by Alexia Purdy
Rafaela
My head ached from studying the reorganization plans for some of the ArcKnight military divisions. My general and right-hand man, Alec, had recommended the changes. Each page was blurring into the next as I peered over the mess of charts, graphs, and names. It was a massive task, and I was lucky he was there to walk me through each section. The sheer number of soldiers who’d been promoted, needed promotions—or demotions—in the ArcKnight Outlands Legion was overwhelming. It was a relief to find the whole process was more formality than my duty. Alec had it covered, but he had to formalize the plans by showing them to me.
I’d rather be doing a dozen other things.
There were literally thousands of soldiers. How had I ended up with this task? That’s right, Gil didn’t have a head for this, or so he’d told me. This was one of the unsavory duties to fall to me when Gil decided he had better things to do than deal with this. I personally believed he just hated how inferior Alec made him feel because of his lack of experience in the field. That was one thing I didn’t mind; Alec one-upping me. He could talk about war strategy all he wanted. It went in one ear and out the other. I just liked to hear him talk.
Gil refused to waste his talents on this mundane crap. He pawned it off on me. He was a genius at politics but lacked any ability in military tactics and ceremonial duties. The latter was my job since he’d assigned it to me before swooping out of the room earlier. The first was Alec’s problem.
Luckily, it didn’t bother Alec to take over the Alpha’s duties when it came to the military; it was second nature to him. However, it made him fume to see Gil treat me like a common party organizer.
“So we’re using the west training stadium for the promotions ceremony, right?” I yawned, stretching my arms out before slumping into my chair. I was already tapped out for the day, and it wasn’t even noon.
“Yes. It’s the largest one. We can assemble the troops inside with plenty of room for families. The soldiers with promotions can actually take up one small section near the center while the spectators take the rest of the seating. A lot of visitors will be coming.”
“That’s perfect. Just remind me where I’m supposed to be in all this?” I pointed to an elevated seating area protected with bulletproof glass. “Here, right? Isn’t it kind of claustrophobic in there?”
“It’s for your protection. Since it will be open to the citizens of Temple, we can never be too careful.”
I exhaled sharply, nodding in agreement. My mind was fried. “Sounds perfect. Where will you be during the ceremony?” I lifted an eyebrow at him, hoping he’d be nearby, in the box.
“At your side, of course.” A mischievous twinkle in his eyes made my stomach flutter. The intensity of his stare and his close proximity as he sat beside me didn’t escape my notice. I knew how fond he was of me, even though he’d never told me out loud. He was fifteen years my senior, and I was married. It was a barrier we’d never cross, and deep down, I knew he knew that. Still, he was gorgeous to look at, and I enjoyed his company a lot more than Gil did. Luckily, no one else noticed the way Alec preferred discussing such things with me instead of the Alpha. Gil just didn’t have a head for these things.
So it all fell on me. It was inevitable, but Alec made it as painless as possible. Even so, I usually ended up leaving everything up to him in the end.
“Who’s presenting the awards if you’re in the box with us?” I asked.
“My second lieutenant, Richard, will be doing the honors.” Alec released me from his intense stare, but it was already too late. It had left a mark on my soul, and I felt oddly cold without it.
“Sounds good. Looks like we got things put together pretty well, right?”
“Yes, m’lady.”
I didn’t move, waiting to see if he had anything else to say. Sometimes I wished he would tell me something more. Anything would do. I loved to hear his voice. His passion for life was addictive.
“Well, I guess I’m done here, then.” I stood, but Alec was at my side with his hand on my arm before I could turn to leave.
“Wait, Ella….” Alec’s eyes shined as we stood face to face. He was so close that if I stepped forward, I’d bump noses with him, possibly lips. I had to hold my breath in as I watched his nostrils flare, a sign of desire or challenge from another wolf. And there was no doubt as to which one it was. He was indulging in my scent, and if Gil were there, it would have been a highly offensive move. “I need to talk to you about something. It’s been bothering me for some time, but I….”
My breath stuck in my throat as I heard the door to the conference room creak open. I immediately sank down into my chair and avoided looking at Alec, who was probably now glaring at whoever had arrived.
I knew who it was. I felt it deep inside and radiating from my Ardent talisman. The medallion had belonged to Gil before we were betrothed, but I’d worn it since then. It connected me to my mate in more ways than one, telling me when he was near or strayed too far.
This wasn’t the only time I’d been relieved that my talisman wasn’t powerful enough to link us completely. That would’ve made interactions with anyone like Alec quite plain to Gil.
“Oh, hello, Alec. Is Rafaela here? There you are!” Gil reached around the highback chair to give me a light peck on my cheek. I prayed my face was not burning scarlet hot, for it felt stifling in the normally cool conference room now. “Have you finished with this mess yet?” He waved an arm at the papers on the table.
