander replied, uncharacteristically bashful.

She turned towards me. “Well, I’m his ex-fiance.”