The Hidden Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 2)

“We’ll have a late lunch with Roman. He’s been eating very little lately, but he might let you convince him to take better care of himself.”

Amelia’s eyebrows rose in confusion. “What about Blake?” She was getting tired of all this mystery. Why was it taking so long to meet the man she had been bought for? He hadn’t waited for her on the runway, he hadn’t come down to welcome her when she reached the mansion, apparently they didn’t share a room, and now he wouldn’t even have lunch with her?

“You’ll have to be patient.”

Seth didn’t say anything else and Amelia was too shocked by his answer to react. He turned around and headed back to the docks, and all she could do was follow him. “Unbelievable!” she thought.

***

Amelia felt sorry when she saw Roman Sylfur enter the dining room, Aaron supporting almost his entire weight. The old Inari hadn’t left his room in weeks, and now he was making an exception for her. It hadn’t seemed appropriate to invite her to lunch in his own room, even though it was as big as an apartment. He smiled at her, but he seemed in pain. Amelia stood up, unsure of what she should do. Should she wait for Aaron to bring him to the table, or should she run to greet him and help the Ninko support him? Seth was faster than her, however. In two wide steps, he was by his Inari’s side.

“Thank you, son,” said Roman in a low, weak voice.

The two men helped him sit down right across from Amelia. She sat down as well, hands clutched nervously in her lap. She tried to keep the smile on her face, she really tried, but the sight of this old, wrinkled, and sickly thin man was too sad to handle. He had been a tall, strong, and bulky man in his youth, she could tell. Now, the skin was hanging off his atrophied muscles and the shape of his skull was so visible under his pale, almost translucent skin that Amelia felt a cold chill sneak into her bones. The little gray hair he still had left was plastered to his head, and the lack of eyebrows and eyelashes made his purple eyes seem even bigger. She was glad she had decided against helping Aaron to bring him to the table. She wasn’t sure she could have handled touching him. The Ninko excused himself and exited the dining room.

“Amelia, child, welcome to Ekviknuna.” He spoke slowly, making considerably long pauses between words.

“Thank you, sir.”

He waved her off. “Oh, drop the ‘sir’. We’re family now. Everyone calls me Roman, and you will do the same.”

She looked at his bony hands as he rested them on the edge of the table to better support himself. She couldn’t imagine addressing this old, respectable man by his first name. She swallowed heavily. “All right. Thank you… Roman. I’m so glad to be here.”

“Good. Good.” He studied her for long minutes, his back straight and his lips pursed.

Amelia averted her gaze, pretending she was interested in the food the servants had started bringing. She could smell the chicken soup, but she didn’t feel that hungry anymore. “When will this end?” she thought. “I feel like an exhibit in a museum.”

“You are very beautiful, my darling.” He finally broke the silence. “But you probably don’t want to hear that from an old, decrepit man like me.” He let out a hollow chuckle. “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Oh no, you could never do that.” She raised her eyes back to his face and managed a smile.

He smiled back, then thanked the girl who had placed a bowl of steaming soup before him and motioned for Amelia and Seth to start eating. He, however, didn’t touch his food for long minutes. Amelia almost moaned at the delightful burn of the hot, delicious liquid down her throat. Focusing on the nice meal, she could almost ignore Seth’s presence by her side. Why did he have to sit next to her? Yes, she had hated having him across from her the entire flight, but this was even worse. She kept her arms as close as possible to her body, least she touched him by accident.

“You should eat.” Seth’s voice was low, but determinate.

Amelia stole a quick glance at Roman to see his reaction. The old man’s warm eyes were trained on his Yako.

“I’m waiting for it to cool off a bit. Too hot.”

Seth didn’t say anything, although Amelia could swear he wanted to. They ate in silence for a couple more minutes. Amelia finished her soup and reached for the glass of water. She bit the inside of her lip when she saw Roman hadn’t touched his food yet and remember what Seth had said earlier. She cleared her throat before speaking.

“This is delicious! You should really try it, Roman. If it cools off to much, it might not be as good.” The moment she spoke she wished she could take her words back. Who was she to babysit an Alpha fox? Just a stranger in this man’s house.

Roman smiled at her, his entire face brightening up. “The truth is, my darling, I’m not very hungry. But yes, we have a great cook here.” He took the spoon between his thin, trembling fingers. “All right, I’ll eat some. I don’t want you to worry about me.” He fished out a piece of potato and took his time chewing on it before he struggled to swallow. It was as if his stomach had gotten bored of food. Eating had become such a chore in the past few weeks. “Everyone worries about me,” he continued. “Seth, Aaron, Elena, Blake…” His purple eyes found Amelia’s. “You’re too young and full of energy to worry about anything and anyone, so promise me you won’t.”

Amelia wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Seth had just asked for more soup and one of the servants had left with his bowl.

“This is what I always tell my son. He never listens.” The old man shook his head and raised another spoonful of soup to his lips. “Maybe you’ll convince him to get out of his room more often. I wanted him to have lunch with us today, but he said he was too busy.”

“Too busy to meet his bride?” She couldn’t help the sarcasm in her voice.

“That’s exactly what I told him!” Roman nodded his head vigorously. “He spends too much time with those books. But it’s my fault, I know it is. I’ve always insisted h

e needed to learn, he needed to study and practice, and then study some more… Fox tails don’t grow on trees,” he laughed loudly at his own joke. “Ruling over such a large clan is not easy, and I am so happy and proud he takes it so seriously, but sometimes I do wish he’d go out more often. I wish he’d show interest in something other than the ancient texts.” He looked at Amelia hopefully. “You’re and intelligent young lady. You’ve been raised in one of the best boarding schools in the world, and you’ve learned so many things. You see, my son’s problem is that he rarely finds anyone who can keep up with him. He spends most of his time with me or Seth, but he really needs to see some new faces, otherwise he’ll end up socially incapable. And what good is a wise Alpha if he can’t socialize normally and make the members of his clan like him?”

“I’ll do my best…” Amelia was even more intrigued now. She heard Seth finally set his spoon down. He had told her Blake rarely got out because of his father, and now his father was telling her something different. Maybe it was a combination of the two: Blake wanting to be by his father’s side, and at the same time wanting to study the ancient texts as much as possible before his father left him to rule over the clan. Wisdom was what made fox-shifters grow more tails. Maybe Blake had even greater plans and he wanted to learn how to use them to create jolts of electricity. It was the fox-shifters’ special gift, but it had been long lost. It was still believed that only the wisest Alpha foxes could learn how to use their tails to create lightning if they dedicated their life to studying the ancient texts. If this was what her mysterious husband was trying to do, then yes, Amelia could understand why he’d be so absorbed in his work. “When will I meet him?” She hoped Roman would have a better answer than Seth.

Unfortunately, the old Inari turned to his Yako. “Have you talked to him about Amelia, Seth? Does he even know she’s here?”