Blood Alpha (Chosen Mate Series 1) [Complete]

Chapter Twenty Three

"That's because you love him".

"Yes, a lot" I nodded. A thought occurred to me. "You don't have a mate" I stated, "but yet you weren't at the Mating Ritual last year".

"No. I was in the process of taking over as Alpha, and I didn't think it was a good time to take a mate. Plus, I have my eye on someone and she isn't of age yet". He smirked down at me, eyes glistening with slight mischief.

I laughed slightly, "you seemed to have it all planned out. Just like Layton". I shook my head as I smiled to myself, thinking of my husband. "Poor girl". My words made Valentine pause, and he frowned softly. "Did I upset you?" I asked.

"How much do you know of Layton's past?" Valentine questioned. There was a heavy pause, as we carried on walking, and I wondered how to answer. I cleared my throat, and looked ahead into the forest.

"I know everything" I replied breezily, pretending not to be affected by the conversation turn. "Why do you ask?"

"So you know about Alyssa then?" he blurted out. As soon as he mentioned Layton's mother, I skidded to a stop. My entire body frozen, as I looked up at the blonde haired Alpha. Valentine had a serious look on his face, so I knew that he knew about Layton's secret.

"I am the first person Layton told. If he finds out that you know, it'll destroy him. And he'll think I told you, and he'll never trust me again. You can never tell him you know, if you do I don't know what he'd do" I worried.

Valentine looked at me for a minute or so; a serious, hard, expression on his face. "After Layton killed Alyssa, he shipped a box of her stuff back to her father – my grandfather. But Layton didn't check the boxes, and there was a diary in there. She wrote a lot in it".

I took a deep breath, tears filling up in my eyes, as I shook my head. I was mortified for Layton. "Who's read it?" I choked out, biting my bottom lip in worry.

"Only me. I unpacked it a few months back. Aunt Alyssa wasn't close to my family, so they didn't unpack her stuff. They put it straight into storage. It was only as I sorted through it, that I found them" Valentine replied, and I let out a relieved breath.

"You can never tell anyone you know. This is the last time it will ever be mentioned. When Layton told me, it took a lot for him to do so and now that I know, he never wants to revisit it. If he were to find out that you know, he would never live down the humiliation. It would ruin his confidence".

Valentine paused, and we looked at each other for a moment, before he spoke. "I was so hoping you were going to say that she didn't rape him that--"

"Don't say it like that" I cut him off, cringing.

"Sorry. I just can't believe it. I was hoping you were going to tell me that nothing had happened, that was what I was hoping for". He paused again, I could see the serious look in his eyes. "I sometimes forget that Layton was once just a boy".

"Let's not talk about this anymore". I began to walk again, and Valentine followed me. "You must never talk of this again, Valentine".

Valentine chuckled softly, "that's Alpha to you". He was trying to lighten and change the conversation, and for that I was glad. I laughed at him, before playful swatting his arm. "And hitting an Alpha, who do you think you are Gemini Burn?"

"That's Gemini Vetteriano to you" I playfully poked my tongue out at him.

Later that evening, Evan and I sat on the couch. I was watching a movie, and Evan was studying a textbook on Heart Disease. It was quiet, but not awkward. "Are you hungry?" I asked him, as my phone buzzed with a message.