Aiden’s POV
I exited the airport checkpoint in Paris and started looking around for Lucy. In one corner of the lounge, I found her holding a welcome sign with “Welcome to Paris” written on it. She waved at me, smiling as I made my way towards her. I couldn’t help but notice how malnourished she looked. Her petite frame seemed even smaller and skinnier than it used to be. I never liked her mate, and I was so against it when she decided to move with him to Paris, but of course, she wanted to follow her mate. I suspected something foul was going on, but I wasn’t ready to push it just yet.
After I sort out my issues with Alpha Ethan, I’m going to find out what’s up with her. It had better not be that he’s laying his filthy hands on my sister. When I reached her, she hugged me so tightly that I had to tap her back to let me breathe. These tight hugs were Lucy’s way of telling me she was scared.
I could sense the tension in her. My Alpha instincts are never wrong, but I decided not to push it because I knew she wouldn’t answer me if I did. We started walking out of the terminal toward our ride.
“How are you?” I asked, hoping she might open up.
“I’m fine,” she replied with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Lucy, please tell me-” My words hung in my throat when I saw a familiar face on a large billboard outside the airport. A face I had been longing to see for the past seven years. A face that had haunted me so many times that I couldn’t sleep. It was the face of the woman I had loved more than myself. The face belonged to no one but Shenaya.
I stopped in my tracks, trying to take everything in. Was I seeing this correctly? Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Was this Shenaya, or was it her doppelganger? The woman on the billboard had black hair, but my Shenaya was a redhead. I couldn’t quite make out her eyes, but she looked exactly like her.
This trip from Italy to Paris had already been tormenting me. First, I saw a male version of Shenaya with red hair, and now, a female version with black hair. Was I going crazy?
Lucy noticed what made me stop and just smiled.
“It’s her doppelganger, not her,” she said.
“What do you mean, doppelganger?” I asked, unwilling to accept it.
“She’s Emily Roux Moreau,” Lucy said, and I snapped my head back to look at her. That name sounded extremely familiar.
“She’s Aiden Roux Moreau’s sister, and they co-lead the Rock Reel pack. As you might already know, the Rock Reel pack is one of the most successful packs in Paris, if not the world,” she explained.
I was too stunned to speak, so Lucy continued.
“The twins are well-known in both the human and werewolf worlds. They’re like celebrities. There’s no way that could be Shenaya. She has no family in Paris, and she’s an Omega wolf, remember?”
“Most importantly, Shenaya would have recognized me if we had met. But I met Emily once in a restaurant, and she didn’t recognize me. I even called her Shenaya, and she didn’t react at all. That’s how I knew it wasn’t her.”
“I have an appointment with this Emily Roux Moreau tomorrow. I’ll find out for myself,” I managed to say before we got into the car and drove to the hotel where I planned to stay during my time in Paris.
The ride to the hotel was quiet because I was deep in thought about how I would face Shenaya’s doppelganger. Would I be able to maintain my composure? Could it be that Emily Roux Moreau is actually Shenaya? I never noticed any sign of her being an Alpha before because she was always very submissive, as she should be. Aside from that, she had no other family except her father.
I did a thorough background check on her father while I was searching for them, and it led nowhere. They had no other relatives alive. Her father was the only one left in his clan. His entire clan had been killed by intruders. Emily Roux Moreau is definitely different from my Shenaya.
When we got to the hotel, I noticed how scared and jumpy Lucy was. It had been five years since we last saw each other, and now she was in a hurry to leave.
“I should go now,” Lucy said with a sad smile.
“Why? We just got here, and I don’t even know anyone in town,” I said, pressing to get some hint of what was going on.
“I have to go. Alenjro will be home any minute now.”
“So?” I asked, not seeing anything wrong with her mate being home soon.
“I have to prepare his meal,” she said, embarrassed.
“That’s what maids are for,” I replied, still not understanding the rush.
“He doesn’t believe in getting other people to do what I should do for him as his mate,” she said.
“What?! But you’re an Alpha female; others are meant to serve you,” I said, but Lucy just stood up.
“I have to go now. I’ll be in touch,” she said before rushing through the door and shutting it behind her. I just stood there watching, thinking, what the hell just happened?
I knew there was going to be a problem when she found her mate. Lucy is an Alpha female, and her mate is a Delta, which means Lucy will always be more powerful and superior to him. She found him on one of her trips to Paris and moved in with him without wasting time.
Alenjro seems like someone who craves power and would do anything to make Lucy feel less than herself. There’s no reason an Alpha should be submissive, but I feel like Alenjro is making Lucy submit because he feels inferior.
I’ll keep an eye on them both to make sure I’m not imagining things. But for now, I need to prepare for what I have to face tomorrow: meeting Emily Roux Moreau.