Thelma’s POV
I woke up feeling so good. Feeling so accomplished. I squinted up my eyes, staring at the Alpha lying naked at an arms reach. I was barely covered in his mattress. It appeared I woke up before him. I wanted to stand up but his mighty arm was placed on my shoulder. I didn’t feel like waking him up yet. I wanted him to have some more sleep. He did a crazy job last night by the way. I brushed the thought aside and decided to lay on the bed with him until he woke up.
The Alpha had made me feel like a woman last night. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone made me feel that good. I wanted the whole thing to continue till morning but I just couldn’t handle it. I met more than my match.
I looked at him and used my free hand to cuddle him gently on his curly hair. I stroked his nose too, caressing it, and then smelt his warmth. Since I was less busy, I studied his amazing features for a few minutes. He was admirably handsome. I couldn’t believe I had ended up accidentally with the most handsome creature in the world. His inverted sweet looking face was more or less looking like he molded it himself, giving him the right texture at the right corners. His lips weren’t too thin neither was it too big but it arc-curved from the center to the corners of his mouth. There was this ephemeral raw desire in me that wanted me to stare into that emerald beauty he had in his eye sockets just for the fun of it. As I caressed his hair, he coughed and yawned.
He looked at me, and said, “Good morning, Pretty.”
I replied to him in the same cheerful manner he had used to cheer me up. He leaned closer and kissed me on the head. “When did you wake up?” he asked.
“Not long away.”
“And you didn’t feel like calling me?”
“I didn’t feel like bothering you.”
He smiled and kissed me again. He rose naked. My gaze fell on where every girl’s gaze should first fall on. He turned. “What exactly are you staring at?” he asked and looked down at his cock.
I smiled. “I don’t think you want to know.”
“You never can tell,” he said. “Would you like to take a bath with me?”
Shivers! Left to me, I wouldn’t need him to ask. But I was even surprised at the bizarre reply that came out from my lips. “No thanks,” I said. “I don’t have new clothes I would change into.” To be honest, I regretted saying this.
He frowned. “That could be handled,” he replied.
I decided to put up a good excuse. I was good at lying though. Lying was an old habit of mine that stood the test of time. It doesn’t come hard for me to find a good excuse I give when there is time for it. Of course, I was aware that my gown was still lying somewhere on the floor. I knew he could easily have sent someone to bring me something to wear even if my gown wasn’t there. But that was not just the main reason why I had refused to follow him. He made me cum like crazy last night even when I didn’t want to. I suspected I could easily get another one this morning if I followed him to the bathroom- I had other plans. I could have gone for it but I had already given him an answer. “You don’t need to bother. Maybe I would do that later in my room.”
He looked at me for a while and then shook his shoulder. “Okay, do as you wish, Pretty.” He left for the bathroom alone. I slid away from the mattress and began to arrange the bed- thanks to Simon. I wore back my gown. I didn’t want him to come back and still find me naked in the room. I grabbed his jacket, trouser, and boxers and wrapped them up, and pushed them inside an empty basket. When I finished, I sat back on the bed and gaped blankly in the room. I saw the pictures hanging in his room. I had seen them before. But then, I could barely recognize any of the faces. But now, looking at the pictures again, I spotted some members of the council of the Twelve. Simon, Cynthia, Audrey, The Prefect, even Princess, and the rest of the council members stood in one big portrait with the Alpha at the center. I spotted another picture, the picture of the small baby carried by a young handsome man. The portrait looked older than the rest- it was a black and white portrait.
A cold hand was gently placed on my shoulder, I shivered. I gently turned around and looked into Drake’s discerning eyes. “What are you looking at?” he asked.
I turned and looked back at the portrait. “At those pictures,” I said and pointed at them.
He began to look at them too. “They are all my people.”
“And the man carrying the baby?”
“You mean the man carrying me?”
I hesitated for a second. “Yes.”
He breathed and eyed carefully at the picture. “He is my father.”
