Dark Times

Chapter Seven

After the Alpha finally agreed to drop his silly question and answer game, I agreed to eat a slice of toast in turn for him to stop wasting my time and finally take me to see the rogue I'd come here for.

I didn't know what Igor and Trish were doing, but I decided after we left this pack once and for all, I'd never let them call me the lazy part of the group again. Whilst I was labouring my ass off over here, they were probably sitting on a porch swing somewhere delighting in tea and scones.

The Alpha kept looking at me as we walked. I wasn't sure how to feel about it. Apparently, he'd 'joined my game' now. Whatever that meant. But the looks were something else. He was taking his job of protecting me very seriously. Despite the current abundant lack of threats... for now. I'd be safe right up to the minute where the truth came out. Or the moment he woke up and realised he- an Alpha- had been kidnapped. So basically, there were many scenarios in which my ass was on the line. I preferred not to think about it. It wasn't good for morale.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you want to do first?" He asked me. Males were glancing my way in curiosity. The Alpha didn't see it as such. His rumbling growls and dark looks were making me question things. Not on my side of the non-existent affair, of course. But his side. This possessiveness did seem like that of a mate. But we weren't mates. So maybe all that testosterone and snapping orders at people had gotten to his head. Now his wires were all mixed up.

It was preferrable to my other theory. The theory of Igor being right. Which was wrong. We weren't mates. Twelve years away from a pack wouldn't stop me from feeling a spark completely.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure there's nothing else I want to do. We made an agreement, Alpha. It's time to hold up your end of the deal."

"What's it going to take for you to call me Aidan?"

"Why would I call you that?"

"Because it's my name."

"But Alpha's your title."

He sighed. "We're mates, Lorelei. You shouldn't have to use the title."

I hummed. "I don't like being called Lorelei, but here you are calling me it."

"What would you prefer to be called?"

"Lorrie."

He hummed back. "Maybe I'll take that into consideration. Or maybe I'll pretend not to feel it."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

I was focused on one thing and one thing only. Getting to the dungeons. From that point onwards I'd figure out my plans. I didn't need some pushy Alpha chatting my ear off. Oh. Now I got how others felt when I did it to them.

But it was different when I did it. With me, it just came naturally. Intuition told me this was him joining my game.

His hand reached for mine. He teased my fingers with a soft touch before I snatched my hand away, tucking it into my- a dead council woman's- pocket.

"I'm finding it hard to believe you can't feel these sparks," He voiced. "They're driving me mad. And your smell." He sniffed at the air. "When I went to my room yesterday, it was like you'd been there. Everything smelt like you."

Whoops. Maybe I'd chosen a poor time to raid his room. Did I regret it though? Maybe it had led him on with his mate bullshit a little, but I'd found that expensive ring. It was going to sell well. So no. I didn't regret it.

"And what do I smell like?"

I didn't know why I was humouring him. Actually, I did. It was because he was going to be super grumpy and grotty and mad soon. Soon, he'd wake up kidnapped with no definitive means of escape. He'd realise he'd been hoodwinked by a gang of rogues, and that the woman he thought was his mate was one of the very wolves he didn't tolerate. Worse yet, she was the violent kind.