Alastair:
Merari was hysterical as she informed me of this potential reality and she was almost certain that she was not imagining her suspicions of Agnes. While the assumption caught me off guard, I would not have put it past her to do so.
Nevertheless, I knew that with the complexity of the suspect in question and her relation to my delta, this would not be an easy problem with an easy resolution. I had convinced her of as much that night during our conversation. She wasn’t happy about it-not by a long shot. However, I was at least able to calm her down enough to persuade her to allow us to reconvene at a later time.
That allotted me a few days to consider how to go about pursuing the situation further. Unfortunately, Valene’s recent mental instability was another concern that kept her at bay for a few days as we both tried keeping her close on our radar.
Fortunately, Ares made it no secret of his concerns and devotion to Valene’s well being. He assertively volunteered and it wasn’t like Merari and myself did not need the assistance. Valene had been closed from everyone. The only time she’d come out of that little room at the inn was to grab alcohol or feed, the feeding being the worst of it. She had reverted back to frenzied feeding when no one was keeping a close enough eye on her to stop her. Most of the time, however, she spent most of the hours of her day in her room. When in there, no one was allowed in.
Everynight, though, I’d walk past the inn. I knew what window was hers, thanks to Ares. The light always seemed to be on, and that ethereal music that she created from her cello could always be heard.
“How is she?” I asked after Ares patched through to me via our alpha link.
“I would say that she is alright…for the time being,” he said through the link.
I couldn’t help but find his choice of words intriguing. “And? What does that mean exactly?”
“It is a usual day for her, Alastair,” he replied. “She left her apartment, fed, drank, and locked herself back in…I imagine she will be out again in a few hours.”
It was usually once a day that Valene would leave. Going back out…that was something different.
“I thought you said that it was a usual day for her.”
I had caught him up in a lie. Why did he lie? Ares never felt the need to lie to anyone. In fact, the one thing that I respected the alpha for was the fact that he was brutally honest, whether that honesty was brutal or courteous.
“You have a lot on your plate already, Alastair. You should not worry yourself about Valene right now-”
“She is my little girl, Ares!” I hissed. “I will always concern myself with her.”
“As you should,” he countered. “I never said that you should not concern yourself with her, alpha. However, Shadow Veil needs all of your attention right now.”
I knew that he was right but it was not easy to simply relinquish my emotional obligations over to him.
“You mentioned that she fed today.” I swiftly changed the subject.
I heard his frustration through the sigh he responded with before answering my question. “Yes, she has fed today.” I was positive that he knew where I was going with this.
“How much, Ares?”
Silence ensued, following my question.
“Ares…how much?” I asked him again.
“She fed two fulls today ... .before I intervened on the third.”
“Two….two fulls?”
Two fulls. Two fulls meant…Valene killed two humans today. She was getting worse and Ares was…
“And you decided that the third time was the charm, is that it?!” I hissed. “Why did you not stop her before then, Ares?!”
“She was obviously hungry, Alastair. Please do not act as if you do not know who I am.”
He was right, he was. I knew exactly who Ares Barbosa was. That was the main reason why I was concerned about him being the one to watch over my Valene.
Ares was never one hungry for power or the need for accolades of brutality and status, though he had plenty of it. No, I dare say, if the boy had a choice, he’d have never become alpha in the first place.
Another thing about the young alpha was the fact that he was not one for baseless executions. However, he was the purest definition of a neutral party when it came to humans and inhumans. He had nothing against humans as they were not the ones who took his family away from him. Nonetheless, he acknowledged as well that we were at the top of the food chain and that humans were a source of our diet. In the young alpha’s mind, it was the order of things and there was no need to ignore the hard truths.
“Two and a half bodies, Ares,” I said. “That…that is not acceptable.”
“Alastair, if my mate needs nourishment then that is what she shall have.”
I still wasn’t used to hearing him refer to her as such. Valene…my little girl, Ares’ mate. I could not wrap my head around it.
