Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 140 Not Mad at You
Adam looked at her with a complex expression before leaning his neck back on the edge of the cushion and staring at the ceiling in resignation.
“I didn’t want you to worry…”
“Well, it’s a little late for that now.” Ann snapped, crossing her arms in front of her.
“Ann, be realistic, we’ve barely had time to breathe with everything that was going on..” “I don’t care, Adam… what happened? Why won’t you tell me?”
Adam lowered his chin again and reached for her arms, pulling them apart and taking hold of her hands with his. “I guess it’s more important now that we know the full details of NArcissa’s coven’s plot. Honestly, I thought the woman must have just slipped the guards and escaped…”
“What do you mean escaped, Adam? What about the Elders?”
Adam sighed heavily and stared at her intently.
“The Elders were contained easily enough, and we were even able to question a few of them. They said that Esmerelda had wormed her way into Tomas’s life a few years ago and that he had gradually changed his opinions and his stance on a lot of topics once he began spending more and more time with her. Eventually, it got to a point where they were barely ever apart. None of them thought to question it as he was old, had never found his fated mate and… well… male urges and all that.” He said clearing his throat.
“Esmerelda managed to give the guards the slip one night in the cells when they were transferring her to a more secure cell with better magic-nullifying qualities as the dampening cell wasn’t strong enough to inhibit her use of magic. We a*s*sumed she had escaped and despite our best efforts, she remained unaccounted for. The same night, every single one of the Elders that were left in the cells, including Tomas, were brutally k*il*led and dismembered.”
Ann gasped in horror.
“And you didn’t think to at least tell me about this? Warn me at all?” She squeaked.
“Well now that we know the containment facility exists, I’m fairly sure that Esmerelda should have been put on a one-way ticket there…” Adam grimaced as he sighed heavily, “Hindsight is a wonderful thing…” he smiled bitterly. Ann sat back on the sofa and thought for a while before she spoke again.
“So Esmerelda is out there somewhere… more than likely having returned to her Coven in order to either further their plans or concoct some other scheme.” She mused, clicking her tongue impatiently.
Without warning she stood and headed over to their walk-in wardrobe and slid the door to the side, disappearing inside momentarily before coming out and offering her hand to Adam.
“Can you put this back on for me?”
“What is it?” Adam asked as he took the item from her outstretched hand and smiled as he opened his palm. In his hand was the necklace that he had given to Ann, which had been inherited from his grandparents. If he hadn’t have been certain of its authenticity back then, Narcissa’s words had only strengthened his belief. His grandmother had never taken this off, and if even Narcissa had heard of his family’s resistance to dark magic, then this necklace most definitely was the real deal.
He stood and gently moved Ann’s hair to the side as he carefully fixed the necklace around her neck.
“I’m not mad at you, Adam…” Ann said softly as he smoothed her hair back and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “I’m just sad that you didn’t tell me. We need to look into this as soon as I’m crowned, and we’re installed at the palace. She can’t be left running around unchecked.”
Adam nodded silently.
He regretted not telling her, but at the time he truly thought that it was for the best. He would do anything to protect his Luna… his mate. Even if that meant hiding things from her that wasn’t important.
He knew that he would have to work hard to change that mindset because he had a feeling that neither Ann nor Maeve, would stand for any sort of secrecy between them… and he had to agree.
Ann had decided that it would be prudent to always keep this necklace on, removing it only for cleaning, in order to protect herself from any future attacks that might be directed her way from the Excidium Coven and its members.
As she leaned backward against Adam’s chest, she couldn’t help but feel that things were going to get a lot worse, before they got any better.
“Do you really want to live at the Palace of Kings?” Adam asked as he wrapped his arms tightly around her front, nuzzling his face into the side of her neck and sending a shiver of anticipation through her at the contact.
“Mm.” Ann replied distractedly, “It’s required for the reigning royal to be housed there as their permanent residence. It doesn’t mean that we can’t spend nights away from the palace, but it will be our main residence I’m afraid. Why? Are you not keen on it?”
Adam grunted as he kissed the curve of her neck and brushed his lips over the area where her mark sat, eliciting a stifled m*oa*n from between her lips.
“It’s not that I don’t want to, princess, but what about our pack, the Dark Moon?”
“It can still be managed effectively from a distance, besides, you have Allen here to keep an eye on things whilst you deal with royal duties, and Lexi will be here too.”
Adam snorted as he lifted his head suddenly.
“Why does that not sound rea*s*suring?”
Ann chuckled in response as she turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up at him through her lashes.
“Are you saying you don’t trust my best friend, the sister that I chose for myself, to behave herself while we’re otherwise engaged?” Ann smirked.