Fated to the Alpha's Brother

CHAPTER THREE

Adrian turned around sharply, angry at the uninvited disturbance.

“Your mother is here,” Ronny said.

“I’m not blind, i***t!” “Leave us,” he snapped at Ronny.

Audrey lay there, coughing from the sudden inflow of air in her lungs.

“Adrian! I hope you’re not planning to kill the girl!” Eleanor the Luna exclaimed.

“Mum, she heard us on the phone. She can’t live,” Adrian argued.

“No, no, there must be a way around this. There can’t be two deaths in a week! That’d make the Alpha suspicious.

“Come on, mum. She’s nobody, no one’s going to know anything,” he said with a sigh of annoyance.

“This is going to be detrimental to your coronation. You need to lie low until then, remember?” Eleanor said with a frown.

“What are we going to do with her then?”

Eleanor went quiet for a few moments as she pondered a solution.

“Adrian, you are still betrothed to no one…” She began, but Adrian cut her off.

“No mum! I’m not marrying her! If that’s what you’re suggesting. It is not going to happen!” Adrian protested with a firm look.

A menacing laugh erupted from Eleanor’s throat, which made his firm look to falter.

“You dare act stubborn with me? You will do as you’re told. You will not kill the girl. She will act as your betrothed until after the coronation. Then, you can do whatever with her,” she said with a warning tone.

She then let out a sweet smile that contrasted her just-rigid look, while patting his hair. “The people seeing you with a woman by your side will help your image, son.”

“But mum, this was n-”

“Look at her pale and bloodied face.” She cut him off as she started towards the cell.

“Get your guards to take her to the nurse,” Eleanor calmly commanded.

“But mum, there’s no nee-” Adrian began.

“Now!” He was cut off.

He sighed and went to get Ronny.

Ronny visibly shook at the sight of a bloody Audrey lying there, breathing faintly.

He picked and heaved her over his shoulder as he stomped through winding halls, leaving Eleanor and Adrian behind.

After moments of thick silence, Adrian leaned lazily against the wall, unbothered. “Relax, Mother. She was nothing but a pest. Do you know how grating it is, listening to a fly buzz in my ear?” He smirked. “Besides, I did you a favor. One less problem to worry about.”

Eleanor’s eyes flashed, a c***k in her carefully regal mask. “You fool,” she hissed, stepping closer. “That girl was your bargaining chip. The elders are already murmuring, questioning your worth, your ability to lead. And you—” she jabbed a manicured finger toward him “—you hand them proof of your recklessness on a silver platter.”

Adrian’s smirk faltered, just slightly. He straightened, bristling at the edge in her tone. “I don’t answer to the elders. I’ll be Alpha when Father steps down, no matter what they think.”

Eleanor’s voice softened, but it was all the more dangerous for it. “Not if you keep handing them reasons to doubt you. Not if you keep acting like a spoiled child drunk on his own arrogance.”

For a moment, their gazes clashed. Then Adrian gave a bitter laugh and tipped his glass back. “You always did prefer Julian,” he muttered.

Eleanor froze, the words hitting their mark, but she quickly masked it with regal indifference. “Get cleaned up,” she said coolly, turning for the door. “We will speak no more of this. The girl stays useful… one way or another.”

Back at the nurse’s Chamber, Ronny sat there tensely as the nurse checked her vitals.

“Her pulse is really weak, but she’ll be okay. Thank the goddess you brought her here on time, ” Nurse Gomez said.

The tension in Ronny’s shoulders instinctively relaxed. “So, when’s she going to wake up?” he asked.

“I’m not certain. We just have to wait.” She replied, going to the sink to wash her hands.

Two hours later…

Ronny sat there playing a racing game on his phone. “No, damnit broo! Move! I freaking need speed!” He yelled.

Nurse Gomez gave him a side look, which he didn’t notice.

Before he could go on, a call came in. “Hello, boss.”

“The girl?”

“Uh, s-she’s still…” Just on cue, Audrey’s eyes blinked until they finally opened. “-Just woke up, sir.”

“She’s alive.” He heard Adrian say to someone in the background. “Get her cleaned up and bring her to me.” He ordered Ronny.

“I don’t think she can walk for..” The phone beeped. Adrian had already hung up. “What's with that man and hanging up?” He complained.

Audrey’s eyes blinked open, and her head immediately started pounding from the amount of light in the room. She felt like she had been run over by several trucks.

She looked around and saw the guard talking with an older-looking woman. Her hair was silvered at the edges, tied back loosely, and her plain dress was smudged with herbs. There was no cruelty in her gaze, only a calm steadiness.

“You’ll live,” The nurse said confidently. “The bleeding will stop soon. What you need now is rest. And a bath.”

For the first time since she’d been dragged into the compound, Audrey felt some relief.

“Follow me.” The nurse calmly said as she walked into another room.

Audrey quietly followed her in. The chamber was warmer than anywhere Audrey had been so far, steam curling faintly in the air. The scent of herbs, sharp mint, calming lavender, something musky she couldn’t place, lingered like a balm against the stone walls.

“Come, child,” Nurse Gomez said, her tone gentle but firm.“Sit. You’ll only worsen those wounds if you don’t let me tend to you properly.”

Audrey hesitated, but the nurse was already guiding her toward a copper basin filled with steaming water, petals and leaves floating lazily on the surface. The sight was so disarming that her throat tightened. After the cold, suffocating stink of her cell, the warmth rising from the bath felt like a mercy she hadn’t earned.

The nurse’s hands were brisk and practiced. She eased Audrey down, wringing a cloth and running it gently across her arms and shoulders. The water carried away streaks of dried blood and dirt, turning pale pink before it was refreshed with a ladle of clean water.

“Breathe,” the nurse murmured, almost like a mother to a feverish child. “This will ease the ache.” She pressed a warm compress of herbs against Audrey’s ribs, the sting quickly fading into a deep, soothing relief.

For a moment, Audrey closed her eyes. The steam filled her lungs, loosening the tightness in her chest. It almost felt safe. Almost.

But when the nurse finally wrapped her in a coarse towel and said, “You’re steady enough for Master Adrian now,” dread rushed back, heavy and cold.

Audrey’s stomach knotted at the reminder, but she found herself clinging to the nurse’s parting glance.

“Thank you.” She whispered as Nurse Gomez handed her a robe.

Soon after, someone barged in with a loud groan.

“Ughhh! I hate sparring!” The person complained.

Nurse Gomez left the bathroom to see who it was.

“Oh, Sir Julian.” She greeted with a note of surprise.

Audrey stood there in the bathroom, staring at her pale reflection in the vanity mirror in front of her. A billion thoughts swirled in her beautiful brown eyes, but she blinked and hurriedly exited the bathroom.

Just as she stepped through the door, someone came crashing into her. And her towel fell from her body.