Chapter 250

PIPER

Just now starting around the corner towards the training ground, the crunch of leaves included muffled tones of voices in the air; I had looked for nothing, just some fresh air to clear the head, until the unmistakable throaty laugh boomed from right in front.

Warrick’s laughter.

Frozen, the sound hit me like a fist.

There he was, casually leaning against a post, his shoulders relaxed as he spoke with Alina. She smiled, her voice too soft to make out the words, but whatever she said made him chuckle again.

My stomach turned.

By the time I confronted Warrick later that evening, there was an undeniable edge in my tone.

“You seemed awfully happy with Alina today,” I said, crossing my arms and blocking his path in the common room.

Warrick blinked, definitely caught off guard. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, don’t play stupid, Warrick. I saw you with her. Laughing. Smiling. The two of you practically best buds,” I snarled.

His brow furrowed as he brought his voice down a notch, bending toward me to meet my level of seriousness.

“You’re being ridiculous, Piper. She made a joke, I laughed. That’s it.”

I rolled my eyes. “You really expect me to believe that? Alina doesn’t do anything for a reason, and you’re falling right into her trap.”

His frustration had his jaw stiff; Warrick visibly bit his tongue. “You’re blowing this way out of proportion. Do you even hear yourself right now?”

“Oh, I hear myself just fine,” I snapped, the bitter tone of my voice surprising even me. “I just wish you’d hear me, too.”

Later that night, after the fight, I sought out Aurora, hoping to find a friendly ear.

She was working late in her office, papers everywhere, but she glanced up as I came in and softened a little at the look of me.

“Everything okay, Piper?” she asked, waving me to sit.

I hesitated, sinking into the chair. “Not really. Warrick and I… We argued.” Aurora set her work aside and gave me her full attention.

“About?” she asked. “Alina,” I said, the name soured in my mouth. “I saw them talking today, and I just… I don’t trust her, Aurora. It’s just that Warrick doesn’t appear to see it.”

Aurora leaned back, eyes contemplative and fingers laced.

“I understand how you feel. There were times when Dane and I first started leading this pack that I struggled with jealousy too. It’s not always easy to balance emotions and leadership.”

I frowned. “So, what did you do?”

“I remembered what matters,” Aurora said quietly.

“Warrick loves you, Piper. Let no one, and not even a certain Alina, become a tarnish to this love between him and you. Trust may at times be laboriously won but again so significantly needed.”

“Thank you, Aurora.”

The next morning, at one of our many routine meetings, I saw her again: Alina hunched at the back as if she could not care, some moments passing with her body bending.

It was then I caught her slipping something into the palm of the person right next to her.

A note.

I gulped, for in a matter of a fraction of a second, the man actually pocketed it; his expressionless face made no hint whatsoever.

“What did you do again, Alina?” I whispered as my suspicion picked up again. I sat there, frozen, staring at Miles, the young werewolf she gave the note to.

My heart was pounding in my chest, my mind boiling over with questions: What could Alina be plotting this time? And what was Miles doing with her?

The meeting was just going on around me, voices tangling into one indistinguishable hum.

I barely caught when Aurora spoke of the harvest schedule to come. Actually, the one thing that got my attention was Alina and Miles.

I had been staying near the exit, twisting my boots over and over in the dust while waiting for a final adjournment. I waited till Miles was out the door, walking quickly with his head hung low.

Miles began to walk away toward the training grounds, his walk quick without being hurried enough to raise suspicions.

I hid behind a stack of crates, watching him glance around him nervously as he pulled the note out of his pocket.

I moved closer, keeping out of sight, and listened hard. He muttered something too low for me to make it out, and then neatly refolded the note and tucked it into his sleeve.

Bloody hell.

I ran back toward the packhouse, my insides turning, my head racing in millions of circles.

Alina had been a handful her whole life, but this was entirely different; she was planning on pulling something huge that was going to hurt this pack.

I pushed open the door to the common room, Warrick leaning against a wall with arms across his chest, eyes snagged to mine at once. A softening, which could well be attributed only to me.

“Piper,” he said, stepping toward me. “Can we talk?”

I hesitated and the frustration of our last argument was still fresh but his tone was sincere. “What is it?”

“I’m sorry,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “About yesterday. I didn’t mean to dismiss your feelings.”

I crossed my arms, trying to keep my defenses up. “You made me feel like I was overreacting.”

“I know,” Warrick said, his voice low. “But I wasn’t paying attention to how Alina’s behavior could affect you. I’ll be more careful.”

His sincerity caught me off guard and softened my resolve. “Okay,” I said softly. “But you need to stay away from her. She’s dangerous, Warrick. I can feel it.”

He nodded. “I trust you, Piper. If you think she’s up to something, I’ll have your back.”

That night, while lying in bed staring at the ceiling, my head replayed that day: the note, Miles, the smug look of Alina just a picture my mind refused to dismiss.

Just then, a creaky sound out the window jerked me into consciousness, and in that instant my straight-backed pose was assumed in a racing heart while listening intently.

First, I heard muffled voices that were mingled with rustling noises through my opened window. I slipped out of bed and clutched my cloak, slipping out into the cool night.

The shadows lay thick across the village, the moon casting faint silver light. I followed the sounds, keeping to the edges of the path until I reached the edge of the woods.

There, just out of sight, I saw Alina and Miles, their heads close together as they whispered.

“What am I doing, Alina?”