Sold to the Alpha (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 1)

“Wow! Why kill these two girls?”

“She thought they were in love with me. In the last few months she had made a habit of spying on all the human girls working at the castle, and listening on their conversations. It seems that both Frida and Hilde had talked about me with some of the other maids. It later proved to have been just harmless girl chatter.”

“Yeah… the kind when you think a guy is cute and you have a crush on him and start talking with your friends about what you’d do to him if you only had the chance. We did that a lot at Alma Venus, except our cute guys were actors and singers.”

Max laughed.

“So, you locked her up.”

“We couldn’t find a better solution. The right thing to do would have been to announce the Council and let them decide what to do about it, but we knew that was the same thing as sentencing her to death with no trial. She was clearly dangerous and self-destructive, so it was impossible to reason with her. No matter how many times she promised she wouldn’t harm anyone again, I couldn’t just get over what had happened and move on like it had only been a small relationship crisis. After long debates, we decided to cover for her. Jocelyn and Karl agreed only on the condition that I kept her away from the wolves and everyone else. We turned four cells into as comfortable a room as possible, made sure she had everything she needed, and moved her down in the dungeons.”

There were long minutes of silence. Max had finished his story, and Avelyn needed time to take it all in. She had known it wouldn’t be pretty, but no matter how prepared she thought she was, it still hit her hard. Their arms and legs were tangled in a tight hug, none of them willing to let go of the other.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said.

“Me too.”

They were too exhausted to even pull the covers up over their bodies. They fell asleep.

***

Max took a long sip of the dark, strong coffee Christine had brought him ten minutes ago, and tried to focus on the papers before him. Blackmane Constructions had had a very good year, and they could take on a new project if only he could concentrate long enough to study the details that had come in by fax the day before and decide on a convenient bid. He was tempted to send it over to Jocelyn and ask her to take care of it, but she already had too much on her plate with the construction site in Ulm. He pinched the bridge of his nose, took another sip of coffee, then went back to the first page of the thick file for the third time, hoping the information would do him a huge favor and stick to his brain.

Unable to sleep, he had come to his office early. He had kissed Avelyn’s parted lips a couple of times, made her smile in her sleep, then left her curled up in bed. He was painfully aware that, for now, there was nothing he could do for her or Sabine. He couldn’t waste hours worrying about what would happen next when work waited. He had to take things one step at a time, solve the problems as they came. The office phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts. He picked it up, mad at himself that he had spaced out again.

“Maxwell Blackmane.”

“Yes, Mr. Blackmane, this is Doctor Stevens. I’m sorry to bother you this early.”

“No, not at all.” Max leaned over his desk, resting his elbows on the edge and massaging his temple with the other hand. “What can I do for you?”

“Actually, I called to tell you there might be something I can do for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, these past two days I couldn’t take my mind off Miss Avelyn and her… unique condition.”

This got Max’s attention. When he had given him the news, the doctor had said there was nothing he could do to help Avelyn. He would monitor her pregnancy for the following month to see if the werewolf venom would have any impact on the fetus, but the next examination was scheduled in two weeks.

“I’m listening.”

“There might…” the old man hesitated for a few seconds, as if he wasn’t sure he had done the right thing by calling. “There might be a solution.”

“A solution to what? You’re not being very clear, doctor.”

“A solution to her turning on the next full moon.”

Max was silent for a moment. “That’s impossible.”

“Not exactly. You see, in the past few years, there have been rumors that the scientists are working on a sort of cure for the shifter venom.”

“Unfounded rumors. We’ve all heard of them and we know the authorization to research a possible cure hasn’t passed the Council.”

“Yes, mainly because the representatives of the shifter factions didn’t agree to it.”

“For good reason, too. Imagine humans discovering such a cure. The peace would go straight to hell because they would have the perfect weapon to get rid of us for good.”

“Sure, I completely agree. But let’s think of the positive outcomes for a second. If such a cure existed and worked, your bride would never have to turn and risk losing the baby.”