Chapter 39

***Alicent***

I carefully pull the pan of cookies from the oven, the heat brushing against my face as I set them on the marble countertop. The scent of warm chocolate fills the air instantly, rich and sweet, curling around the room like a welcoming embrace. 
My specialty is double chocolate chip cookies—something I’ve baked a hundred times, but never here, in this massive kitchen. The space is huge, almost intimidating, with its gleaming stainless steel appliances and a pantry that could feed an army. It’s so different from my tiny kitchen at my last apartment. I had everything I needed and more, every ingredient stacked neatly, ready to be used. One could think that it should have been easier, but it just makes me more nervous.
I run the back of my hand over my forehead, glancing at the cookies again, still glistening with melted chocolate. 
I bite my lip. Will he like them? 
These cookies are supposed to be perfect, but what if they’re too sweet or not sweet enough? 
I step back, wipe my hands on my apron, and take a deep breath. The smell of chocolate still fills the air, thick and comforting, but my heart still beats a little too fast.
“Later, I’ll take you to meet my horse, Mr. McNasty! He’s super cool! My dad doesn’t really like him—he says horses are just too much trouble or something. My mom gave him to me for my birthday two years ago, and she says he’s the best gift ever. I think so, too! Sometimes, I swear Mr. McNasty knows how to talk back to my dad like he’s telling him to be nice and to stop being all grumpy! Isn’t that funny?” I hear Lily enthusiastically chatting with Az without pause. Since we got here, Az and Lily have been inseparable, I’ve never seen my son so happy with a friend before.
When Az declared he’d rather have an anaphylactic shock than the ‘fun’ of the first class with Ethan, I widened my eyes and asked if he wanted to quit. Surprisingly, he shook his head and insisted on sticking it out. At least for the next few days, he didn’t storm out of the meetings as dramatically as he did on the first day, so I’ll take that as a win! Yet, for some reason, Az doesn’t seem as friendly with Ethan as he is with Vi.
After the cookies cooled a little, I set them on two stunning plates. As I turn around, my gaze immediately searches for Ethan in the kitchen. He’s sitting at the round table with Az and Lily. While he is silently typing on his phone, the kids are engaged in a conversation. However, as I approach the table with the cookie-laden plates, the kids abruptly stop talking, and their eyes light up.
I place one of the plates in front of the kids, and before I can blink, they’re already swarming like little cookie monsters, attacking the pile with zero hesitation. I shake my head as crumbs fly everywhere. I catch a few satisfied “hmmms” between bites, and part of me feels a small wave of relief. At least Az and Lily are enjoying them.
I turn to the other plate, quickly rearranging the cookies, making sure each one is perfectly placed and the arrangement is inviting.
Is it too neat? Is there such a thing as too much symmetry in cookies? I step back, then I sneak a peek at Ethan, but he’s too engrossed in his phone to even look my way.
I shift my gaze back to the cookies. They look good. 
*Please look good,* I mutter under my breath.
I start to rearrange the cookies on the plate again when Az asks between bites, “Are you sure you’ve got to give him that many?” Az’s eyes travel from the cookies to Ethan. 
“They’re so so delicious,” Lily says. “I wish I could eat them like every day!”
I know it’s such a small gesture, but after a week has passed since we’ve been here and things have settled down, I decided to bake some cookies for Ethan to thank him for the opportunity he’s given me. I’ll make some for Vi, too, when she gets back from Summerville.
Although I still don’t know if the cranky man, who has been avoiding me all week, will like them. Shaking that thought off, I stop rearranging the cookies on the plate. “You already have one plate just for you and Lily, Az. That’s enough.” 
“But, Mom, he doesn’t look like he likes cookies like us. He looks like he eats poor little animals that are still alive and trying to run away!”
Lily giggles, her mouth covered in chocolate just like Az’s. I glance at Ethan, and he’s got this seriousness on his face; it’s almost convincing me to side with my son, but I manage to suppress my laughter. “Can you stop, please?” 
Az glances at Ethan, who finally looks up from his phone and directs his attention towards my son. Ethan raises an eyebrow, and they look at each other before Az says, “No.”
I give my son a look. “Azrael!”

