Ruthless Alpha, and his Curvy Saint-Chapter 71

Angel’s POV

I stood in the sudden silence and felt something cold begin to move through me.

The only person who fits that description and has a twin is Alpha himself.

I turned the words over like a stone. Looking for the interpretation that made sense.

She’s probably a new maid. Hadn’t met him yet. Didn’t know his name. Perhaps Uriel used a different name in the castle - a title, a rank. Hadn’t he mentioned there were things he couldn’t tell me? Things he couldn’t share?

Yes. That must be it.

I nodded to myself, my breakfast sitting untouched on the table, steam curling off the porridge and disappearing into nothing.

Except...

The Alpha didn’t have a twin. I was nearly certain of that. No one has ever mentioned it before.

But then, I didn’t know Uriel had a twin too until Lord Merrick’s castle.

I pressed my fingers against my eyes.

I went to the bed and lay down on top of the covers, still in my nightgown, and stared up at the ceiling.

Come on, Angel. Think.

I thought in circles. I arrived nowhere.

*****

I was still going in circles when the knock came.

I knew it was Merrick before I opened the door. I didn’t know how - perhaps it was the cadence of the knock. Three soft gentle raps.

He stood in the corridor wearing his usual beautiful smile.

"Good morning," he said, his eyes moving appreciatively over me. "How did you sleep?"

"Better than I deserved to," I admitted, stepping back to let him in.

He entered, walking past me, and settling into the chair near the window like it had been made specifically for him.

"And how are you finding your stay?" he asked. "Truly."

I glanced at the locked door before I could stop myself.

His smile dimmed. He’d read it perfectly. "Like a prisoner," he said, and I could tell he didn’t love that answer. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"I haven’t been outside since yesterday," I said, keeping my voice even. "I don’t know why they’re keeping me locked in. I don’t know what’s expected of me or what happens next." I met his eyes. "All I know is that I have to obey the Alpha’s orders to keep being in his good books."

He was quiet for a moment.

"By tomorrow night," he said, "things will be much clearer. I promise you that."

I studied his face. He meant it. I could tell.

"Fine." I shifted, folding my legs beneath me. "Can I ask you something strange?"

"My favourite kind of question."

"Does the Alpha have a twin?"

Something behind his smile went still. "Why would you ask that?"

"I asked a maid to find Uriel," I said, watching his face carefully. "She told me she’d never heard of anyone by that name. Said the only person in this castle with a twin is the Alpha."

Merrick considered that. "Maids know only what circulates in kitchens and corridors," he said. "Perhaps she was new. Uriel keeps to himself - he’d answer your questions better than I ever could."

"That’s a very elegant non-answer."

He laughed. "You’re sharp."

"Does the Alpha have a twin, Lord Merrick?"

"I’m as much a guest in this castle as you are." He spread his hands with a disarming sort of helplessness. "I’m afraid I wouldn’t know who the Alpha does or doesn’t have in his family tree."

It was smooth. And it was not - quite - a denial.

Before I could push any further, he asked: "The book... have you finished it?"

The shift was so deliberate I nearly called him out on it. Nearly.

"Uriel took it," I said.

He suddenly became still. "He took it? Why?"

"I’m not entirely sure." I kept my voice neutral. A lie of omission rather than commission. I was becoming fluent in those. I was not going to share Uriel’s promises with anyone - not until I’d experienced them.

"Did he know it came from me?"

"No," I said.

Something moved across his face that I couldn’t fully read. "Better that way," he said quietly.

Then he stood - and before I could register what was happening, he bent down and pressed his lips to mine.

It was soft. Warm. And totally caught me off guard.

It lasted three seconds at most.

Then he was gone - door closing behind him - and I sat with my fingers hovering near my mouth, my heart doing something entirely inconvenient in my chest.

Stop it, I told myself sternly.

My lips were still trembling.

*****

Uriel arrived in the early afternoon.

I heard the knock and felt the difference immediately - a different kind of tension pulled taut in my chest, something that had been waiting all morning. Waiting for what he’d wanted to say last night.

He stepped inside and his eyes moved over my face.

"Did you sleep?" he asked.

"Eventually."

"Did you eat?"

I glanced at the untouched tray on the table. "I was going to."

Something in his jaw tightened. He crossed the room and looked at the cold food, his face filled with displeasure.

"Angel."

"I know." I held up a hand. "I’ve been thinking. I was going to eat, I just..."

"Eat first. Think after." He pulled out the chair and looked at me in that steady, immovable way of his. "Sit."

I opened my mouth to argue.

And stopped.

Because there was something in his face I hadn’t seen before. Something heavier than concern. Something braced - like a man preparing for war.

"Uriel." My voice came out small. "What’s going on?"

"Eat first."

"You’re frightening me."

His expression fractured slightly - just at the edges. "I know," he said quietly. "I’m sorry. I just need you to eat something first. And then I need to tell you something, and I need you to stay calm when I do."

My heartbeat had climbed without my noticing. Now it was loud in my own ears.

"That is the least reassuring thing you could possibly say to a person."

"I know."

I sat. I ate.

I tasted absolutely nothing. The porridge was cold and might as well have been chalk. I chewed, watching him stand near the window with his back half-turned, staring out at the grey sky like it owed him something. Like he was having a private argument with it that he wasn’t winning.

When the bowl was half-empty, I set down the spoon. "Okay," I said. "Go ahead."

He turned from the window.

"First," he said quietly, "I need you to promise me something."

"Uriel..."

"Promise me." His silver eyes were completely serious. That silver that was so much like Merrick’s and yet nothing like it. "Whatever I tell you right now - promise me you won’t run. That you won’t do anything..." he searched for the word, "...rash."

The cold that had moved through me that morning came back. It settled into my bones and made a home there.