Ruthless Alpha, and his Curvy Saint Chapter 71

Angel’s POV

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

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 t him yet. Didn’t know his na. Perhaps Uriel used a different na in the castle - a title, a rank. Hadn’t he ntioned there were things he couldn’t tell ? 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 ntioned it before.

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

Co on, Angel. Think.

I thought in circles. I arrived nowhere.

*****

I was still going in circles when the knock ca.

I knew it was rrick 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 . "How did you sleep?"

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

He entered, walking past , 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 dimd. He’d read it perfectly. "Like a prisoner," he said, and I could tell he didn’t love that answer.

"I haven’t been outside since yesterday," I said, keeping my voice even. "I don’t know why they’re keeping locked in. I don’t know what’s expected of or what happens next." I t 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 mont.

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

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

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

"My favourite kind of question."

"Does the Alpha have a twin?"

Sothing 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 she’d never heard of anyone by that na. Said the only person in this castle with a twin is the Alpha."

rrick 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 rrick?"

"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 beca 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 ca from ?"

"No," I said.

Sothing 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 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 sothing 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 imdiately - a different kind of tension pulled taut in my chest, sothing 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."

Sothing 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 in that steady, immovable way of his. "Sit."

I opened my mouth to argue.

And stopped.

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

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

"Eat first."

"You’re frightening ."

His expression fractured slightly - just at the edges. "I know," he said quietly. "I’m sorry. I just need you to eat sothing first. And then I need to tell you sothing, 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 sothing. Like he was having a private argunt 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 sothing."

"Uriel..."

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

The cold that had moved through that morning ca back. It settled into my bones and made a ho there.