The Silver Throne

Chapter 34

[ edited on July 17, 2020 ]

After breakfast, Alexandra and her brothers lounged on the sofas in the library. Tall columns of books towered over them, the highest of which lay reachable thanks to the wooden ladders attached to the shelves. She and Carlos fought for space on the largest maroon settee until Brian sighed and moved to the one adjacent to theirs, giving both of his siblings enough space to occupy it. While Brian absorbed himself on the book he picked up from the shelves, Mac curled itself at Alexandra's feet, enjoying the soft carpet.

Grace entered the room holding a tray of refreshments and snacks. Although Alexandra remained quiet, she found it funny that Grace even bothered to bring them food when they have just finished breakfast. She placed the tray on the table in front of them and, after Alexandra thanked her, proceeded to leave the room. Carlos didn't complain at all. He reached over and popped a biscuit into his mouth.

Christian joined them shortly, finished with a phone call from Sam, and claimed the seat situated right next to Alexandra.

Moaning in appreciation, Carlos grabbed the whole bowl of biscuits and rested it on his lap. "These are good, you have to try them." Everything tasted good for Carlos. He picked one up and attempted to hand feed Alexandra as if she were a baby. She grimaced and pushed his hand away, pointing out that they just had breakfast. Brian shushed them without looking up from his book. That only earned him an eye roll from Carlos. He ate the one in his hand and proceeded to lower his voice in a whisper. "More for me."

The door opened and Grace entered once again, though she didn't head to them. She held some cleaning supplies on one hand and disappeared into one of the aisles between bookshelves.

Alexandra drowned out the sound of Carlos eating as she stared at the unlit fireplace before them. The sofas crowded over the aged hearth, sending her a vision of Nicholas as a child. She pictured him playing with plastic wolves in front of the warm fire, his mother sitting on the sofa behind him, as snow blanketed the world outside. She then wondered about how Nicholas was faring now and hoped he didn't do something he'd regret during his conversation with his father. She didn't know what she would do if she were in his situation — if her father ever killed her mother out of jealousy. The unthinkable deed was too dark for her to ponder upon for long. Alexandra sought to distract herself from it by looking at her friend.

She caught Christian staring at her, and she couldn't ignore the sadness in his eyes. Alexandra was partly to blame for encouraging his feelings when she knew they were misplaced. It would have been a lot easier for her if he had found his mate first. She would gladly shoulder the sadness if it meant he wouldn't feel as bad as he felt now.

"Where are you going?" Carlos asked around a mouthful of biscuits when Alexandra stood from her seat.

Alexandra stated the obvious. "To get a book."

She walked down the first aisle, scanning the titles for anything interesting. Her concentration didn't last long. As she absently skimmed through the titles, her thoughts drifted back to her friend. Why he bothered to be interested in her if she wasn't his mate was beyond her. It was unusual for wolves to spend their efforts at something that's bound to be fruitless. She was, however, stupid enough to go along with him.

His footfalls drew near and she paused from the pretense of reading through book titles to look at him. Christian stopped right next to her, looking unsure of himself. It was the first time she saw him like that. More than once did he open his mouth but closed it again when no words came out. He flushed after several attempts.

This behavior of his was far from the usual manner he interacted with her before, even earlier during breakfast he seemed comfortable with speaking to her. It made her dread what he was about to say. She knew this was about their blunder when they decided to push fate aside and tried to write their own story.