Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 45 A Lot Of Odd Stuff
She hated this att*itude. As welcoming as people were to hybrids in general, she wished the term would be abolished altogether. It led people to question their origins and when they did, they then judged them on their ancestry and not on them as an individual.
Adam nodded slowly.
“I know. I’m sorry. I’ve sought to change the lives of people within my pack and honestly, I’ve never had cause to question the lives of others outside my pack.” “Well, Lexi is Lexi and she has our best interests at heart. Her mother died protecting her from hunters ironically enough. Her mother was the witch and her father the daemon if you were wondering. Not that it matters.”
Adam took a seat in the chair opposite her.
“Her mother summoned him then?” He asked curiously. Ann snorted.
“God no. Her mother was a healer. Not all witches prance about n*ake*d and summon the chaos you know?” Ann sniggered.
“You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t have extensive knowledge of the other races as much as I would like to …” Adam said, “It’s something I wanted to change actually… in the schools within the pack boundary. It’s difficult to find lectures of the races that are willing to attend a place filled with wolves.”
Ann nodded sadly. As much as the wolves were prejudiced against other races, the other races could also be horribly biased against the wolves too. Fae especially.
“Well, I’m sure Lexi wouldn’t mind discussing what she knows of her heritage with you. If you wanted more, then I guess I can ask her to reach out to some of her contacts.”
“There’s no rush. We have a good few years to refine the educational experience together.” Adam chuckled as Ann’s heart lurched p@infully at the thought of their time limit together.
“I wanted to take you to dinner though, by way of apology for my behavior this morning. You deserved better than that.”
Ann smiled gently at him.
“Dinner would be good actually, but, do you mind if we go back and get changed first? I’d rather not mix business with ple@sure and being in my work attire kinda spoils the fun a little.” She grinned.
‘Weren’t you in your work attire when he f*uc*ked us on this desk?’?Maeve smirked.
Ann’s cheeks flushed furiously as she ignored her and focused on Adam.
“Not a problem. We can swing by and freshen up a little.” He grinned with a devilish look in his eyes.
“No!” Ann said firmly. “Not before dinner.”
Adam’s face fell a little and if she didn’t know better she could have sworn that the barest trace of a pout sat on his lips.
‘You should tell him about your theory of the two b*tches… two witches… two WH*OREs… whatever you want to call them.’ Maeve interrupted gleefully.
‘Do you think now is a good time?’
‘You could always lead with the fact that your father returned your mother’s heirlooms to you…’
Ann’s face softened slightly as she subconsciously reached for the boxes on her desk and placed her hands protectively on top of them.
Not that Adam posed any risk to them, but it was rea*s*suring herself that she did still have them.
“What are those?” Adam asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the boxes. “Did somebody buy you gifts?” “It’s jewelry actually…” Ann teased with a smile.
Adam stood angrily and a dark look crossed his features. Suddenly Ann saw why people were terrified of him. At that moment, filled with anger, he looked as if he would destroy the world and everything in it.
She swallowed nervously and f0rced a light laugh. “I’m only teasing, Adam. It’s my mother’s jewelry. Unexpectedly, my father decided to return them to me and apologize for his earlier decision.”
The look of fury on his face dissipated, but a flicker of irritation remained as he sat down.
He rolled his shoulders as he tried to regain his composure a little and f0rced a tight smile.
“Please don’t play around like that Ann. I don’t want to be responsible for destroying something you hold dear just because of my wolf’s apparently completely irrational jealousy.” He warned lowly.
Both Ann and Maeve were a little shocked by this. They were contracted mates, not fated. There was no cause for him to be jealous at all as they weren’t really his, to begin with.
‘Maybe he’s enjoying finally getting his leg over.’ Maeve sniggered.
Anne ignored her and smiled apologetically at him. “There’s no need to be jealous of anything, Adam. I have no interest in pursuing anything or anyone outside of our contract, okay?” She attempted to rea*s*sure him.
Adam’s shoulders sagged a little and seemed to be appeased although his eyes were still sharp as he watched her intently.
Anne took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“Adam, I was chatting with Maeve earlier and I realized that there seems to be a lot of odd stuff happening around my stepmother and stepsister. In my mind, there’s just too much for it to be simply a coincidence but she thinks I might be overreacting. So… I guess I just wanted to chat with you about it a bit before I decided what to do.”
“Okay. Tell me what’s bothering you.” Adam said as he leaned back in the chair, his face suddenly serious.
Ann proceeded to explain her concerns and the more she spoke, the deeper Adam’s frown became. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he mulled Ann’s concerns over. “Ann, is there anything… ANYTHING at all that you remember when you changed at the banquet?” He asked seriously as his phone began to ring in his pocket.
Whilst Adam took the call, Ann racked her brains for any memories that remained of the night. It was as if every time she tried to grasp onto them, they slipped away from her, remaining out of reach.
Then suddenly she had it.
She slapped the table with her hands and stood up abruptly, her sudden movement startling Adam slightly. She looked at him with an expression of triumph as he quickly hung the call-up and she snorted loudly in disbelief at the fragment she had remembered.
“Oh my goddess, Adam. It was them! Narcissa and Ada! They f0rced my change!” she exclaimed indignantly. “Are you sure?” Adam growled as he stood warily as if she might attack him at any second.
“I’m positive, Adam! I’m having a hard time remembering anything from that night if I’m honest, but, right after I changed and when Narcissa grabbed hold of Ada, she asked her what she had done.”
Ann paced angrily around the side of her desk as Adam rushed over to her and took hold of her shoulders firmly. “Ann, are you absolutely sure?”
“Yes! The f*uc*king b*tch… Narcissa asked what she had done and Ada said she didn’t mean to. Narcissa was furious with her… I know that look, I’ve been on the receiving end of it many times.” Ann said, her voice shaking in disbelief.
“If that’s the case then I think you might well be right in your a*s*sumptions that they had something to do with the inactivity of your wolf… and perhaps that of your fathers too.” Adam frowned.
“I’ll f*uc*king k*il*l them,” Ann growled as Maeve surged