BENEATH HER DARKNESS: The Alpha’s Little Demon Chapter 49
049 – Patrea
LUCY…
I stayed under the shower for a long time after my weapons training with Alpha Audrius. My hands and arms were tired, but I was happy because I was faster than I was yesterday. And if I continued practicing, I was sure I would be as fast as I was when I was still being mentored by Gargon in the underworld.
I just wish I was allowed to use fire so I could master it as well. But what choice do I have? I had no idea how long I should be hiding from my father. I was tired of being scared of him. I just want to have a normal life where I could enjoy my days with Adan and not have to fear that he would just appear out of nowhere and drag me back to his world.
I let out a sigh before I turned off the shower and proceeded to dry myself.
I wondered where Adan was. He should be home around this time and hopping in the shower with me, but I haven’t seen him since lunchtime, and it’s almost dinner time now.
I had just finished putting on clothes when a knock on the main door was heard. I grabbed the comb from my dresser and ran it over my hair as I made my way to open the door. An Omega greeted me with a wide smile on her face. “Lady Lucy, we will have dinner a bit earlier tonight. The Alpha is waiting in the dining room now.”
“The Alpha is home? Is he not coming up here?” I knew she just said he was waiting in the dining room, but my mind failed to accept that he didn’t come up to see me which he would always do as soon as his day was over.
“No, Lady Lucy. He’s already sitting at the dining table. He has guests joining for dinner.”
“I see. Do you know who they are?”
She shook her head and bit her bottom lip. We never ask questions, my Lady. But it’s a female, and the one with her looks like her security.”
“Oh, a female… Is she young or older?”
“She looked young. Perhaps almost the same age as you, Lady Lucy.” I bobbed my head before asking, “Are you sure I was requested at the dining table?”
“Yes,” she answered as she scratched her head. She might be confused by my questions, but I was already trying hard not to show my annoyance.
“Okay, tell him I’m going down soon,” I told her before closing the door, muting her from saying anything more. I closed my eyes and tried to control my breathing.
Who was that female? I knew we were expecting the witch of the red mountain, but Adan told me she was older, around forty or fifty. So if the guest was young, could it be the female Alpha Aurelius set him up with?
After I accidentally made my palm glow, I asked Adan on the same night if he were still interested in visiting the female his grandfather set him up with, but instead of answering me, he just told me to forget about it and began kissing me, so we ended up having s*e*x, and it just flew out of my mind.
But could she be the guest? Maybe Adan forgot to cancel, and now she was here to visit him instead.
I hurriedly changed into a dress, picking up an above-the-knee, red spaghetti-strap dress that accentuates my collarbones. I slipped on a thin cardigan that I left open so my dress would still show before heading downstairs.
I kept practicing the smile that I would give his guest because I was sure I would be scowling, so I had to control my facial expressions.
I finally reached the entrance to the dining room, and I let out a deep breath before smiling at the exact moment I turned the corner and entered the room. I was expecting a full room, but I only saw Adan and his guest at the table. Just the two of them.
My eyes darted toward the pet*ite female with plum-colored hair. I suddenly wished I had my red hair out, I was sure mine would be lovelier.
“Good evening,” I greeted no one, but my eyes were on the female, who was looking back at me but wasn’t smiling at all. So, I didn’t give her one too.
“What took you so long to come down?”
“I’m sure you don’t want to know the things I did,” I answered sarcastically as I sat on the chair on the right side of the Alpha, while the female was on his left. No one was saying anything, and no one was moving to eat too.
“So,” I spoke again, my eyes shifting between Adan and his guest. “Should I be jealous or what?”
“What?” They said in unison, both their faces formed a scowl, and my heart began thudding loudly. sh*t! I was digging my own grave.
Adan’s face darkened, and I knew I would be in trouble.
“I mean to say, how are you liking Alpha Stone?” I gave her the smile that I practiced upstairs, even if I wanted to scratch her face. She was so pretty.
She shrugged her shoulders, and her mouth twitched into a smile, but it was gone in seconds. “Well, let me ask you, do you like Alpha Stone?”
I feigned a shock and looked at Adan before forcing a chuckle and placing my hand on my chest. “Alpha Stone? No, I don’t like him that way. But he is a good Alpha.”
I smiled at her, nodding my head as if I were trying to make her believe what I said. I had no idea what I was doing. I was certainly jealous of her and whatever her connection with Adan was. But for some reason, if Adan wanted me to pretend in front of her, then what choice do I have?
A wide smile crept across the female’s face as she giggled softly. “Me too. I don’t like him.”
My eyes widened. I parted my mouth to ask why, but Adan cleared his throat and beat me into talking.
“If you’re both done stating how much you both dislike me, then maybe we can proceed with dinner.” His voice was as cold as the snow, and as much as I wanted to look at him, I didn’t.
I wasn’t sure if he was disappointed in me or pissed off, but I was with him. I just needed to get through this meal, and by the grace of the Goddess, this female wouldn’t spend the night here, or I’d summon fire and burn down the entire packhouse.
“What took you so long?” Her voice came out soft but sounded irritated, and my eyes darted to where her gaze was. A taller man, bigger than Adan, entered the dining room and sat next to her with a grim expression on his face. Was this the security the Omega said she came here with?
