Sold to the Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 1)

“I’m not going anywhere.”

CHAPTER FIVE

The Other Bride

“Stupid. Stupid. I’m so incredibly stupid.” Avelyn was pacing the room, clenching and unclenching her fists, running her fingers through her hair only to tangle it more, and stopping in front of the wall from time to time, to bang her head on it.

It had all been nice and peachy until twenty minutes ago. Max had had breakfast with her, then he had kissed her forehead and headed to his office on the first floor to make some calls. He had promised her he would come back upstairs for lunch. For the first time in two weeks, Avelyn had been able to relax and actually focus on what she was doing. It was a bit chilly outside, so she had decided to stay in bed and read “The Boleyn Inheritance”. She was halfway through the book when she took a break and reached for a muffin from the plate Christine had placed on her nightstand. The sleeve of her pullover rode up her wrist and that was the

moment when she realized: the bracelet was gone. The blood had drained from her face, and she had almost had a heart attack. She had jumped off the bed and started looking for it everywhere. It was gone. Not in her drawer, not on her desk, not on the floor, not in the bathroom. It had just vanished.

“I am the worst and that’s why all the worst things happen to me.”

It could be anywhere, but the problem was that “anywhere” included the dungeons. She wanted to go look for it in the garden, the courtyard, or the library, but it wasn’t such a good idea with two packs of werewolves running around the castle and up and down the stairs, preparing for the full moon celebration. Someone would have figured out that she had lost something, and either Caleb or Daniel would have asked her if she needed help. And she wasn’t about to let Max know she had lost his mother’s bracelet. She had a nasty feeling that she had lost it the day before, somewhere in those dark tunnels. She’d have to go look for it because the worst thing that could happen besides Max finding out she didn’t have his gift anymore (he would have eventually forgiven her), was for someone to find it down there. She didn’t know if anyone ever used those tunnels anymore, but she couldn’t risk it. The problem was that today wasn’t yesterday, in the sense that today the castle was buzzing with activity. Yesterday had been a lazy, relaxed day for everyone. It had been like they were getting ready for the madness that was currently going on. Her only good chance was to wait for the party to start and go down there at midnight, at the exact time she had planned to leave Max and the Schloss forever.

“It’s so stupid if I think of it,” she thought. “I lost the most important gift Max has ever given to me and I didn’t even notice until now, when I finally decided to stay.”

She looked at the clock on the wall and sighed in frustration when she saw it was only 10 AM. She had a long day ahead of her. The only thing she could do for now was to make sure that the long, loose sleeves of her pullover covered her wrists at all times. Max hadn’t noticed the absence of the bracelet yet, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen at lunch or dinner. If she wasn’t careful, her own apprehension could draw his attention to her wrist. He had asked her to wear it at all times, so she couldn’t possibly say that she was keeping it in her jewelry box for special occasions.

“Idiot. That’s what you are, and that’s what you deserve for it.”

***

“I’m fine, Christine. Really, don’t worry about me. Just go down there and have some fun.” Avelyn smiled at the old woman, mentally praying that the tone of her voice was convincing enough. She tried to stay calm and patient, and stop her fingers from twitching and pulling at the hem of her pullover.

“Are you sure?” Christine seemed to be genuinely sorry that Avelyn couldn’t attend the party in the courtyard. She had spoken to Max earlier, but her Alpha had forbidden her to take Avelyn down, among the wolves. She was not ready yet, and he wasn’t ready either. As much as he wanted to go through with the mating ritual and officially make her his bride, it just wasn’t a good idea. Jocelyn still didn’t agree with his choice, and neither the Moon Children, nor his own Crescents seemed thrilled by it. They would have to wait for the next full moon and hope that by then everyone would get used to Avelyn and even like her a bit. There was no reason not to like her, really, but it seemed that their misconceptions about the Vulpes brides were stronger than his wife’s charm.

“Absolutely. In fact, you know what? I’m going to watch the celebration from the Crescent Tower.”

“You’d get a nice view from there.”

“Exactly.” Avelyn went to the window and looked outside. “They’ve already lit the bonfire. You’d better run down there, or you’ll miss the best part. I’ll have to run at werewolf speed up in the tower to see this.”

“All right, Miss Avelyn. But, please make sure you put on something warmer.”

“Sure thing.”

Christine gave her a last apologetic glance and closed the door behind her. Avelyn didn’t even wait to see her walk out through the front door of the castle. She grabbed her jacket, slipped her phone into one pocket, and stormed out the door and up the stairs. Max had given both Caleb and Daniel a night off telling them there was no need to guard Avelyn around the clock. Sure, it was still a good idea to keep an eye on her from time to time, but he trusted her now. He was confident that Avelyn would appreciate it when she realized the two werewolves weren’t following her around anymore.

She reached the library, closed the heavy door softly, then looked around to make sure she was alone. She went up to the second floor and straight to the hidden door. Everything in that corner was exactly as it should have been, and the soft lines of the door frame were as invisible as always. “Some damn clever architect worked on this.” Even though it was the second time she was going down in the dungeons, she was still a bit scared, and the darkness on the spiral staircase made her feel uncomfortable. She made sure she moved the flashlight around and studied each step, just in case the bracelet had fallen there. She had studied the map all day long, finding it impossible to focus on anything else, so she didn’t need to check it again when she reached the large stone chamber. To make sure she did everything right, she started studying the floor inch by painful inch. The small flashlight could only cover small portions of the stone floor, but it was the only one she had. She couldn’t have just asked Max, Christine, or Rosanna to bring her a larger flashlight without making it sound suspicious.

