Defying the Rogue Alpha
Chapter 208: Fortress

Chapter 208: Fortress

"What’s wrong?" Kade asked.

Ava’s gaze wasn’t even on him. It was locked on somewhere across the room. "There’s someone we left out of our list," she murmured, almost to herself. "Someone we haven’t considered since he disappeared."

Kade furrowed his brow. "Who?"

Her eyes snapped back to his. "Every Alpha will always be an alpha. Every wizard will always be a wizard."

"Alaric." Kade breathed. For a moment, he just stared, trying to wrap his mind around it. Then he shook his head slowly. "Alaric is still in the North. Alpha Dennis has been searching for him for months."

"But has he been found?" Ava shot back, sitting up straighter. "Think about it, Kade. No one in the North, in their right mind, would hide Alaric, everyone wants his head. So if he’s not in hiding up there, where is he?"

Kade’s face paled. "Fuck." He scrubbed a hand down his face, pacing now. "That makes sense. Damn it. He could be here... hiding in plain sight. And if he is, he’s not doing it alone. I have to tell the Alpha. He’ll want to double security immediately..."

"No," Ava said firmly, holding up her hand.

Kade blinked at her. "No?"

"Don’t tell Lucas... yet," she repeated. There was a quiet intensity in her voice, one that made Kade hesitate.

"Why not?" he asked, warily.

Ava let out a long breath. Her eyes dropped to her belly for a second before meeting his again. "Because if you tell Lucas, he’ll do what he always does, strike first, ask questions never. He’ll go straight for Alaric’s throat. And if Alaric is working with someone from within, then we lose the element of surprise. I need more time to be sure."

Kade rubbed the back of his neck, conflicted. His loyalty to Lucas was absolute. But so was his respect for Ava. And right now, she didn’t look like a woman second-guessing herself. She looked like a Luna drawing the line between war and wisdom. "Fine," he finally said, reluctantly. "But the second we find something concrete, we tell him. No secrets, Ava. Not with what’s at stake."

"Agreed," she nodded.

Ava broke the moment with a very unladylike growl from her stomach.

"Okay, now can you please go get Zari? I am starving."

Kade blinked. "Didn’t you just say you weren’t hungry?"

"Well now I’m thinking and when I think, I get hungry."

Kade snorted, already heading for the door. "You got it, Luna. I’ll tell her to double the portions."

"Make sure she brings the chicken. And a bit of cake. No, more than a bit."

Kade laughed as he exited.

As the door closed behind him, Ava sighed and leaned back again. The laughter faded, replaced by the undercurrent of unease still swimming beneath her calm. Alaric. The name echoed in her thoughts.

But for now, she would eat. She would gather her strength. Because when the time came to face whatever storm Alaric was bringing with him... she planned to be ready.

*****

Ava stood in front of the vanity, running her fingers down the silk of her nightdress, smoothing the fabric as though it might iron out the tangle of emotions brewing in her chest. She didn’t turn when the door creaked open. She didn’t have to. The scent of him drifted into the room with the soft footfalls of someone who knew they weren’t welcome but had made a sport out of ignoring boundaries.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, eyes focused on her reflection as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"To sleep," Lucas replied simply, breezing in. He didn’t even pause to gauge the storm cloud brewing in the air. He was already pulling at the buttons of his shirt.

"You have your own quarters," she snapped, still not turning. "Go sleep there."

He shrugged off the shirt. "I can sleep wherever the hell I want."

Ava finally turned, giving him a look sharp enough to slice steel. "I don’t know the reason why the old laws insisted the Luna and Alpha should have separate chambers, but I bet it’s to protect Lunas from moments like this, when they can’t stand the sight of their Alpha’s stupid face."

Lucas’s lips twitched, but he bit back the smile as he tossed his shirt over the back of the chair and started with his shorts. "Those laws exist so Lunas can have privacy when attending to sensitive matters advising the she-wolves, mentoring young females, or, I don’t know, birthing the future of the pack. Not when she’s mad because her Alpha made a tough call and she doesn’t like it."

