Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 235 Familiar
Ann cleared her throat loudly as she and Aoife made their way across to where Allen stood with his arms wrapped around Lexi protectively.
Lexi moved away from Allen quickly and plastered an overly bright smile on her face as soon as she noticed Aoife at Ann’s side.
“Hey! I’m Lexi,” She grinned broadly, much to Ann’s surprise.
She had been fully expecting a frosty reception from both Allen and Lexi but had planned on chalking it up to the current circumstances if Aoife had asked about it.
“Yes! I know, Felix had introduced me to your father and he mentioned that we were around the same age, and wondered if we had met through school or something before.”
“Oh he did, did he?” Lexi asked with a raised eyebrow, “What else did my dear old papa tell you about me then?”
“Nothing incriminating, I promise.” Aoife giggled.
“I find that hard to believe.” Lexi scoffed, “With all of the many shenanigans and thoughtless tomfoolery that I’ve gotten up to in the past, I’m a positive repository for incriminating tales.” She replied in mock outrage.
Allen and Ann exchanged an incredulous glance. Was this even the same Lexi? “Listen, we don’t want you to feel like you’re alone while Felix is off getting rid of the rogue issue, so we were thinking, maybe drinks and nibbles? A movie maybe or just a general chit-chat, a proper girl’s night. What do you think?” Lexi continued amiably.
Ann wanted to pinch herself. She wasn’t sure what was funnier, the sudden change in Lexi’s demeanor, or the way she was speaking to Aoife. If this was an act, it was an incredibly good one. “Oh, that would be lovely! I was just telling Queen Ann, that there are far too many males back at the Dubois residence.” She grimaced before quickly adding, “No offense Allen, of course.” Lexi chuckled lightly.
“No, I can understand that for sure. Being surrounded by these Alpha males beating their
chests all the time…” She trailed off as she rolled her eyes heavily and giggled with Aoife. “Hey!” Allen protested weakly with a wounded look on his face.
“Not you.” Lexi waved her hand dismissively, “You’re a softie really.”
“I resent that…” he muttered, jamming his hands in his pockets sulkily as Ann stifled a chuckle.
“Listen,” Lexi continued, “We have to be at the Elders Court shortly, and I need to go over a few things with Ann, would…”
“Oh! Say no more! I have plenty to keep me occupied while I’m here.” Aoife interrupted, smiling bashfully.
“You do?” Ann asked, her suspicions instantly aroused.
Aoife nodded shell.
“Yeah, I’m taking a couple of courses that I need to study up on. Nothing too fancy, but I wanted to know more about the gardens and the plants within them back home, and Felix was good enough to find me a course that I could study from home. You can usually find me buried in books somewhere.” She laughed lightly, flushing a cute pink as she suddenly became embarrassed about her over-enthusiasm.
Ann couldn’t help but smile at her.
“Well, I’ll certainly know who to come to if there’s anything I want to know about the beautiful flowers here.” She said gently.
‘LET ME KEEP HER! SHE’S FREAKING ADORABLE! We can build her a little house in one of the gardens here and she can just potter about in her little garden, tending to her flowerbeds and…’ Maeve interrupted excitedly in her head, her voice so loud that Ann physically flinched from the shock.
‘Maeve we can’t keep her! She’s Felix”s wife!’ Ann replied in horror.
Maeve was silent for a while, but Ann could practically feel her mulling something over in her head. That foresight really didn’t prepare her for what she said next though.
‘What if… and hear me out… what if we got rid of Felix?’ Maeve said in a seemingly innocent voice that only made the sly grin on her face that little bit more sinister.
‘Maeve!’ Ann gasped.
‘What?! I’m just saying… she’s probably safer with us than she is at the fancy pants Dubois residence…’
‘Maeve, for the last time, no,’ Ann answered forcefully and if she didn’t know better she could have sworn that Maeve was pouting at her sullenly.
“We can come grab you after we’re finished with the trial if you like?” Lexi said as she linked arms with Ann.
“I’d like that very much.” Aoife said before waving and turning to leave.
But, halfway across the hall she paused and turned suddenly, seemingly hesitant to say what she was thinking.
“Thank you.” She blurted out finally as her pink blush turned to a deeper crimson, Ann and Lexi looked at each other in confusion.
“For what?” they asked, almost in unison.
“For being so nice. I’m not… I mean… people aren’t always so friendly. So, thank you for
treating me nicely.” She said as she curtsied again and whirled around, scurrying off through the doorway.
Ann and Lexi stood in silence for a few moments, both of them a little stunned at their brief interaction with Aoife.
Finally, Ann broke the silence as she turned to Lexi with a smirk.
“Okay, spill. Who are you and what have you done with Lexi?”
Lexi pouted sullenly at her.
“I don’t know what you mean. I was just being friendly like you told me to be.”
“Shenanigans and tomfoolery?” Ann grinned, “Since when have those words ever been present in any of the conversations you’ve had?”
“Don’t forget about the part where she said she was a positive repository for tales of…” Allen smirked as he leaned in towards them before Lexi interrupted his teasing by turning and batting him away in irritation.
“You can both f**k off.” She said as she let go of Ann’s arm and folded her arms in front of her defensively, “Look, she seems like she’s from a well-off family. Nobody is that softly spoken if they haven’t been brought up in a sheltered environment. I figured she would probably feel more comfortable if I sounded a little more like the hoity-toity types that she’s most likely used to mixing with.”
Allen chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her, paying no attention to her sulky face. “It was a bit of a shock… that’s all.” He said gently as she glared up at him. “I can be fancy too, you know. I just choose not to be ninety-nine percent of the time because I enjoy the reactions of people when I open my mouth.” She replied as a frown descended on her face, “Although, I can’t seem to shake the feeling that I know her from somewhere.”
“She does seem familiar, doesn’t she? Although I can’t place my finger on where I know her from either.” Ann said thoughtfully as she glanced at the antiquated old clock that stood against the far wall and sighed as soon as she saw the time.
“Come on, we can ponder this before we go and collect her,” Ann said as a slow smirk spread across her face. “We have an Elder to put through a trial.”
Lexi’s face seemed to light up as she realized the day of reckoning for Elder Linus had finally come.