“Shit!” Avelyn screamed and jumped a few steps back. A large spider had just fallen down from the celling right in front of her. “Friggin’ hell! It’s as big as a tarantula.” She followed its fat, hairy body with her phone, and she breathed out in relief when the creature turned around and strolled to the other side of the chamber. She ran her hand through her hair, suddenly afraid that nasty, disgusting insects could have fallen on her fluffy hair without her noticing. She combed her red tresses carefully, and her heartbeat slowed down a bit when she didn’t find anything small and crawly tangled in them. She moved her flashlight to the celling, but it was too tall, so she couldn’t see much. “All right, I’d better move. I just need to find the damn thing and then get out of here. I swear to God, this is the last time I’m messing around in dungeons, tunnels, mazes, prison cells, and the like.”

She continued her careful inspection of the floor, and when she didn’t find the bracelet in the large chamber, she headed to the tunnel that led deep beneath the Nox Wing, the same she had explored the day before. Nothing there either. “Wait, I know I looked into one of these cells on my way back. But which one was it?” She stopped in front of each open cell and flashed her light around on the floor and the walls. She was looking for the one which had something hung on the far wall, but it was so dark in there that she could barely distinguish the shapes of some empty metal bowls scattered around, and some weird bundles of old clothes or rags thrown in the corners of some cells. She gathered her courage and stepped inside the first one, looked around for a few seconds, then moved on to the next. “There you are!” She was standing in the middle of the fifth cell, looking at the piece of old clothing which had probably been hung years ago from the rusty bolt in the wall. It seemed to have been some kind of tunic. She wiped at the dust on the floor with her foot, but it was obvious her bracelet hadn’t fallen there. She turned around and her heart jumped in her chest when the light coming from her phone shined on the round rainbow moonstones. The bracelet was hanging off the iron lock. Avelyn took it in her hand and studied it carefully. One of the silver chains was broken, which explained how it had fallen off her wrist. The bracelet had probably gotten caught in the lock, and when she had pulled her hand away, the chain broke.

Avelyn slipped the piece of jewelry in the pocket of her jacket, and closed her eyes for one long minute. She needed the time to calm her heart, let the adrenaline flow out of her veins, and her body relax. She was safe now. Everything was good. She’d go back up the stairs, then out in the library, and up another flight of stairs to the Crescent Tower, and enjoy the fresh night air, the music, and the werewolves’ chaotic party. The next day, she’d show Max the bracelet and ask him to fix it for her. It wasn’t such a tragedy that she had broken it, given that the thing was almost an antiquity. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “Jesus, does it stink in here.” She headed back to the larger chamber, her faint steps the only sound that reverberated inside the tunnels.

The moment she reached open space she stopped in her tracks and looked around confused. “Where did that come from?” She waited a few seconds then shrugged, thinking it was probably only her imagination. Another two steps, and there it was again. A soft, muffled noise, like someone was crying. She couldn’t tell from where it was coming. Chills ran up her spine and made the little hairs on her neck stand up. Suddenly, the jacket didn’t keep her warm anymore. Cold sweat gathered at the roots of her hair, and her heart started galloping when she heard the noise again. “Oh, shit… there’s someone here. There’s someone in these dungeons, maybe in one of these cells.” There was no way the crying could come from the Nox Wing, because she had been there twice, even though she hadn’t gone very far. From where she was standing, she studied the tunnel that led to the right side of the Schloss, under the Lunar Wing. She swallowed heavily, but the lump in her throat didn’t want to go down. She hugged herself with one arm, held her phone in front of her with the other, and took a couple of tentative steps towards the tunnel. A sob. She heard it loud and clear, and she could swear it had come from inside

the tunnel. She walked carefully, on her tiptoes, trying to make as little noise as possible. Her instinct told her to turn around and leave, but she had always been too curious for her own good. Besides, what if there was someone there who needed help? Maybe someone who had entered the dungeons through one of the exits and had gotten lost? She needed to know. She wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if she didn’t know.

The feeble light of her phone illuminated the tunnel and danced eerily on the open iron doors. It looked the same as the one where she had lost her bracelet. She soon reached the small chamber which was probably parallel to the one on the left side, and the crying was a bit louder there. Still muffled, but it echoed through the stone labyrinth, giving Avelyn goose bumps. She studied the smaller tunnels in front of her, and gasped when she realized she could see a faint light at the end of the second one to her right. “It sounds like a girl. I swear to God, it sounds like a girl is crying down there.” She followed the sound. She could feel the stone floor slightly descending under her feet, and she looked back a couple of times, afraid that she might get lost, even though she had mostly walked in a straight line. She noticed how the air had grown a bit warmer and more breathable. It was still stale, but a bit clearer. She reached another small chamber, almost identical to the last one, except this one split into only three tunnels. One of them seemed to lead down some stone stairs, the one in the middle was covered in darkness, but the one to her right was, to her surprise, well lit. “The hell?” she thought. She had no idea there could be electricity down there.

She turned off her flashlight and stepped inside the tunnel. What threw her off guard wasn’t the fact that it was larger, nor that it looked clean and well-maintained. What made her cover her mouth to make sure she didn’t scream was the tall wooden door in the middle of a white wall which seemed to be made of bricks. It was like the cells in that tunnel had been turned into one big cell with a single door. And, yes, Avelyn had heard right. A girl was crying behind it.

Avelyn approached the door carefully, and pressed her ear against it. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do now, after having come so far. What she did know was that there was no way she could simply turn around and forget it ever happened. Should she knock on the door? The crying died down, and all she could hear now were silent sobs. Avelyn felt her mouth dry and she wasn’t sure if her vocal cords would be willing to cooperate if she wanted to say something. She settled for knocking softly. The person on the other side ceased her sobbing. She heard her blow her nose, and waited a few seconds before knocking again.

“Who is it? Christine?”