“Ares these are innocent people’s lives. Do you really think she’ll be alright with knowing that you allowed her to do this once she comes back to reality?”
“I do not care whether she is upset with me or not if she returns to her normal feeding habit.” He was quite honest in his stance.
“You would really allow her to take the life of a child’s family…a father…a mother…as someone did to you?” I asked.
Ares replied with a chuckle. I knew then what his answer was.
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “Alastair,” he sighed. “For the first time in my life, I cannot hear someone’s thoughts or…feel her emotions…the first person-the only person whose thoughts and emotions I care about…the one person who I am supposed to be connected to fully, and yet I have never been so disconnected. So, if feeding on a million people will give her peace for but a moment…I would serve it to her on a platter.”
It was then that I realized, despite the short amount of time that the young alpha knew my little girl, he was completely and utterly devoted to her. He truly loved her as I did Merari.
“Have you told her this?” I asked him before I could think better of it. “The extent of your feelings for her?”
Yet again, I heard another chuckle, one more guttural than the one before sounding over the link.
“I have not,” he said.
“Why?”
“Simply put…she is not ready to hear it, Alastair. She has…far too much weighing down on her right now. I do not want to add yet another thing-good or bad onto her plate.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Maybe it may add a burden. Or maybe it will help her handle what she’s going through better than she is.”
“Maybe, but as of now….we will not be finding out,” said the young lycan. “Almeida is trying to patch through. I will keep you updated on Vale.”
“Thank you.”
“And Alastair…it may not make it any better for you but those two bodies…they were not worth the life given to them.”
Before I could respond, the link cut out.
I tried not to worry so much about Valene, but it most certainly was difficult. Especially after the bloody news I had just received from Ares.
“Alas.”
I was so into my thoughts that I had not even realized that Merari had walked through the door.
“Rari,” I greeted, trying to quell the butterflies in my stomach at her nearness.
“Have you thought more about what you’re going to do with Agnes?”
“Merari, I have had quite a few thoughts about the situation, but I cannot simply act on assumption. You know that.”
“So what? You think that I am lying?!” she hissed incredulously. “Do you not believe me?!”
“Of course! Of course, I believe you, Merari.” I stepped forward and softly squeezed her shoulders at an attempt at reassurance. “I know that you would never make up lies and I know that you mean to find the truth of what happened to Vale, and so do I. You…you do believe that…don’t you?”
She stood in silence for a moment before reluctantly nodding. “ I know,” she replied. “I know. “
Merari wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my chest and it nearly sent me and Aziz through the bloody roof. I could not help kissing the top of her head as we stood there for a long and silently moment of comfort.
“If Agnes did do this,” I said, finally breaking the silence as I had to confess that something had been weighing on my mind about this situation. “That calls into question…my delta’s loyalty. What if he…had something to do with this as well?”
Merari finally pulled away from me, her eyes to the floor as she shook her head. “I…know that it may seem that way but…but I cannot help but feel like he does not know anything about what happened.” She looked up into my eyes. “Alastair, I do not think he had anything to do with it, but I do think that there was a second person involved.”
“Then we will get to the bottom of it. I swear on my life that we will,” I tried for her to trust me. “Do you have confidence in me?” I asked. “Do you trust me?”
She exhaled, stressfully. “I do,” she dropped her head on my chest. “I do trust you, Alas,” countered Merari with a distressful countenance. “But…I am afraid for our daughter.”
“I know ... .so am I,” I confessed. “But we will get through this…as we get through everything else.”
“Everything else?” she pulled away from me again with a smirk across her thick lips. “I’m not sure that we’ve gotten through the last thing that we went through, Alas. ” Merari said. “As far as I’m concerned, you are still on probation.”
I pulled her closely into my arms, looking down at her as she looked up at me. I swear this woman could disarm me with a simple lift of her brow.
“Well then I will work diligently to get off of probation,” I said to her.
She smiled up at me and as she did, all I could think about was how much I truly loved this woman and what I was going to do to fix this between us.
Finding Valene’s killer was the first step to both of us healing, that much was for sure.