Chapter 27
The burgundy strappy dress flowed down just above my knees. It wasn't revealing but it snitched on the right places and seemed perfect. After getting all ready, I descended from the steps to meet with Wayne who had been bothering me for the past hour to leave the room without getting my hair done.
I didn't listen to him. Not once.
His gaze met with mine and crashed. His eyes quickly spread, roaming over my body. It had been a long while since he had seen me dress up.
"You wish you fucked this." I stated, rolling my eyes and rushing closer to the door.
His loss.
His lips parted and his mouth remained open for the next couple seconds at my words. I had been irritated since yesterday, since he had rejected me and my advances and hadn't given me enough information to believe him that he still loved me.
"Let's go. Aren't we getting late?" I asked, snapping him back to reality and forcing his eyes to level with mine instead of my ass that barely went in through the short dress.
The hunger was visible in his eyes but yet, he didn't make a move. A strange pull controlled him.
"Y—yes." He snapped to reality and reached the entrance door with me. Pushing it open, he let me out first before leaving.
The engine of a black SUV was already running with a familiar driver sitting inside it. He stepped out and opened the passenger doors for us before getting inside the car and driving.
My breath became shallow and I tried not to panic. It had been a long time since I had attended any party or an event. The last one went terrible as far as I could think.
Wayne secretly slipped his hand forward, pressing his warm ones over mine. I trembled and pulled my hand from the leather seats of the car and collected them between my legs.
"Don't show me an attitude, Clara." He said, a little warning at the back of his tone.
The streets and roads were wet with the rain that poured a while ago. It was dark, only the light of the moon was brightening up the sky. No radio played in the vehicle so the sound of the tires running into poodles and Wayne's comments were clear.
I still ignored him.
He sighed and continued to look outside of the window. I did the same until we reached the place of the charity gala. It was held in a ballroom twenty minutes away from the house.
A while ago, just before I began getting ready, Wayne informed me about the event and what all was going to take place. It was a small event, not many people were invited but small in his dictionary were at least over a hundred people.
There were going to be a couple of dances along with some valuable, historic items that were going to be put up for auction. The main goal of the event was to raise money for a charitable cause.
A charitable cause.
That's where I got confused. What was the charitable cause? I asked Wayne about it but he didn't say anything, instead, he left me alone to get ready for the evening.
Cheerfully loud voices exploded as the driver stopped the car at the entrance of the ballroom. My ears perked, listening to everything. I wasn't here to enjoy or party, I was here to know about what Wayne had been doing all along.
My heart skipped a beat when he snaked an arm around my waist as if I was his girlfriend. I inhaled slowly and followed him to the entrance where only my ID was checked before I was allowed inside the ballroom.
Just as I entered, slow, melodious music echoed in my ears as the couple's danced on the floor. We had gotten a bit late but not too late to miss everything.
I stared as hesitation rose over Wayne's face as he watched someone else. His hand left my body and he turned his face to me. After giving me a smile, he said, "Make yourself comfortable. Have a couple of drinks. I'll be around here."
It was an easy way of saying 'going to ditch you to do something secretive'.
I didn't budge him, instead, I let him to go and as he began walking, I studied his every move and to everyone he spoke with. Some of them, I couldn't recognize but others were familiar.
I stayed by the bar and investigated him. When confusion collected in my head, I looked around to find my assistant, Allison.
She was just around the corner, dancing and fiddling with her friends when I called her over to me.
"Yes? How can I help you?" She asked, her tone dulling.
"Who's that man?" I directed my hand toward the man in a royal blue suit. He was old, not too old, maybe about forties and he was shaking his hands with Wayne before they began talking.
"The Alpha of Silvertail Pack." Allison responded, only in a few seconds.
"Hmm..." I leaned back against the bar, studying the man and Wayne.
What did they have in common? They both were Alphas.
"What about that one? The one beside to him." I questioned her out of curiosity.
"The Alpha of the Goldridge Pack."
My heart skipped a beat or two before I rose up and straight my posture. There were two Alpha's standing beside Wayne, talking to him. My eyes scurried around, looking at the other faces dressed in perfect suits. Most of them were Alpha's from the packs nearby, the same packs Wayne despised and wanted to end for his own benefit. For years, he wanted to gain power and strength by taking down other packs and suddenly, he was befriending them.
I sucked in a sharp breath as my curiosity ran wilder than I had thought. Taking a few steps, I neared them, wanting to hear their conversations but the music was too loud to be able to hear anything.
"Are you spying on your own mate?" Allison followed me, I guess that was her job now as I was her Beta.
"Mind your business." I rolled my eyes and gave her a dirty look. She nearly turned around to leave but I stopped her. "Wait."
"Yes?"
"What are other Alpha's doing here? I'm sure you've attended quite a few charity events so what is this all for? What is Wayne hiding from me?" I asked her, hoping she would provide me with some information as I couldn't hear anything and my own mate wouldn't tell me anything.
He still treated me like an outsider.
"I can't tell anything."
I stared at her with wild, prowling eyes before her tongue began running once more, out of fear.
"I don't know. There are meetings between the Alpha's and usually, I am ordered to stay outside with the other wolves." She quickly said, worry in her tone.
Hmm.
This was getting too long and boring.
When I neared Wayne, all I could make out were whispers and little words that barely made any sense. The longer I stayed, I could hear more things, random things.
"It's a new strain. The best of best healers in my pack aren't able to figure out how to deal with it." The Alpha from the Silvertail Pack said, leaning real close to Wayne so no one else would hear it.
It took me a lot of concentration to hear them but still, nothing made sense.
"Bring your healers to me. I have a better chance to explain them what it is and where it started from. Maybe then, they'll have some suggestions." Wayne frowned and said, his face covered in a tight expression.
I grabbed another drink from the waiters passing by and began walking away from where the Alpha's were all standing. While walking, I slowly sipped on the drink. My heart thudded. I tried to shake off the fear of the unknown but it wasn't going away.
It took me seconds to realize what was the problem.
The strain—it was a new strain of the poison my mother and my uncle formed a year ago. The healers were helping. Wayne needed their help.
But why?
My mother fled the town a year ago, right before I did. She left no tracks and never returned.
How was it possible? How could the poison still exist? The last of it was taken by Wayne who had kept it in his protection as the Alpha.
I was sure he would've destroyed it by now.
Shaking my head, I pushed away all those thoughts. I could be wrong—terribly wrong. I only heard a few things and whilst it didn't make sense, I couldn't jump to a conclusion and think the poison was still between us.
A very familiar scent reached my nostrils and my attention perked once more. I set aside my glass and took a whirl around the room, searching for the scent and where it came from.
It was the scent belonging to Thomas' pack. All his pack members had the same icky, stench that wouldn't leave their bodies even after I had murdered them.
My skin prickled. The music got louder and while tracking the scent, I got lost in the crowd.
Suddenly, a hand looped around my elbow, pushing and dragging me out of the crowd. The stench grew stronger, almost as if it was behind me.
I pushed the hand away and turned around to meet with Thomas' Beta, the vile one I had yearned to kill for a long time.
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