CHAPTER 62: SOMEONE IN YOUR CORNER

BO

I watched the useless Omega disappear into the bathroom. The door clicked shut behind her and I waited. My hands stayed steady at my sides even though my pulse had picked up.

The water turned on. I heard it clearly through the door. A steady rush that filled the silence.

I moved closer. My feet made no sound against the cushioned floor. I pressed my ear to the bathroom door and listened. The water kept running. Then came the quiet splash of someone getting into a full tub. The sound of water sloshing and settling.

Good. She would be in there for a while.

I backed away from the door and crossed the room to where I’d left my bag near the window. My phone sat at the bottom underneath a folded apron and my spare keys of the rooms I looked after. I pulled it out and swiped through my contacts. My thumb hovered over one name.

Alpha Aldric Donlon.

I hit the call button and pressed the phone to my ear. It rang twice before he picked up.

"This better be good news."

His voice came through sharp and impatient. I glanced back at the bathroom door. It was still closed and I could still catch the occasional sound of water sloshing.

"It is," I said quietly.

"Really?" Something shifted in his tone. Interest maybe. But in hindsight, it sounded more like hope. "The bitch is dead already?"

"No." I kept my voice low. "It’s about the new Luna. The one move that Alpha Cian made that you didn’t calculate."

There was a pause on the line and then he went, "Go on."

I looked at the bathroom door again. It was still shut. There was no sound of movement except the water. I turned my back to it and spoke into the phone.

"Alpha Cian is not over Madeline."

There was silence once again on the other end. I could almost feel him processing that information.

"If anything," I continued, "he’s still very much in love with her."

"Are you certain?"

The question came quick. Eager. I smiled even though he couldn’t see me.

"I could not lie to you, my Alpha." I let that hang for a second. "He lashed out at the Omega today because she stumbled on a picture he kept of Madeline and ruined it."

Aldric made a noise that sounded like he was satisfied and when he was pleased, it made me happy.

"And we all know how loyal he is to keeping his mother happy," I added. " Which now comes as the sole reason he married. If Madeline is still at the forefront of Alpha Cian’s mind, perhaps there is still an open window for the contest for Skollrend’s throne."

"I don’t need an Omega to tell me that."

The words stung but I kept my face neutral. My grip on the phone tightened.

"I will commend you though," he said after a moment. "I didn’t think you would be this useful."

Something warm bloomed in my chest. Part of it was pride and the rest of it was the relief that I’d done well.

"You are the man I see as heir to all of this," I said. My voice came out softer now. "My loyalty to you knows no bounds. I love you."

"Keep me in the loop."

Then the line went dead.

I stared at my phone screen for a second. He hadn’t said it back. He never did. But that was fine. Aldric wasn’t the type to waste words on sentimentality. He was focused. Driven. That was what I loved about him. He knew what he wanted and he took it.

And I was helping him get it.

I felt good about this. Really good. I’d been worried at first that I had not been useful enough. That Aldric would see me as just another servant. Another nobody. But this information about Cian and Madeline was solid. It was exactly the kind of thing Aldric could use.

I wondered how he would play it. Would he reach out to Madeline? Try to get her back into Cian’s life somehow? Or would he use this knowledge to undermine Cian’s position? Show the pack that their Alpha was still hung up on a witch who’d abandoned him?

Either way, it was brilliant. And I’d been the one to give him the opening.

The bathroom door handle turned.

I jumped. My phone nearly slipped from my hand. I fumbled with it and shoved it back into my bag. My heart hammered against my ribs as I ran and grabbed the kettle from the small kitchen counter and filled it with water. My hands shook slightly as I turned on the stove.

The bathroom door fully opened and steam rolled out in a thick cloud.

The Omega stepped through it wrapped in a towel. Her hair hung damp around her shoulders. Her face looked a little less red now. A little calmer.

"Feeling better?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. A little."

"Good." I set the kettle on the burner and turned to face her. "I’m making chamomile tea. It’ll help settle your nerves."

"Thank you, Bo."

She said it with real gratitude. Like I’d done something special for her instead of just making tea. It made me feel strange. Guilty almost. But I pushed that feeling down where it belonged.

Fia wasn’t a bad person. She was actually kind of sweet in that naive way some people were. But she was in the way. She’d married into a position that should have gone to someone else. Someone better. Someone who actually belonged in the Donlon family. And to the wrong Alpha too.

Aldric belonged here as ruler. He was Cian’s uncle. He’d grown up in this pack and he he led it in many ways than one. He understood power and politics in a way that Cian never would. Cian was too soft. Too hung up on honor and doing the right thing. Too broken over some witch who’d left him years ago.

Aldric would be different. He would make Skollrend even stronger. More feared. Far respected.

And I would be right there beside him when he did.

"Do you want anything else?" I asked Fia. "Something to eat maybe?"

She shook her head. "Just the tea is fine."

"Alright."

I pulled two mugs from the cabinet and dropped a tea bag in each one. The kettle started to whistle. I poured the hot water and watched it turn pale gold as the tea steeped.

Fia sat down on the edge of her bed. She looked tired. Worn out. Like the weight of everything that had happened was finally catching up to her.

Part of me felt bad for her. She really hadn’t asked for any of this. She’d been forced into staying in a marriage with someone who clearly didn’t want her. Who would probably never want her because he was still in love with someone else.

But that wasn’t my problem. My problem was making sure Aldric got what he deserved. What we both deserved.

I carried the mugs over and handed one to Fia. She took it with both hands and held it close to her chest. The steam rose up and curled around her face.

"Thank you," she said again.

"Of course." I sat down in the chair near the window. "That’s what I’m here for."

She took a small sip and winced. It was too hot. She blew on it gently before trying again.

We sat in silence for a while. I drank my tea and watched her. She stared down into her mug like she might find answers there. Like the tea leaves would tell her what to do next.

I wondered what she was thinking. If she was still upset about Cian. If she was wondering how to fix things with him.

It didn’t matter. She couldn’t fix this. Cian’s heart belonged to someone else. It always had. And unless Madeline came back and shattered it even worse all over again, that wasn’t going to change.

Which meant Fia would always be on the outside. Always trying to earn something she could never have. Always wondering why she wasn’t enough.

It was sad really. But it was also necessary.

My phone buzzed in my bag. I glanced at it but didn’t move to check. It was probably Aldric. He always had follow up questions after our calls. Things he wanted clarified or expanded on.

I’d check it later when Fia wasn’t around.

For now I just sat and drank my tea and played the part of the concerned acquaintance slowly growing into more. The loyal servant. The helpful confidant.

It was a role I was starting to get good at.