Erald glanced at her phone, watching as Rick’s na flashed across the screen. She didn’t budge. The screen lit up again, and she felt it vibrate gently in her hand.
Still, she just watched it ring.
"What do you want now?" she muttered under her breath.
It rang again, and again.
Her thumb hovered over the answer button for a second, but then she dropped the phone on the nightstand and rolled over with a groan.
"Nope," she muttered. "I don’t have the energy for this tonight."
The phone buzzed once more before she reached back, turned it off completely, and buried her head in the pillow.
Sleep took over her fast. Her body was exhausted, and her mind had already spent too long trying to sort out everyone else’s problems.
She’d deal with Rick’s sudden reappearance later... or never.
Never sounded good.
—
The next morning ca with sunlight filtering through the sheer curtains and birdsong sowhere in the distance.
Erald blinked groggily, reaching blindly for her phone out of habit. She turned it on, and the mont it lit up, several notifications pinged into place.
Missed calls from Rick.
And ssages from Nessa.
The first one she opened was from Nessa.
NESSA: Are you alive, or do I start summoning spirits?
NESSA: EM??
NESSA: Call the second you see this. I an it. I will show up and drag you ho.
Erald couldn’t help but smile a little. Her fingers tapped the screen, and she imdiately hit the call button.
"Finally!" Nessa answered on the first ring. "Goddess, I thought sothing happened to you."
"I turned off my phone," Erald replied, rubbing her eyes.
"Yeah, no kidding. Do you know how many tis I tried calling last night?"
"I had a long day, and then, when it was ti for to finally catch so sleep, Rick started calling and disturbing. I didn’t want to deal."
Nessa let out a sharp breath. "Yeah, well... you might want to sit down."
Erald frowned. "Why?"
"Because he showed up last night."
"...What?"
"Rick. Showed. Up," Nessa said slowly. "At the estate yesterday night. He said he needed to talk to you."
Erald sat up straighter. "You’re kidding."
"I wish I was. He asked to see you. One of the guards said you weren’t in and he left, but not before pacing around like a psycho for ten minutes."
Erald groaned. "What does he want? Why is he so determined to wedge himself back into my life like nothing ever happened?"
"You want to have the guards stop him next ti?"
"Yes," Erald said instantly. "Absolutely. If he shows up again, I want him turned away at the gates. Or, better yet, locked in a box and mailed back to his pack."
Nessa laughed. "So violent for so early in the morning."
"I’m serious."
"I know you are," she said. "But..."
Erald narrowed her eyes. "But what?"
"Are you really not going to find out why he called?"
Erald blinked. "Wait. You? Asking to hear him out? Are you okay? This is you, Nessa. The official president of the Rick-is-trash club."
Nessa exhaled. "I’m still the president. But you went to see him, Em. You told him about Alia. Maybe whatever’s going on... maybe he found sothing out."
Erald stopped for a mont. The irritation she felt inside began to shift into sothing that felt more like curiosity.
She didn’t want to care.
She didn’t want to give Rick the satisfaction of thinking she did.
But what if it was about Alia?
"Ugh," she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Nessa heard the shift in her tone. "Exactly."
"Fine. Maybe I’ll call him later."
"Or don’t," Nessa said breezily. "Up to you. Anyway, Darius wanted to update you on your latest detective drama."
Erald blinked. "He sent you to do that?"
"He’s busy. Sothing about wolves biting each other over a disputed hunting ground."
"Charming."
"I know. Anyway, he said he looked into Adrien’s brother."
Erald sat up straighter. "And?"
"Well..." Nessa’s tone shifted. "Apparently, he wasn’t as squeaky clean as Adrien rembers."
"What do you an?"
"I an," Nessa said, "he was a fair Alpha, yeah. People liked him. But he had his own secrets. One of them being... a mistress."
Erald blinked. "Wait. What?"
"Mm-hmm," Nessa confird. "A full-blown affair. Long-term too. It wasn’t just a fling from the look of things. Darius said the signs were there if anyone looked."
"I thought his mate re-mated after he passed."
"She did. A few months later."
Erald’s mind spun. "So... he was cheating the whole ti?"
"Looks that way."
She fell silent for a mont.
Adrien had always painted his brother as noble and untouchable. The perfect example of an Alpha and a man. But this? This cracked the image into sothing more human, and more suspicious.
"Did Darius say who it was?" Erald asked.
"Nope. Apparently, the na was never known. Just whispers. So suspect it was soone inside the estate. Others think it might’ve been a noblewoman from one of the allied packs. Nothing concrete."
Erald frowned. "Still... it’s sothing."
"Exactly. It ans your theory might not be so far-fetched after all. If his death wasn’t natural..."
"Then soone had motive," Erald finished.
"Exactly."
She let out a long breath. "This just got real."
"Because before it was casual weekend sleuthing?" Nessa teased.
Erald smiled faintly. "You know what I an."
"Yeah, I do. And for what it’s worth, I’m kind of impressed. You’re getting better at this whole ’unravel ancient mysteries’ thing."
"Don’t jinx it," Erald muttered. "I just need a lead."
There was a pause on the line.
Nessa finally said, "Well, now that we know there was a mistress, you’ve got sothing to work with. The perfect Alpha prince had a dirty little secret. Maybe whoever she was... maybe she didn’t take his death well. Or maybe soone didn’t like her being around."
"Or maybe she had sothing to gain," Erald said softly.
"The possibilities," Nessa murmured.
"Did Darius say anything else?"
"Not yet. Just told to tell you to be careful. But when does that ever work?"
"Never," Erald replied.
There was a brief silence.
"I’ll call you when I know more," Nessa promised.
"Thanks."
"Oh, and Em?"
"Yeah?"
Nessa’s voice was a bit quieter now. "Don’t let Rick screw with your head."
"I won’t."
"Good. Because if he does, I will personally co slap him with a rolled-up decree of exile."
Erald laughed. "Noted."
She hung up, but the smile didn’t linger long.
She looked out the window, the morning light filtering across the hills outside Adrien’s estate. Her mind circled back to the revelation. The Alpha, who was idolised by many... had been hiding sothing.
It didn’t make him a villain, but it did make him vulnerable. And vulnerability always leaves trails behind.
Now, they just needed to follow it.
But the question that hung in the air now was... who was she?
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