The tangled stacks of documents were piled high. An organized chaos. It was a pile of disarray indeed, but I liked it. It was what Alec and I did best, making order from disorder, and rearranging things to create the beauty of it all. I wished I could achieve such harmony working alongside Gil.
“Yes. We just finished, actually. What about you? What shenanigans have you been up to?” I joked, hoping to lighten the atmosphere.
Gil’s mischievous smile made his dimples stand out, and I watched him shove some of the papers aside without regard, which infuriated me and most definitely grated on Alec’s nerves. I could sense the tension overtaking his previous relaxed demeanor. I hated seeing Alec like that. I’d known him my entire life and had never seen him so uptight when he’d served Gil’s father.
“I’ve got the perfect idea to add more rooms to our wing of the palace.” He spread another blueprint he’d brought in and pointed to a new set of rooms near our master bedroom. “We’ll reinforce the insulation in our room when we tear down the meeting room next to it here, turn part of it into a nursery, and in this part here,” he pointed opposite the nursery, “we’ll add a suite for our mothers to share. It’ll be a much bigger area than they have now at the north end of the palace. They’ll be closer, too, for when our children need them. What do you think?”
My eyes widened. “A nursery? Why would we need a nursery?” The pit of my belly sank when it dawned on me what he meant by that.
“Well, when we have a baby, we’ll need one. That’s the next step, isn’t it?”
I jumped to my feet, feeling ill as my head spun at the notion. I wasn’t even over the banishment of my sister and was missing her dearly. To think about having a baby now? It wasn’t the right time. I was much too busy. We were still so young.
“Now? A baby?” My voice cracked as I struggled to keep from stuttering. He’d sidelined me with his plans, and I had nothing to counter it.
“Yes. Of course now. Why do you think I want to expand this section? It will take months to complete, so we need to start right away. The sooner, the better. Some people get pregnant immediately after marrying. It could happen.”
Not to me. No way in hell. A baby? I didn’t want to start a family. Not yet.
“I don’t know, Gil. Is it really a good time to be thinking about that already? We just got married and I… well, losing Lily hasn’t been good. For me, or my mother. Maybe we need to think on this. It’s a huge step.”
The silence that followed made me want to curl up u
nder the table and hide. That or walk out the door. Alec, who’d been swallowing down a violent shock of surprise, looked somewhat amused now, and his eyes darted between Gil and me with great interest. Gil, on the other hand, was near breaking point, and purple in the face.
“What? You don’t want to have a kid, then?”
“I’m not saying that. I just think we should wait until things get more settled. We just took over from your father. He just died, for goodness sake! Plus, we’re still searching for whoever killed him. It’s just not a good time.”
“You don’t want to have a baby with me. Right?” Gil’s face darkened, and an unsettling calm spread across his face. It chilled me to the bone.
“I never said that.”
“You don’t have to. I know you loathe the idea. You told me for years you weren’t sure about having children of your own. Well, that’s the duty of an Alpha’s mate. To have babies for him. To give him heirs. If you don’t have a baby soon, I’ll have to look for someone who will.” Gil jerked away from me as I reached out. He strode out of the room and slammed the door behind him without looking back.
“Wait! Gil!” I rushed to stand but found myself staring dumbfounded at the door.
Alec’s hand was on my arm again, halting me in my steps. My heart raced, and I was still shaking from Gil’s outburst.
“Let him go. He doesn’t mean it. Where else is he going to find someone as special and as capable of running things as you? He’s just mad and impatient because you told him no.”
“We’re not in school anymore, Alec. He could be deadly serious. You don’t think he’d do that, do you? Find another mate?”
“I doubt it.” He led me back to my chair where I sat down, still shocked by Gil’s threat. I was with Alec on this. I doubted Gil would do anything, but it was unsettling and had wrecked my nerves.
“Here.” Alec placed a glass of cold water in front of me. “Drink. Don’t let him get you down like that. He’s just trying to push his authority on you.”
“Thank you.” I swallowed a few mouthfuls before replacing the glass back on the table. “It’s been so tense since his father died. And it didn’t help that I snuck into the MarkTier palace. He’s mad because I could’ve been killed, and I’m sure he doesn’t trust me as much now. I understand that, but he’s not telling me things anymore either. I can feel it. His lies stab me in the heart. Why? He knows I’ll know when he’s lying. He’s never been good at hiding his emotions. Why would he risk that?”
“Because he’s upset. Just let things settle. It’ll be all right.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “I guess. I just feel like everything is not working out right.”
“Give it time.”
“I will.” I sighed and looked at Alec once more. “What were you saying before we were interrupted?”
“Oh, it can wait. Nothing important.” He gave me a soft pat on the hand before turning away to leave.
“Okay,” I breathed out, trying to calm my shaking body. “We’ll finalize things for the ceremony later. I’m going to be lying down if anyone needs me.”
“Yes, m’lady. Rest well.”
Chapter Twenty