Ava scowled at the man-shaped plague beside her. She crossed her arms, exhaled deeply, and then with the exaggerated calm of someone absolutely not calm, she began yanking at the pillows on the bed. Her face was a stormcloud of righteous fury as she fluffed, stacked, and wedged a neat, plump wall of barriers between their sides of the bed. If this bed were a kingdom, Lucas was officially exiled to the far side.

Lucas watched in amusement from the edge of his vision, his lips twitching with barely restrained laughter. He knew better than to interrupt. Ava in angry-builder mode was not to be trifled with. He let her get it all out. It was like watching an adorable volcano preparing to erupt with coordinated interior design.

He stayed silent. Patient. And naked.

Without a shred of shame, Lucas stretched, his movement purposeful. He walked around the bed, his body all lean muscle and unapologetic masculinity. Completely unclothed, mind you, because modesty was for people who didn’t already know their wife secretly admired their ass.

Ava didn’t mean to look. But she was only human. Well, half-wolf. But the point still stood.

She peeked once. Then turned away. Then peeked again—longer this time—before snapping her head back around and cursing under her breath. That arrogant man had the audacity to smirk.

Lucas flopped onto the bed, sprawling with casual dominance. One leg bent in a lazy triangle that made Ava want to both smack him or straddle him. He shut his eyes, arms behind his head, playing it cool like he wasn’t fully aware of the effect he had on her.

Ava hissed to herself and climbed into bed. She adjusted her side of the blanket, gave the pillow-wall a firm pat of finality, and nestled herself into a cozy curl, back turned to him.

She didn’t even make it to the third breath before it happened.

With the speed and decisiveness of a man with zero respect for personal boundaries, Lucas reached over, gathered the entire fortress of pillows she had painstakingly arranged, and yeeted them across the room.

"Hey!" Ava gasped, sitting up in disbelief. "I built those!"

"Yeah," Lucas murmured, wrapping an arm around her and dragging her into his chest.

"Lucas!" she protested, wriggling in his grasp.

But his arms were firm. He pulled her against the solid plane of his chest, one hand cradling her head, the other curling possessively over her hip. "Enough of this, Ava. You’re mad. I get it. But I’m not going to bed tonight with an ocean of pillows between us like I’m your evil ex-boyfriend. You’re my wife. My mate. You can be furious at me, but you’re still sleeping in my arms."

She wanted to stay angry. She really did. But damn it, he smelled like home.

"Get away from me!" Ava thrashed in his hold. But Lucas didn’t budge. His arm remained steady, positioned just above her pregnant belly. Protective, immovable, and infuriatingly smug.

"Go to sleep," he said calmly.

"Let me go!" she snapped, jerking her elbow back. Unfortunately, Lucas was built like a war god, and she was not, at this moment, a match not with her belly and her hormones and the extra pounds of baby vengeance growing inside her.

But the struggle only made things worse. Or, depending on perspective, much better.

"The harder you fight," Lucas murmured, a grin in his voice, "the more your ass rubs against my hard on."

"Damn it, Lucas!" she hissed, going still but her stillness just pressed her body tighter into his. And yes, she could definitely feel it now. That traitorous, stubborn thing pressed against her backside.

"Feel that? Huh?" Lucas whispered near her ear. "See what you do to me? Then you make me suffer. Cruel woman."

"I make you suffer?" Ava twisted her neck to look back at him, her face flushed with indignation and amusement.

"Yeah," Lucas groaned dramatically. "You know what? Fine! You are right and I am an idiot with a stupid face."

"So you’re apologizing... because you want to fuck?"

"Yes." A pause. Then Lucas frowned. "I mean—no. I mean—yes, and I mean seriously." He shifted slightly, loosening his hold just enough for her to roll onto her back and face him properly. His eyes locked on hers, softer now, stripped of all the teasing.

(I’m almost not looking forward to letting this story go)