Chapter 21: Chapter 21
Elara POV
I do not resist Monroe and Maxim as they escort me to my quarters. The sooner the Alphas release me, the sooner I can continue with my life.
I put on a T-shirt and shorts before joining them in the living room.
“I’m ready,” I sigh. “Let’s go.”
“The Alphas requested that you remain within your quarters until they’re ready to see you,” Monroe informs me.
“Are you kidding me?” I gape at him. “What am I supposed to do? Just stay here until they decide what to do with me. I’m not their prisoner. And why do they even want me here?”
Maxim and Monroe share a glance and look back at me. They are definitely hiding something from me.
“Well?” I press, raising my eyebrow. “They already rejected me. Can’t I just go live my life?”
“They haven’t ...” Maxim starts, but Monroe cuts him off with a cutting glare.
“Right now, our instructions are to ensure you stay in your quarters,” Monroe says firmly. “Once the Alphas are available, they will come to address you.”
“You mean once they’re done fucking and claiming their precious Alice,” I snort. “Got it.”
I flop onto the couch, cross my arms over my chest, wishing I can sink into another dimension, where my life is not ruled by all this Council and mating and claiming bullshit.
“Does anyone call you M&M?” I look at them, and they practically start levitating in anger.
I smile sweetly when they glare at me. Serves them right for giving Mindy grief for being my friend. Mindy is loyal to a fault, and no matter what happens, there is no way she will ditch me just because my vagina does not measure up to Alice’s cavern of perfection.
Maxim raises a hand to his ear, nods and says, “Yes, Alpha.”
“I’m assuming that was about me?” I ask.
“The Alphas will see you now,” he confirms.
“So, they’re on their way to my cage?” I snort. “Shall I get some tea and crumpets ready for them? I wouldn’t want to be, you know, inhospitable.”
“They requested that you meet them in the throne room,” Monroe says sternly.
“Oh, boys, that’s not happening,” I laugh humorlessly, propping my feet up on the coffee table. This has to be a joke. Maxim and Monroe stare at me, clearly waiting for me to get up. “If they think I’m going to be subjected to more of that bullshit like this morning, they’ve got another thing coming.”
Their jaws twitch, and they take a step towards me, as if they are preparing to physically pick me up and take me to the throne room.
“I’m not moving from this couch,” I say adamantly. “At this point, I’d welcome them banishing me.”
Kane POV
“That little kitten,” I said to Axel as we walk to Elara’s quarters. “The audacity to order us around like ...”
“C’mon, let it go,” Axel shrugs. “That’s Elara. She’s not a lamb or some pushover. And just because we did what was needed doesn’t make it fair towards her.”
I grunt and keep walking. Deep down, I am worried about entering her room again. What if the lingering scent of our lovemaking is more than my wolf can resist?
Then again, we fully claimed Alice and she us, all attraction to any other she-wolves should be null and void. Wolves mated for life, and the claiming superseded all other previous sexual interactions.
I open Elara’s door, and her scent hits me like a punch in the gut.
Fuck.
The force of it takes the wind out of my lungs and damn near have me gasping for breath. I do not have to look at Axel to know he feels the same. We are more fucked than ever.
“Well?” Elara crosses her arms, and my anger rises. Leave it to her to not wait for her Alpha to speak first.
“This type of insolence and attitude will not be tolerated,” I growl, clenching my fists.
She raises an eyebrow in that challenging way of hers, and it strikes how fierce and prideful she is. Everything I wish Alice were at times.
Fuck.
Where are all these negative thoughts about Alice coming from? I loved her, dammit.
“Why don’t you just tell me what will and won’t be tolerated?” Elara hisses, her green eyes throwing daggers at me. “And what am I supposed to do so we can get this over with and I can be on my way?”
“Be on your way?” I smirked, amused. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Back home,” she replies as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. “Or I’ll get a job and an apartment here since you’ve decided to cast me off like trash.” She tilts her head and taps a finger on her chin thoughtfully. “Oh, that’s an idea. Maybe I’ll take up collecting trash. The garbage taking care of the garbage?”
“You will not speak of yourself that way,” I narrow my eyes, and Hunter raises his hackles inside me. I walk towards her until we are nose to nose, making sure every ounce of Alpha power within me oozes through my every pore, through my voice.
Then something amazing happens. She remains silent ... for once, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. This is understandable since the whiplash of my emotions and behaviour also confuses me.
“What Kane is trying to say is that it wouldn’t reflect well if our mate is in such ... uhm, untenable position,” Axel steps forward.
“What do you mean, your mate?” she says slowly.
“You are still our mate,” I explain. “And you will behave as such. You will remain here and fulfil any roles, duties, or tasks we ask of you. You will always conduct yourself as a member of this household. Do I make myself clear?”
“But... But... You rejected me,” Elara huffs, wide-eyed, their emerald colour flashing with surprise.
“We did no such thing,” Axel smirks. “We exercised our option to claim a second mate. While we chose not to claim you fully, you are still our mate and are expected to act as such.”
“No ... no, no, no, no, no.” She shakes her head back and forth almost manically. “No. I will not just stay here and have no life while you ...”
Her voice cracks, an emotion I had not been sure she was capable of behind her tough-girl facade trickles through. Her face, her demeanour changed, and I watched her shoulders curl forward, her aura becoming that of someone defeated, hopeless.
“I cannot simply be some fraction of myself, kept in a gilded cage because you wanted someone else more than you wanted me,” she snaps. “I deserve to live a life, and I deserve to find ... something.”
It was weird, and when she got lost, this strange bitterness came over both Axel and me, like... I shouldn’t have said those harsh things on purpose, like we should’ve felt this weird need to protect her.
Oh God, this is all just so messed up.
