From the Ashes (18+)

Chapter 7.

Alexander POV

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The fire crackled in the hearth, casting a warm glow across the room as Elodia's piercing gaze met Xander's troubled eyes. The air hung heavy with tension, and the words exchanged echoed through the stone walls. After the incident in the woods, Elodia grabbed Xander asking him to come for a drink in the study to relax. As Xander stood, sipping the bourbon in his crystal glass he let out a tired sigh. He knew it was wrong to be alone with Elodia, they were engaged to be together not long before, but they had been friends since he was born—an ally. He felt nothing but love for Adelaide, and nothing would deter him from her. Besides, he never loved Elodia. He was never meant to. Only to produce heirs for his family, that is what he was taught after all. 

"Alexander, why do you trouble yourself with that child?" Elodia's voice cut through the quiet, her tone carrying frustration. Her body lay on the red couch, her upper half sitting up as she swirled the amber liquid that he had poured for her. But her words hit deep inside Xander, anger burning in his soul at the words Elodia said. "She's not a child, Elodia. She's my beloved, so I suggest you watch your tongue," Xander replied, his voice low and firm, revealing a hint of stubbornness.

"Alexander, please. It's me, you can talk to me," Elodia urged, her voice softening as her head tilted at the man before her. Her smile turned into a pout, her eyes sickenly sweet as she presented a doe-like gaze. But Xander never met her eye, his mind solely on the woman that was bonded to his very heart. "I just don't see why she has to hide things from me. I tell her and show her that she can come to me, but I know she's hiding something. I can feel it, the strain in the bond," Xander confessed, a furrow deepening on his brow.

Elodia, ever perceptive, pressed further, "Then why put up with it? Before you went with that Lord, you were happy here." She was talking about Knox, but she couldn't have been more wrong. He wasn't happy here, he was blinded. Naive. Knox showed him that, he showed him the actual realness that could be. So did Adelaide. Xander sighed before downing his drink, "It's not that simple, Elly. I love her. Both of them," he admitted, his gaze dropping momentarily.

"And I wasn't happy here; you know that." he continued, the words revealing a layer of vulnerability beneath his stoic exterior. He was happy before, happy with Knox. Away from the toxic hell that was his home. A smirk never left his face with his best friend, the man whom he shared a beloved with. But things have been tense lately, a mess. He regrets that Adelaide hasn't fully met the man he was months before.

"Yes, yes. Alright, then. So what is she hiding?" Elodia inquired, her curiosity demanding an answer.

"She's been off, more than what a Reborn Upir experiences. I thought maybe it was the sleep she was in, to give her time, but it's been a week now. Hiding in her room, I hear her whisper to herself as if she's talking to someone. And now, I heard her say that mutt's name as if she was talking to him," Xander confided, his voice tinged with frustration as the empty glass in his hand threatened to shatter. He hated that man, no he loathed him. Xander felt nothing but pleasure when he ripped his heart out. And Adelaide calls out to him?

"Mutt? Do you mean a lycan? Your mother had word that you were in Scotland dealing with a pack. I'm assuming you found her there by her accent?" Elodia probed, her keen mind piecing together the puzzle. When Xander came here, with the coma-induced girl in his arms; he made sure not to tell too much about her. Only that she was human, he shared her with Knox. As well she was critically injured in the lycan attack in Norway making him decide to make her reborn. He knew how words travelled around his home estate.

Xander nodded, his expression darkening. "There was a boy there that aided in the death of her mother, following her lycan father's demands. He was obsessed with her, he forcefully marked her in the woods when we went to find the beasts. Daniel..." Xander's voice trailed off with a mixture of disdain and rage. "Knox and I killed him quickly after that, after he kidnapped her and beat her almost to death."