Audrey sighed exasperatedly and waved her hand over the box.
CLICK!
She unlocked it without a second thought.
She didn’t have the patience to pick the lock.
She would just lock it back when she was done. She opened the box to see piles of papers.
“Damn, don’t tell me my magic went to waste!” She whisper-yelled at the box.
She took out the papers and discovered they were all written letters, but they didn’t belong to one person, the letters respectively had ‘I. S’ and ‘A. U’ initials on them.
Audrey concluded that it must be letters between lovers, seeing how plenty it was and they were all dated back to before she was born.
She didn’t read them, they were none of her concerns.
She was just about to put the ones she already brought out back into the box when something caught her eye.
It was a letter with Alpha Lake’s name on it, and it was dated after she was born.
She dropped all the other letters beside the box on top of the bedside table and carefully unfolded the letter, she was curious to find out what the writer intended to pass on to Alpha Lake.
It read:
Dear son, I love you so much and wouldn’t want you to live in grief. I’m so sorry I ordered them not to let you visit me while I was sick, I know I’m dying, the poison was too strong and intended to kill.
Do not listen to Adam for he speaks with assumptions and no evidence. Isabella would never hurt me, we had a history. The poisoned arrow would have shot your little sister, but I couldn’t let that happen, the dark witches are out for us, be strong, son, and take care of your father for I know he’ll miss me, take care of yourself; and, please, take care of her, take care of your little sister, Audrey.
I love you.
Love, Mom.
Audrey froze in place after reading the letter, she kept staring at the words until they became so blurred in her sight. What had she just read? She was trying her best to comprehend everything in the next three seconds, she was in a fit.
So those letters were between her mother and Luna Aurora, was it the history she mentioned in her letter? She had an inkling of what she meant but she needed to see for herself.
She quickly snapped out of her imagination, she would think about everything later, now, her goal was to upturn that box and see if she could find anything about the history Luna Aurora had written about.
She put her hand under the remaining letters in the box, and, sure enough, she felt something hard.
Taking it out with her hand, she discovered that it was an old photo album. Without wasting time, she flipped through it, and what she saw, confirmed what she had just thought a few seconds ago.
Pictures of her and Alpha Lake’s Mother were pasted on every page of the album.
One didn’t have to be told that they were lovers, from their poses, one could tell.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Alpha Lake’s cold voice sounded a few feet from her back, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand.
Shit!
She’s been caught.
Audrey’s heart lurched in her chest.
This wasn’t how this was supposed to end, she was supposed to do everything stealthily and keep all the information to herself, but, here she was, with the brooding Alpha hovering over her with a very dark temper.
She took a deep breath and clutched the letter and photo album in her hands. Guess she had to show them to him.
Not like she wanted him to like her when he finally learns that she and her mother were innocent. She just felt that he had the right to know too.
“Who let you into this room?” His voice was cold and dark.
Audrey knew she had crossed the boundary this time.
This was an untrespassed ground for him, she knew the wound would forever remain fresh in his memory.
She slowly turned and faced him. He looked lethal.
“I’m s-”
“Wrong answer!” In the blink of an eye, he had her pinned to the wall by her neck.
“Don’t ever delude yourself you could do or go wherever you want just because we’ve kissed a few times.” He spoke lethally to her face.
“I’m,” *cough* “Sorry,” Audrey coughed in between her pleas.
She wasn’t going to fight back this time, she was indeed wrong for wandering around her boss’ house.
“Always remember, you mean nothing to me. Next time, I won’t be this merciful,” He warned her in a dangerous tone.
“Yes, sir,” Audrey squeezed out her reply.
She was choking, but she let him release his anger on her, she understood what he was going through.
Having a stranger go through a lost loved one’s stuff that has been packed away can hurt you in its way.
“Get out!” He released her and stepped away from her.
He had just returned from his vineyard when he noticed a movement from his mother’s room. Anger was what he felt first, and then the hurt followed.
He’d kept her stuff locked away since the day she died, and now, someone was in there, rummaging through her property which he deemed so sacred.
He felt conflicted when she saw who it was inside the room, he wanted to think that it was curiosity that led her into the room, but then, he remembered she’d been sent by Mr. Russell to spy on him, what if that’s what she was doing?
“Here,” Audrey paused when she reached the door, raising the metal box to Alpha Lake.
“What?” He asked angrily. “I think this would make things clear, I mean, from the story you told me, I think you’ll find the true story here,” She shrugged, stretching out her hand in front of him.
Alpha Lake reluctantly took the box from her.
He looked from Audrey’s retreating figure to the metal box in his hand, he was puzzled.
What does she mean by the true story?
That night, Audrey sat with Ms. Bridget, Sandra, and Alex in the Pack’s kitchen, and she told them everything.
“So, what if he, you know, starts liking you, like, the real you… not this you,” Sandra said more to herself with her jaw resting on her hand.
“Are you dumb?” Alex asked with a raised brow.
“Huh?” Sandra asked with a frown.
“Are you dumb?” Alex asked again.
“No!” Sandra sat up to defend herself.
Ms. Bridget and Audrey just sat there quietly with a smile on their faces, they were used to their bantering.
“Have you forgotten how crudely he treated her?” Alex asked, trying his best not to jump at Sandra and pull out her hair.
“Um, no. But, there’s such a thing as a hate-to-love relationship-”
“That’s it!” Alex grabbed the first thing his have could reach from the table, which was freshly baked bread, and stuffed it into Sandra’s mouth.
“Mmph, A’yex’ oo!” Sandra muttered unintelligibly.
“Was about to do that if you didn’t,” Audrey said with an evil smirk.
“Come on! That’s not fair, no one’s siding with me!” Sandra finally said clearly after she swallowed the bread.
“But I think Sandra might be right,” Ms. Bridget said seriously.
“Ha! Two against two. Game on!” Sandra slapped her hand loudly on the table, making faces at Audrey and Alex.
Alex just sighed and ignored her.
“Why?” Audrey asked, looking at Ms. Bridget with a slight frown.
“I don’t know, I just feel it, right Sandra?” Ms. Bridget asked mischievously.
“Of course, let’s bet Alex, from now on he’s going to want her so bad, Alpha L-”
“Catherine?” Alpha Lake called from the door.
Sandra was flustered, she didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, she was happy she hadn’t finished her speech, if not, she would have landed herself in trouble.
Everyone became quiet, they didn’t know how to act around the person they’d just been talking about.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Audrey said and stood from her chair.
“Goodnight, Catherine,” Alex touched Audrey’s arm as she passed him.
Audrey nodded at him before walking away from them.
Alpha Lake turned and started walking ahead as Audrey neared him.
She sighed and followed him behind. She followed him up to his condo, and they passed the living and went up the stairs.
Audrey paused when she saw he was heading to his room.
“Come,” He said quietly when he noticed she had paused behind him.
He opened his door and stood beside it, waiting for her to enter.
Audrey summoned courage and entered the room, he followed her and closed the door behind them.
She noticed all the contents of the metal box were carefully arranged on top of his king-sized bed.
He passed her and went ahead to open the door to his small patio, then walked back and stood beside her.
“I looked at them,” He said.