Sold to the Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 1)

“What happened?”

Avelyn gave a short, sinister chuckle. “I lost your mother’s bracelet in the dungeons.”

Max flinched.

“After Christine left for the party, I went down there to retrieve it, and as I was coming back, I heard a girl crying.”

He sighed and hung his head in defeat. From that point on he could, more or less, guess what had happened. For a split second, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering how different everything would have been if she hadn’t lost her bracelet in the dungeons, or if he hadn’t given it to her in the first place. Such tiny details. Change one of them, and life takes a whole different turn. None of this would have happened, and it would have given him time to see his mistake and tell her the truth. Avelyn continued her story, insisting on the smallest things she could remember, on every word Sabine had told her. She knew she was missing things, but she was doing her best. Max listened to her carefully, conflicting emotions flickering in his eyes from time to time. Curiosity, rage, bewilderment… he even smiled once or twice. She couldn’t help feeling like a naïve fool. Now that she was going over all her discussions with Sabine, she could see the gaps in the girl’s story, the things that didn’t quite fit, the red flags she should have seen if only she had trie

d to think straight and not let herself blinded by that deceiving, crippling feeling of utter injustice which had clouded her judgment. She talked and talked, getting it all out of her system. By the time she finished, it was already dark and her stomach rumbled in protest, reminding her she hadn’t eaten all day.

When silence fell, Max rested his head in his palms and rubbed at his eyes. He was sitting crossed legged across from her, and he hadn’t touched her or squeezed her hand in reassurance in over an hour. Avelyn bit her lower lip and fought the tears which were stinging the back of her eyes. She had no right to cry. He finally looked up at her, but she couldn’t read his face. It was an impenetrable mask, and trying to guess what was hiding behind it would have been a failed attempt.

“Let’s go see what we can find in the kitchen.” He sat up and offered her his hand. Avelyn looked at it for a long moment, then took it. His fingers curled over hers, and he pulled her gently, helping her rise to her feet. He waited for her to slip her shoes on, never letting go of her hand.

CHAPTER TWO

A Glimmer of Hope

Avelyn had slept almost until lunch. She had felt Max leave in the morning, and she remembered the soft touch of his kiss on her forehead and the sleepy smile she gave him without opening her eyes. He had held her close all night, making her feel safe and protected. As she got out of bed and went to pull the heavy curtains away to let the sun invade the room, she thought of his reaction to everything she had told him the other night. She still couldn’t wrap her mind around it. She hadn’t expected him to be so calm and understanding. She stretched her arms above her head and enjoyed the small pops of her bones and how they released the tension in her joints. She wondered if Christine would bring her lunch as she used to before everything went to hell, but she didn’t ponder on it too much. Before anything else, she needed a shower.

Avelyn stepped into the bathroom and caught her reflection in the mirror. She studied the scar on her neck and traced it with her fingers, shuddering when the sensitive skin tissue tingled. Her gaze went up to the huge bags under her eyes, and she gasped when she realized how clearly she could see every detail of her face when she was still standing near the door. The mirror was on the other side of the room. “Wow…” she whispered. She touched the bridge of her nose, surprised she could see the tiny freckles covering it from such a great distance. Before, she had to get really close to the mirror and almost stuck her nose to the cold glass to see the tiny imperfections on her fair complexion. She smiled, then took off her clothes and turned on the shower only to jump a few feet away, hands flying up to cover her ears. “Shit! That is loud!” The soft spray of water hitting the glass walls of the shower cabin that covered the entire wall behind the crystal bathtub sounded like a raging storm inside her head. She moved as fast as she could and turned it off, but had to catch herself and lean on the shower cabin when the entire bathroom started spinning around her. She closed her eyes and waited for the sudden dizziness to go away. She felt slightly sick to her stomach.

“Fuck… this isn’t going to be easy, is it?” She rubbed her temples and straightened her back when she felt ready to stand without having to support herself. She looked around, sighed, and decided the shower would have to wait. She wasn’t ready for a second aural adventure with the water spray from hell. She grabbed a bathrobe to cover her naked body, then crossed the bathroom as slowly as possible, unsure how to control her own speed. She knew she had moved at her normal speed from the bedroom to the bathroom, but now that she was aware her body could move way faster than that, she was careful not to give herself another vertigo. “Pfff… so much for reading ‘Twilight’. Stupid fiction. Made me think that moving fast for the first time would be a blast.”

She heard Christine before the old woman had even reached the landing on the third floor. The soft clink of the porcelain cup when it hit the edge of the plate, and the light sound of Christine’s shoes as they touched the floor rhythmically. Avelyn stood frozen in the middle of the room, focusing on all these small details. When she knew the woman was close, she went to open the door.

“Good morning, child!” Christine smiled and went past her to place the tray on the glass table. She didn’t seem surprised that Avelyn had heard her before reaching the room.

“Hey!”

“How are you feeling?”

“Dizzy. A bit sick. I couldn’t shower.” She sat down on the sofa, eying the tray of food wearily. She could smell the soup and the steamed vegetables, but she couldn’t decide if she liked it or not.

“You poor thing.” Christine sat across from her, on a leather chair. She seemed genuinely concerned. “The first few days are going to be a bit difficult as your body starts getting used to the new sensations. The best thing to do is to take it slowly. You should go out, walk around, focus on the new changes and test the waters, so to speak. You have to learn to keep up with your body’s transformation, because it’s going to be an ongoing process until the next full moon. If you think you’re moving fast now, wait till you see how fast you’ll be able to move by the end of the month.”

“It sounds awfully scary.” Avelyn chewed on her lower lip and reached over to lift the lid off the first plate. She scrunched her nose and let it fall back down.

“I know, child, but it will get easier. You need to eat, though. You skipped breakfast, and that’s just not acceptable in your condition.”

“My condition…” Avelyn touched her stomach and closed her eyes for a moment. “Why did you do it?” She raised her chin and looked at Christine, her hard eyes and furrowed brows demanding a straight answer.

The old woman sighed. “I had to.”

“You lied to me. I thought you were my friend. I trusted you, and you lied to me.”

“Avelyn…” She hesitated. The young woman’s words had cut like a knife. She felt her chest contract in pain. “I couldn’t let you leave him. The moment you told me you weren’t ready to have a child, I sensed that something was wrong, that your heart was not entirely in the relationship.”

“How did you know I still wanted to run away?”

“I didn’t. You’re quite an actress, you know…” Christine gave her a small, mischievous smile. “But I couldn’t take any risks. You see, Max was completely in love with you and he knew that if he wanted to make it work, he had to let his guard down and trust you. The thing that pained me most was that you were kind of underestimating him. Never make the mistake to believe that he wasn’t aware he was taking a huge risk trusting you. He did. Every time he left the Schloss he had to overcome the fear that you might not be there when he came back, but he knew there was no other way. I, on the other hand, couldn’t take the risks he was taking. Avelyn, you are the right one for him. You are his soul mate. The herbal mixture I gave you was actually supposed to help you get pregnant. It increased your period of fertility.”

Avelyn let herself fall on the sofa, her shoulder blades hitting the backrest with a soft thud. “I can’t believe it…”

“If you had his child, you wouldn’t have left him, I was sure of that. It would have brought you two together. I know it was unfair to make this decision for you, but I did the right thing at that time. You were so blinded by your shiny dreams of freedom, so unaware of how difficult it would be for you to make it out there on your own, that you completely ignored your feelings for him. You were ready to sacrifice your love for… what? For a child’s dream. Your happiness was right there, staring you in the face, and all you could think of was how to avoid it.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Christine, you’re just fantasizing. You don’t know me. You don’t know what I wanted then or what I want now.”