Wow. How stupid I was. Of course, the man looked like him but rather the older him. In fact, he was more like his senior brother than his father. “Can I meet him?” I inquired.
“I wish you can.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means he is dead.” He freed my shoulder and walked past me to his wardrobe. For a moment, I felt sad for him. For him to have kept the picture as a collection in his room means that his father was very important to him. My own wasn’t. Not like he wasn’t that good but wasn’t that important to me like I think Drake’s father was to his son. I leaned closer and hugged him from behind.
“I am so sorry,” I said. “If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked.”
“I know.”
I placed my head on his back and rested it there. “I will be going to my room now. I will see you later.”
I heard him swallow. “Okay,” he said. “I will catch up with you soon.”
I kissed him on his back before I let him go. I noticed I had changed his mood. If I knew, I wouldn’t have tried to ask him that question. The last thing I wanted was for him to get angry that early in the morning or even for the rest of the day.
On the way to my room, I met Audrey walking toward me. Her long white hair had been tied tightly on top of her head. Her eyes had been set in a way that made me think she hadn’t been able to catch some sleep for some good amount of time. The blackness under her eyeballs was visibly noticeable and kind of swollen.
“Good morning,” I said to her. She snubbed the shit out of me. I looked at her but she didn’t care to look back at me. Maybe she was so, so tired that she didn’t find the energy to answer my greetings, I thought. Since I didn’t want it to bother me, I ignored her and walked past her.
“You think you have made it to the knockout stage?” she said. I paused for a while. I looked around. I would have assumed that she was talking to someone else if I had found someone. But as it seemed, it would be more probable to assume she was talking to me because it was just the both of us.
I turned around and she turned around too. “Excuse me,” I said.
She smiled but her lips barely moved. She raised her right white brows and said, “A mouse in a cobra’s hole. Snow under the sun. They all don’t travel on the same path. Are you aware?”
I still didn’t understand what she was saying. Something about this woman smelt like trouble. I thought I had crushed the threshold of encountering any form of a setback when I was crowned the Luna elect. “What exactly do you want?” I said. “What have I done this time? And would you just quit talking in parables?”
She smiled but without showing her teeth. “That would rather be depicted than explained,” she said. “Let me be about straight to the point. It would be in your best interest if you would leave this packhouse as soon as possible.”
I thought I sniggered, but no, I arched my brow. “And why must I do that?”
“If you don’t do that before the next full moon, then, I am afraid that you will not be able to make it through. Danger is cooking.”
I felt my brows arched again and my lips tightening against each other. Something about this woman told me that she really meant what she said. I wasn’t planning to take it lightly. “Is that a threat, Mrs. Audrey?”
“It would be verbally subtle if you consider it in that regard. But to further buttress my point, I think you should consider it as a fair warning.” She began to walk away.
I shivered. Something ran down my spine that instant. I didn’t know what I had done to her that made her confront me and threaten me openly. It was not like I had seen her before or something like that. Or had I encountered her in my dreams? “Who are you?” I asked. “Have you been sent by someone to monitor me?”
She carried her neck lazily and looked back at me. She let out a broken long laugh. It sounded like someone who had been possessed by something demonic. “You will have your answers in no distant time. Let it be buried in your subconscious mind that to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Have a wonderful morning.” She turned around and walked away.
What could be wrong? What was I getting all wrong? I had already been in much trouble and I wasn’t physically prepared for another. A few moments ago, I was happy I had just found a home. I was happy I found my mate. I was happy a minute ago that I had found my true purpose in life. I could feel the endemic hatred deeply rooted in the way that woman had just talked to me. This was not just ordinary. My instincts told me that she might have had a problem in the past with my father. That could be the only viable explanation here. Because I see no reason why someone who I had just met the first time would hate me so much. I decided to ignore her for a while and moved into my room. I thought I was going to act tough like I normally do. That’s who Thelma is, right? Right.