Sold to the Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 1)

“Does this mean the werefoxes don’t have this tradition?”

“No. But they have a shorter lifespan, so they probably don’t have enough time to get bored of ruling.”

Both Rosanna and Avelyn laughed. If it weren’t for the pictures waiting for her on her phone, Avelyn would have enjoyed this whole having-tea-and-chatting business. Rosanna wasn’t that bad, after all, even though Avelyn had made a promise to herself never to trust her. She also found great pleasure in badmouthing everyone who wasn’t present, which, as disturbing as it was, helped Avelyn find out more things about the Blackmanes. Things which no one else was probably willing to disclose. She reached for a biscuit, and the movement made her scarf fall off her arm and her long sleeve ride up a few inches, revealing her wrist.

“Oh. My. God.” Rosanna grabbed Avelyn’s wrist, almost spilling her tea in the process. “Where did you get this bracelet?”

“Max gave it to me this morning. He said it was his mother’s.”

“Exactly! I haven’t seen it in such a long time.”

“Did you know his mother?”

“Not really. I was too young, and I don’t remember much from when Maria was around. I know that she was ill most of the time, and she preferred to stay locked up in her room or in the library. Sometimes, if the weather was particularly nice, she came down in the courtyard and read on a bench. I remember Jocelyn’s mom better. After Maria died, Nikolas gave this bracelet to his third wife, Kassandra, and when Kassandra died too, he never took another bride. It’s beautiful.”

It was, indeed, beautiful in a simple, delicate way. It was made of round, flat rainbow moonstones, and Avelyn loved it the moment Max gave it to her. He had said he wanted her to have it and that he hoped she would take good care of it, because it was the only thing he had left from his mother. “Maria…”

“How did Max’s father meet Maria?”

Rosanna let go of Avelyn’s hand, and poured herself more tea.

“It was before the boarding schools, as you know, and it was complicated for shape-shifters to find human brides. Most Alphas resorted to stealing them, which was one of the reasons you humans decided to start the nasty war we all had to go through.”

“You can’t possibly say we were wrong.”

Rosanna laughed. “Yeah, I know. Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy for us either. If an Alpha didn’t have heirs and something unexpected happened to him, the pack fell apart. It was either absorbed by a bigger pack, or the members scattered in search of other packs. This weakness always encouraged rogue wolves to challenge Alphas and try to conquer their packs. It was never pretty. If the Alpha was defeated, then the new one could do anything he liked with the pack. The only one who could challenge him was the Beta, but it rarely happened. He was free to kill and banish as he liked. Nikolas Blackmane was a great leader exactly because he had no qualms about stealing his women and forcing them into marriage. He didn’t only ensure the future of a pack, but of a whole clan, just like his forefathers. But, don’t worry,” added Rosanna when she saw the look of disgust on Avelyn’s face. “He treated them well. He treated them like they were queens, trust me. They had everything they wanted, and he was always faithful to them for as long as they lived. He never got any mistresses.”

“Well, that changes everything,” said Avelyn sarcastically.

Rosanna smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. Those beasts who stole innocent women and locked them up in high towers, and forced them to bear their children. Boohoohoo! But it was survival. We did nothing but survive and ensure the perpetuation of our species. We did no more and no less than the werebears, the werefoxes, weredragons, wereeagles, and all the other shifters out there did.”

“What other shifters? You mentioned all of them.”

The blonde raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “So, you’re one of those people who think there are only five shifter factions.”

“And there aren’t? There hasn’t been any real proof of the existence of other shape-shifters.”

“Maybe. Not yet. They’re hiding very well.”

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Avelyn gave Rosanna a long, thoughtful look, but she couldn’t hide the disbelief in her eyes. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Think what you may. Therianthropologists are working on it.”

“I thought they were only studying…”

“Us?” Rosanna laughed at Avelyn’s hesitation. “We’re not the problem anymore, the five factions. The peace treaty truly offered us what it was supposed to: peace. There are no more confrontations between packs, the Alphas are not challenged anymore, the rogue shifters are almost gone, and taking brides is now more than allowed, it is legal. The real problem is the other shape-shifters. The ones who never got involved in our mess and, consequently, never signed the treaty. People still disappear, don’t they? Whether they are men, women, or children… they sometimes vanish. Who do you think is responsible for all those disappearances that are never solved? Those cases which are never closed?”

“Wow… This is… This is too much to take in.” Avelyn felt confused, and she didn’t know what to believe anymore. What Rosanna was saying had the same level of credibility as any conspiracy theory. This conversation had strayed so much, and it filled her brain with things she really didn’t need to think about right now.

“I totally understand. There are so many implications, so many things to consider. Like, why are they hiding? Who are they, really? Are they dangerous?”

“Okay, stop. I think you’re just making things up now. All we have are myths and fairy tales. If there were other types of shifters, then we would have known by now.”

“Fine. If you want to be one of those close-minded people, be my guest. Something big will happen one day, you’ll see. And you won’t even know what hit you.”

Rosanna was such a bizarre character. Why did Avelyn accept to have tea with her in the first place? She had better things to do than sit there and listen to conspiracy theories. There were dungeons waiting to be explored.