Alpha Isaiah ✔️

TWENTY THREE

"I'm not very interesting," I admit, shrugging as I look at the painting behind his desk. It's an oil painting of his father...one I can only imagine he would like to burn in the fire on the other wall. When the rebellion seizes this place, it's going to be the first thing I destroy.

"Do you want to live in the Love Pack forever?"

There's more to that question than what he is innocently proposing. He's really asking, do you see yourself living here?

"Honestly...I don't know where my future is heading," I admit honestly. Once we take over the Pack, his manor, my life's direction will cease to be so clear. I've spent forever wanting revenge for my family's deaths. Nothing else has ever had meaning comparable to that.

"Is it bad of me to say I don't know if I want to live in the Passion Pack forever?" he asks gently, the slightest wince creasing between his dark brows.

Seems as though it's the first time he's admitted that to himself, let alone anyone else.

"Wow, who do I need to tell that to in order to make you lose your position as Alpha?" I joke, although the amusement hardly registers.

"If only it were that easy," he smiles, although his eyes are sad. "Do you plan to work, or study?"

I'm almost flattered by that. He thinks I'm a Noble's daughter, and yet deep enough to want something more with my life than to be forced about by authority. I suppose first impressions are hardly fair, and haven't proven to mean anything since I met Isaiah. He's almost the complete opposite of what I was imagining he would be like.

"I would love to study," I say softly, glancing down at his hands.

They are gloved. They always are, when he's had to be an Alpha for the day, and yet something in what it signifies bites at my already churning stomach. He doesn't want to find his mate. Doing so would be detrimental for him...

"Study what?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't had the chance to think about it." I rub the back of my neck. Seems like such a far away dream. If I'm studying, Isaiah will no longer be Alpha...He may even be dead.

"Do you believe in the Rebellion's rhetoric?" he asks suddenly.

My heart plummets in my chest.

There's no amusement in his eyes as he stares down at me, suddenly so close I'm afraid he will see the sweat gathering at my brow, see the little fight his question gave me.

I force a smile onto my face, and nudge his arm with my hand. "That's too personal to ask..."

He grabs my wrist, the quiet firmness of it making me ridged. I can't pull away, so I just stand still, staring up at his face and searching eyes. Has he caught me? Has Zire divulged my secret to him, and now he's going to toss me into a prison with no mercy?

Was everything he said about his feelings for me even real?

"Seriously, though?" he murmurs.

Gently, I tug away from his grasp, clearing my throat. "Obviously not, I'm here, working for you."

His eyes close for the briefest moment, and his chest deflates with relief.

"Thank you," he responds, smiling tightly. "I can't blame my people for hating me, but it's nice to hear that from someone who is actually in my space, that is getting a chance to know me."

I share his relief, for entirely different reasons. He doesn't know...He felt vulnerable, admitting all that he did to me, and he doesn't want me having any doubts about him. And strangely, I feel bad for lying to him, the guilt like a sharp edged shovel, driving itself into the pit of my stomach over and over again, until nothing is left but a cold chasm of darkness.