“Do you really want to know what I did in the toilet?” He asked with a face void of any emotions before he leaned his face closer to her, making her jerk her head back. “I can give you a detailed explanation of what I did in there.”
“Blade, you can bring that discussion to your room. Not here.”
“You are certainly not giving me the same room as him. I can share a room with Lucy.”
“You know me?” I asked at the same time Adan spoke.
“Not happening. Unless you want to share a room with Lucy and I. Well, two females are not that bad…”
“Can we f*uc*king eat?” The man Adan called Blade growled at the same time I threw a glare at Adan for his comment. If Adan had a temper, this one was definitely growly, and I think he was not an ordinary security guard for this female.
“Can you stop growling at the dining table?” Adan snapped at him, and Blade just narrowed his eyes at him and proceeded to eat.
My gaze shifted back and forth between Adan and Blade until it landed on the female, who was leaning her back on her chair with her arms crossed against her chest, but she was just looking at me.
“Eat. Don’t mind them,” I told her. I was about to reach for the serving dish, but Adan beat me to it and began placing food on my plate.
“What are you doing?” I asked him in a whisper.
“Doing what I’ve been doing during meal time.”
“I suggest you formally introduce me to Lucy, Alpha Stone. Unless you want to end up being burned.” I squinted my eyes and looked at Adan, who was now smiling like he had won something.
“Sometimes, I just want to make her jealous. “Adan winked at me, and despite the annoyance I felt at the game he was playing, I couldn’t help but feel my heart flutter just by looking at his expression. This Alpha could surely make my p*an*tie*s drop without trying.
“Seems like it,” the female added before extending her hand over the table. “My name is Althea, daughter of the red mountain witch.”
“Althea! Oh, Goddess!” I accepted her hand and shook it. “Lucy. My name is Lucy. Nice to meet you! But I thought we were meeting your mother.”
“She’s dead. How did you get out of the underworld?”
“Wait!” My eyes darted to Adan. “I don’t want someone overhearing this conversation.”
“I asked the Omegas to leave as soon as dinner was prepared. It’s just the four of us inside the packhouse, and my Beta and some warriors are guarding all the entrances.”
“Thank you.” I nodded my head at him. Only the ranked wolves, some of the trusted elders, and his parents knew about me.
“Invisible cloak.” I looked at Althea before I answered her question as Adan pushed my plate closer to me and motioned for me to eat.
“Who gave it to you?” she asked.
“Patrea…” I had no idea why I was telling her this information, but maybe because I found out she was in no way connected with Adan, I didn’t consider her my enemy anymore.
“I…” Pain flitted in her eyes, but she closed them for a few seconds, and then it was gone. “She’s my grandmother.”
My mouth opened, but the words got stuck in my throat. Patrea had always been nice to me, and she was the one who told me I had a way to get out and helped me make it happen.
“I’ll make a deal with you. I will help you with whatever you want from me, but in return, I want you to take my grandmother away from the underworld.”
“Lucy is not going back to the underworld.” He snapped at her, his hand on the table balling into a fist. And I could see Blade glaring at him in my peripherals.
“Your mother was able to get out. Why didn’t Patrea try?” I asked Althea, while my hand reached out to Adan’s, placing it on top of his, hoping it would calm him down.
“She made a deal with the demon. Others sold their souls, but she sold her body to them. As long as she’s alive, she’d be stuck there. She didn’t know she was carrying a baby when she entered the demon world. My mother was born there, so they had no claim to her, and she was able to escape. And I was certain it was the same method my grandmother had taught you.”
“If that’s the bargain she made, how do you think I can take her away from there?”
“You need to K*ll her.”
“No!” I shook my head. “I might be a demon, but I’m not going to K*ll Patrea.”
“She wanted to d*ie, Lucy. It’s the only way she can be free. My mother couldn’t do it, but they know you can.”
“What do you mean, they knew I could do it?”
“Was there a time Patrea asked you to K*ll her?”
I shook my head, and then one memory came to mind. “But she asked me if I could make her my target while shooting daggers.”
“A strike to the heart, dead in seconds. Then her spirit can finally return to the coven. She thought she was being smart by selling her body to the demons instead of her soul.” A lone tear fell from her eye. “But she made a big mistake. The demons trick her and have been keeping her alive all these decades.”
“I’m sorry for the way they treated her.”
“You’re Lucien’s daughter, aren’t you?” She asked directly.
“How did you know?” I swallowed, waiting for more revelations.
“Perhaps I can tell you some other time.” I nodded my head. Maybe she was not comfortable sharing it with the males around us, who stopped eating and were just listening to us.
“How old are you, Althea?”
“Eighteen.”
“How come you know so much?”
“I’ve known about you since the moment I was made aware I’m a witch. We’ve been looking for you from the moment the spell cast by my mother was broken, the moment you dug that necklace from the earth where your mother hid it.”
“What’s your mother’s name?”
“Take a guess,” she said instead of answering.
“Adora…” If I was right, everything would start to make sense.
“Yes,” she smiled warmly. “Did Patrea request that you look for her?”
“She did. But she didn’t tell me where to find her or for what reason. I just wanted to survive, so I ran to the north and forgot about her.”
“But fate found a way of bringing us together. I need you, Lucy, just as much as you need me.”