Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 193 Dread and Excitement
Lexi paced anxiously in her father’s lounge as she waited for him to finish gathering his things. Steven stood at the side of the doorway to his room like a statue, his stoic face impassive, and the only visible movement was his eyes as they followed Lexi’s pacing.
“You’ll wear a hole in the carpet if you continue walking the same patterns.” He observed dryly. Lexi paused and looked at him in shock, removing her hands from her mouth where she had been gnawing on the edges of her fingernails as a wry smile found its way onto her lips.
“Well, f**k me, Steven, you do speak.”
“I’d rather not.” He answered flatly, his eyes remaining fixed on her father’s doorway. “What? f**k me? Or speak?” Lexi teased.
Steven chose not to answer, only sighing slightly and crossing his arms in front of him. Lexi chuckled and waved her hand dismissively at him.
“I’d probably break you anyway.” Lexi smirked, “Things do tend to get brittle with age, don’t they? And considering you’re a wraith… I’ll take a wild guess and say that you’re pretty much desiccated in that area… like those little slivers of coconut. Imagine… desiccated p***s. I wonder if it’s as flaky when…”
“Lexi, stop teasing Steven.” Her father admonished halfheartedly in an amused tone from behind her, as she turned to grin at him unapologetically.
“To be fair he started it.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, he spoke… gave me advice actually… that’s not a Steven thing to do.” Lord Brarthroroz chuckled.
“Indeed it is not. Perhaps he is as perplexed as I am about your excitement for meeting this… Allen again.” Lexi scowled fiercely at her father.
“I am most definitely NOT excited.”
“No? I can feel the tension Lexi, and you’re giving off a scent that smells eerily close to fear.”
“f**k off. You’re wrong. I’m not afraid of seeing him.”
“Sure. The eight thousand-year-old Daemon Lord is wrong… keep telling yourself that sweet daughter of mine.”
He chuckled as he stepped towards Steven and examined his face carefully.
“Did you really give her advice?” He asked, with an eyebrow raised.
Steven met Lord Brarthroroz’s gaze with a withering one of his own and sighed lightly.
“Okay, okay,” Lord Brarthroroz chuckled holding his hands up in front of himself, “I won’t ask again. Is everything ready for us to leave?”
Steven nodded curtly as he turned and opened the door to his room, escorting them through to a room in the back
“Wow Steven… so predictable. Why is everything Black and Grey… just because you’re dead doesn’t mean that you can’t have a little color in your life.” Lexi muttered as they traipsed through his room.
As soon as he opened the door to the back room though, Lexi was immediately hit with the myriad of colors that seemed to swirl incessantly within a multitude of stone pillars around the edges of the room.
Lexi gaped at the mesmerizing effect wordlessly as her father patted her on the back.
“Don’t be so prickly with Steven, hmm? His world and what he works with is full of color…”
“Geez, you’re not kidding, it’s like someone gave us LSD,” Lexi breathed before looking at her father’s
disapproving look and quickly adding, “Not that I know what that’s like… I mean… I’ve heard…”
“Predictable boring colors make it easier to relax. Unlike you, I prefer not to be stimulated constantly.” Steve quipped dryly as Lexi gaped at him.
“Oh, developed a sense of humor have you now? Nice. Salty. It suits you.” Lexi snapped sarcastically, fully aware of her father’s amusement at their exchange.
“Behave you two. You only have to stomach each other’s company fora few minutes. Steven, if you would be so kind…” Lord Brarthroroz said as he gestured to the swirling ma*s*ses of color.
Steven wasted no time in approaching one of the gate-like structures and stood in front of it for a second or two before the colors stabilized and became an almost insipid sort of grey. He looked back over his shoulder at Lexi and her father and nodded.
Lexi’s father turned to her with a smile and gestured toward the grey abyss that waited for them. “Shall we?”
She chewed the inside of her cheek and took a deep breath as her stomach turned somersaults.
The mere thought of seeing Allen again filled her with dread and excitement. The conflicting emotions were quickly beginning to make her feel nauseous and the rapid beating of her heart wasn’t helping either. What would she say to him? What was he going to say to her? Did she even want that proud, arrogant, self-absorbed arse of a wolf in between her legs?
Much to her disgust, her heart was screaming yes at the same time that her head was screaming no. He hated her kind and had done nothing but make his distaste known for her since the very first moment that he found out what she was. She wasn’t an i***t. These Romeo and Juliet love stories just didn’t happen for people like her.
And what about Greyson? The pull she felt to him, as well as Allen, was undeniable. How was she supposed to choose between them? Was she supposed to choose at all?
“Lexi? Is everything okay?” Her father asked with genuine concern in his eyes. “Yes, Papa. Sorry. Let’s go.” She mumbled as she forced her expression into a cold, emotionless stare. With a deep breath, as inconspicuous as she could possibly make it, she strode forwards toward the portal and stepped through, dreading the unknown reception that she would find on the other side.
Steven and Lord Brarthroroz stared at each other for a long time before a knowing look passed between the two of them.
“It appears this visit may be even more eventful than I originally anticipated.” Lord Brarthroroz chuckled as he stepped past Steven and into the portal that would take them into the heart of the Dark Moon Pack.