🐺 🐺 🐺
***Alpha Ethan***

Alicent nudges the plate of cookies my way, and fuck, they smell good. I’m seriously dying to chow down on them, just like the kids. “Like I promised, here you go. These are all yours!” She says with a shy smile, blushing. I give a quick nod, avoiding eye contact.
She turns around, and I grab a cookie and take a bite. 
Goddamn it! I gotta hold back from moaning out loud. I try to hide my reaction. What the hell did she put in these cookies?
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the little brat scrutinize me for a second before he scoots the plate of cookies in front of them closer to him and Lily as if to keep it away from me. Smart kid.
Alicent comes back and plops down next to her son, giving me a look like she’s waiting for something. Perhaps she’s fishing for compliments. And then I recall that I never thanked her. “Thanks,” I mumble, still avoiding looking into her eyes.
She flashes me a big bright smile in response and is about to start blabbing away, like she always does, but her phone starts ringing loudly, startling her. When she tries to grab it, she clumsily drops it on the floor. “Drat!” she mutters under her breath and leans down to grab her phone.
“These cookies are the best!” Lily says, taking the last one from their plate.
As Azrael nods his head to my niece with a big smile, too, without even looking, he puts his little hand on the corner of the table and holds it there until his mom is sitting up straight again so she doesn’t hit her head on it. 
It’s the sweetest and simplest thing I’ve ever seen. I had seen her do this before to him so he wouldn’t get hurt. Clearly, he learned from his mom. He is a good kid.
“Is it Dad?” Azrael asks.
Alicent nods with a tight smile at him before standing up and leaving the kitchen to answer the call.
“I get that you helped my mom. But just so you know, she might be charmed, but I’m not,” he huffs. “And I’m watching you.” Azrael uses two fingers to point at his green eyes, then jabs them toward me. 
I shake my head as Lily grabs his hand. “Az, don’t talk to Uncle Ethan like that,” she says before pulling him out of the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s go! I want you to meet Mr. McNasty!”
He is a good kid, but still a brat.
I’m halfway through the cookies when Josh strolls into the kitchen to catch me up on some pack stuff, but then Alicent comes back, and our conversation is cut short.
Despite the lingering chocolate scent present in the kitchen, I can still catch her scent.
Breathing her scent is like inhaling the scent of the morning air as the sun rises. Clean and untainted. Just like her bright aura. Vi has been very protective of her, and I understand why. Alicent calls to all my protective instincts. 
Maybe it’s because I’m an Alpha. It’s in an Alpha’s nature to always be concerned about the safety of the defenseless. I just want to see this human safe, which is why I offered her a job here in my pack. It has absolutely nothing to do with her wide, sparkling green eyes or the way her sassy comebacks light a fire in my belly. I refuse to acknowledge it as anything other than ire. I simply see them as irritations.
Yet, I inhale her sweet scent, wishing I could taste her in the air.
She’s not for me.
I shake my head, pushing away the dark thoughts of my curse, which always lurk in the shadows of my mind and threaten to take over. I take a quick glance at the window. I rarely feel the sunshine anymore.
“... Ethan?” Alicent says. I didn’t notice she was talking to me. “Can you look at me, please?”
Fuck, she isn’t letting me avoid her. I swallow my irritation and meet her gaze for the first time in the last few days. She smiles slightly. “I’m thinking about going to Summerville. Since I don’t have a car here, how do I get into town?”
“You know I’ve got better things to do than fix all your problems, right?” I say as I avert my gaze, but I still notice her shocked expression.
Josh gets up and starts opening the cabinet, looking for something. Before he can mindlink me, I beat him to it and mindlink him first. ‘I got this.’
“I know, but I don’t know how I—”
“I’ll get someone to take you to Summerville.” I interrupt her.
“Uh, okay. Thanks,” she says before turning and leaving the kitchen in a rush.
“Don’t worry, I seem to solve all your problems, Little Dove.” I tease with a smirk.
Right before she bounces out of the kitchen, she mumbles under her breath to herself, too low for a human to pick up on, but Josh and I hear it loud and clear. *“His neck must be damn tired of carrying around that stupid giant head!”*
Josh bursts out laughing, spraying water that he was gulping all over the kitchen counter. He clutches his stomach, water dripping from his chin as he gasps for breath, practically dying of laughter. I hope the bastard chokes.

