“Y-yes, Alpha,” Philip said shakily.
“Then, I choose to kill your family too,” Alpha Lake informed and walked away from him, going over to Audrey’s chair.
Philip remained silent, questioning the Alpha would only worsen his case.
“Do you know her?” Alpha Lake asked Philip, placing his hand on Audrey’s shoulder.
Philip looked up at Audrey, he’s been locked up for a year but his memory was still intact.
“Yes, Alpha…” Philip replied.
Aloha Lake’s heart sank, he had always known Audrey was working for Mr. Russell, but, hearing it from a direct source made his heart, ache.
He didn’t want to believe that she had been sent to hurt him, not like he didn’t think it was possible, but, he didn’t just want to believe it.
He was so messed up with the mate bond that it was clouding his rationality.
“She used to be the Pack’s slave, your slave, Alpha. She’s Audrey,” Philip explained, hoping he gained a few points from the Alpha by answering truthfully, but the next second, Alpha Lake appeared before him, wrapping his strong hands around Philip’s neck.
“Uh- I-I’m sorry, A-alpha!” Philip apologized immediately, even though he knew nothing about the cause of his strangulation, he just wanted to live.
“Call her slave one more time, and watch your family die one after the other right in front of you,” Alpha Lake’s voice was low and lethal.
Audrey sneaked a glance at Andrew who was still standing by the door, he shook his head at her, assuring her he wasn’t the one who informed Philip about her, he might have just guessed it himself.
Audrey wasn’t sure she’d seen Philip before, but she thought if he could recognize her, it meant he used to be one of the Alpha’s men before whatever it happened to him.
Audrey stood and went over to Alpha Lake, holding the arm he was using to strangle Philip.
“Hey, that’s enough,” Audrey said softly.
“Fucking bastard!” Alpha Lake punched Phillips’s jaw before turning around and dragging Audrey with him.
“Follow up the plan,” He growled to Andrew as he passed him at the door.
“Yes, Alpha,” Andrew replied, but his eyes were glued on Audrey, silently asking if she was okay, or needed help.
Audrey gave a slight nod with an okay sign and followed the angry Alpha.
Alpha Lake dragged Audrey Into a hallway and caged her between his hands.
He did nothing else, he just placed his forehead on Audrey’s and closed his eyes.
She wanted to push him away but the look she saw on his face stopped her. He looked stressed, so instead, she raised her hand to his face and gently caressed it, ironing out the furrow in his brows.
“I’m so messed up, Catherine. My life, it’s not what it seems, I’m at war with myself with each passing day. I need answers,” He sighed and put his hand behind Audrey’s neck, lifting her face to his.
“Do you want to know the funny part?” He asked, staring his dark grey eyes into her green orbs.
“Mm-mm,” Audrey shook her head.
“You’re all u can think of amidst my chaos, which makes it all the more chaotic,” He whispered, his eyes falling to her moist lips.
“I’m… going to kiss your lips,” He said and immediately covered her lips in a gentle kiss.
Audrey was sure she was going to die of cardiac arrest any of these days from the way Alpha Lake was attacking her with all these stimulating and tempting behaviors.
“Kiss me back, Kitten,” Alpha Lake whispered against her lips.
That’s when Audrey noticed she’s been frozen in place since he kissed her.
She looked into his eyes and saw an unreadable expression in them, one thing was certain, she could not say no to him at that moment.
She hooked her arms around his neck and drew his face down to her, she licked his lips with the tip of her tongue first, then softly kissed them.
They kissed each other in the hallway, it was a gentle kiss like they were trying to heal each other by the gentle way their lips and touches danced against each other.
They held each other so closely like they never planned to let go.
Lost in their moment of sweetness, they failed to see someone approaching their way.
“Ahem!” Ms. Bridget cleared her throat as she quickly passed them by in the hallway.
Audrey quickly placed her hand on Alpha Lake’s chest but he was quick to hold her wrist.
“Don’t kitten, don’t push me away, please… just hold me,” He sounded so vulnerable.
Audrey sighed and hugged him when she saw that Ms. Bridget had already left the hallway. ‘that mischievous woman.
“How could he say that?” Alpha Lake whispered in Audrey’s shoulder.
“Say what?” Audrey asked, confused.
“How could he say you look like that monster, Audrey, you’re my-”
“Fuck off!” Audrey harshly pushed him away from her.
She always knew he was going to ruin the atmosphere and bring them back to their harsh reality.
She was an idiot, she always got carried away, serves her right for allowing herself to get fooled… again.
As she walked away, she noticed that this was the hallway Selena had brought her in her dream, she quickly looked back and sure enough, the door she saw in her dream was right there.
“Was this a sign?” She whispered to herself.
She would come back here soon, things were starting to work in her favor.
She pretended to walk into the servants’ quarters, waiting for the Alpha to leave the hallway.
Alpha Lake stood there, staring at Audrey in confusion.
‘Is our mate a bipolar?’ Regal asked.
“Uh, I d-”
‘I like it! It’s like a buy one and get one free. Two mates in one, yippee!’ Regal mused.
“Shut it, Regal,” Alpha Lake said angrily.
Audrey always had a way of leaving him more confused with every interaction they had.
He sighed and walked away, heading to his vineyard to clear his head.
It’s been a long time since he supervised the area.
Audrey came out from where she was hiding when she was sure Alpha Lake had left the Packhouse.
She quickly went back to the hallway and walked straight to the door. She held the door knob and twisted it to test if it was unlocked, luck was on her side; the door clicked, signaling that it’s been unlocked.
She slowly opened it just wide enough for her size and peeped inside first before going in and closing the door behind her.
Just like in her dream, everything was covered in white sheets, and from the looks of things, it was supposed to be a bedroom.
She didn’t have to take off the white sheet on the rectangular-shaped structure in the center of the room to know that it was a Queen-sized bed.
She couldn’t stop wondering whose room it was. ‘Was’ because the dust inside the room could be used to fill up a grave.
She was almost tempted to clear them away by the snap of her fingers but it would make anyone who entered the room next, suspect something.
Audrey didn’t know where to start, the room was quite large, and it looked like the properties were carefully placed, she had to be extra careful not to move anything from its original position.
Her time was ticking, she knew anyone could come in any moment from then.
She moved forward to the bedside table and removed the white sheet from it. It was a high-quality dark-brown wooden table with three drawers.
The structure looked vintage but beautiful, the knobs looked like they were made of pure gold.
She knew Alpha Lake had taken the other half of her amulet, but she still needed to search the room, if Selena brought her here, it meant there had to be a clue to her amulet in the room.
Maybe, Alpha Lake had locked it up somewhere in the room the day he learned the content of his father’s letter from Janeth.
Out of anger and hatred, he might have put it in something and locked it up.
Audrey went ahead and opened the first drawer… nothing.
The second drawer… just old scissors.
The third drawer… a metal box.
She sighed and rolled her eyes.
She had hoped she would find something in those drawers so she didn’t have to ransack the whole room, but she felt disappointed when she didn’t see anything in the drawers.
Audrey was halfway to the wardrobe when she suddenly stopped, she looked back at the drawer and suddenly returned to it.
She felt like she was walking away from a very big piece of information and clues.
She decided not to leave any stone unturned. She would search the box, and even if she didn’t find anything inside, she would rest assured that she had searched every nook and cranny.
She bent over and picked up the box, to her surprise, it was quite heavy.
She quickly placed it on top of the bedside table and tried unlocking it.
“Shit!” She whispered.
The box was locked!