🐺 🐺 🐺
***Alicent***

“We could sleep at Dad’s house just today.” Az whines. “Do we really have to come back, Mom? You don’t want to stay with me and Dad?”
I raise my chin. “I don’t like that attitude. We already talked about this. We’ll deal with your punishment later.” 
“Mom, no, I’ll be good. I promise. I just... I just want Dad, you, and me together!”
I kiss him lightly on the forehead. “I know. If you’d like, you can stay overnight at your dad’s, and I’ll come get you tomorrow,” I suggest. 
“No, please. I want to stay with you, Mom. If you’re not sleeping there, I don’t want to either.”
“Okay, honey, let’s go. He’s waiting for your cute face!”
Logan didn’t ask me to take Az to see him, but I couldn’t say no to bringing him with me, not when he was really hyped about his dad’s call. Little does he know that his dad only has one thing on his mind. Money. I already know that’s what he’s going to ask for. I just don’t understand why he wants to see me in person.
That’s why we are going to Summerville, although it has been a long week, and all I want is to sit down with my feet up. I’m tired from the extra shift I did yesterday. But thank the Lord, my new job is not nearly as exhausting as the last one.
After getting a ride from a nice woman at Ethan’s request, who was already going to his nightclub, we finally arrived in Summerville. Once we got there, I asked her to drop us off, and then I got an Uber to Logan’s, or should I say, Chelsea’s place.
“Dad!” Az bolts out of the car and goes straight to his dad, who’s waiting at the house with a big smile. As he gets closer, he jumps into his dad’s arms, saying, “I missed you loads!”
“Oh, my God, Az! Look at you! I think you’ve grown up! What is your mother feeding you? Yeast?” Logan says playfully, hugging Az.
I giggle. He's right. “Yeah, I notice he’s a little taller.”
“I’ve been eating all my greens!” Az says with a tooth grin. “I deserve ice cream!”
“That’s convenient because I have some ice cream in the freezer,” Logan says, pointing with his finger to his house behind him. He has on his finger a silver ring with a blue, pointy jewel. 
Az lets go of his father and runs into the house without even hesitating, “Yay!” he cheers.
The front door barely closes, and Logan’s face instantly changes from happy to sullen. He crosses his arms. “Do you want to explain why you’re stealing from me?”
“What? What do you mean?” I ask, taking a step back, instinctively hugging myself.
“I saw your bank account. You sent me the same amount of money you used to, but now your salary is much higher,” Logan accuses.
Oh, shit. I totally forgot he had access to my account. “Well, I had to pay for some things at the apartment, and with all this moving—”
“I don’t care!” he interrupts me. “You better not do that for the next payments, Alicent. For your own good,” he says in a threatening tone. I start to stroke my arm slightly, nervously. “Did you think I wouldn’t figure it out? I’m smarter than you think! Super smart!” His voice drips with arrogance.
But then, my mind flashes back to the time he tried—and miserably failed—to install our television years ago. He was grumbling, tossing tools around, swearing up and down that the TV came without enough screws or something. At one point, he even called the company to complain. The whole thing was so ridiculous I had to leave the room to keep from laughing. That same night, I snuck back in and quietly put it together myself in under thirty minutes.
Yeah, real genius over here.
A tiny smirk interrupted my scowl. “You’ve caught me,” I say without thinking, sarcasm dripping from my lips. “Your intelligence knows no bounds.”
Suddenly, Logan’s eyes grow darker, the pathetic smugness replaced with something colder, and I immediately regret my stupid comment. Damn it. My stupid mouth.
Before I can even react, Logan lunges at me, his hand grabbing my arm with a vice-like grip. I gasp as pain shoots up my arm because, in doing so, Logan cuts me with the sharp edge of the ridiculous blue jewel on his gaudy ring, and blood immediately starts to trickle from the cut.
I cry in pain, but he just tightens his grip. Logan’s fingers press harder into my arm, and I can feel the warm blood leaking between them. “Shut the fuck up. And listen carefully…” Logan starts to say, and I obey. Fighting won’t help. It’s only going to get me more hurt.

🐺 🐺 🐺
***Alpha Ethan***

As Marta’s car pulls up in front of the packhouse and Alicent steps out with her son, I realize that a part of me is relieved. I hear them both thanking her for the ride, and I do the same, “Thank you, Marta,” I say from afar to the woman behind the wheel.
‘No problem, Alpha,’ Marta mindlinks me with a short nod of respect.
“Mom, are you cold? Are you sure you’re okay? It’s so hot, and you’re wearing this heavy sweater!” Azrael says to Alicent as they walk toward me.
“I’m fine, buddy,” She answers.
Alicent’s face is a little red and blotchy, and her eyes are swollen as if she’d been crying. One of her cheeks looks swollen as well. She smiles down at her son, but I can tell it is completely forced. 
Something happened.
“Are you sure?” Azrael asks. Apparently, he didn’t buy that either.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” she says, almost sniffing as she puts her arm behind her back like she’s trying to hide it from her son.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” I ask her. “Get inside, brat.” I point with the tip of my chin at the door for her son to get inside. He rolls his eyes but does as he’s told.
Alicent smiles, this time less forced, “I’ll see you in a minute, buddy.”
As soon as he is no longer in sight, I turn to her, “Let me see your arm.”
“I’m okay,” she says, putting both arms behind her back and away from me.
But then I catch a whiff of blood as she moves her arms. Hell, no! Without thinking twice, I grab the arm she was trying to hide from her son and roll up her thick sweater sleeve.
“Ethan, no—”
To my horror, she has a fresh, slightly deep-looking cut on her forearm. My eyes meet hers, my hand still holding her delicate, wounded arm.
Tears prick at her bright meadow green eyes, eyes that see good in everything. 
I ask, doing my best to keep my voice tempered but failing. “Who did this to you?”