Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 44

When my phone rang fifteen minutes later, I dove for it, thinking it was Evan. It wasn't. Even so, I was pleased to recognize the voice on the other end of the line. "Whoa. That was the most enthusiastic hello I've gotten in ages. I don't even get that kind of greeting from my girlfriends."

I sighed and lay back in my bed. "Girlfriends plural? You're such a player, Peelle."

"Yeah, well, some of us need some extra love. Speaking of which... I guess I missed out on a lot since I've been stationed in Dark Moon, huh? I already knew you and Evan were getting it on, but I thought..." "Getting it on! That sounds so lame."

"Am I wrong? Come on, I saw the way he looked at you. And he's touching you and holding your hand and babying you..."

"Shh! It's... none of your business anyway." I grabbed my pillow and flopped a pillow over my face, mortified. I was smiling, though, and Peelle clucked his tongue at me, all too aware of the mushy mess I was becoming. "You've got it so bad. Man, this is too tragic to listen to. Oh, well. Better than having to ignore all the unresolved s****l tension nonsense you two had going on all the time. I'm glad you guys worked it out."

My smile faltered. "Some of it. Not all."

"Better than nothing though, right?"

"Yeah."

"So... I'm heading alone to the greenhouses since the reinforcements are running late and I don't wanna waste time waiting for them. Means I can listen to all the gossip you have for me."

I rolled my eyes. "There's no gossip for you here. Evan and I are just... we're taking it one step at a time."

"Seems like you took a hundred steps at once to me. Tell me how it happened. Last time he told me anything actually substantial, he was still on the brink of tearing his hair out because he thought you and Ken Joseph were going to start banging any second." "Banging!"

"Come on. You can't tell me you don't know Ken's reputation. Even before he entered university, he had girls hanging off of his d**k like streamers. Once he set his eyes on you, it was like a sure thing. I even told Evan to let it go since he wasn't going to stop it... But that was my way of telling him to go for it. That guy. Seriously, he takes things for granted until it's being ripped away from him by someone else."

He really did know Evan well. I sighed. "It wasn't pretty. We fought. But... I, you know... I love him."

"Oh! The L word! Moon Goddess, you're head over heels. Okay, spill. Tell me everything from the start."

It was awful. He kept laughing at me every other sentence as I recounted the tumultuous journey from beginning to end. But like Raf, he was a sucker for gossip and refused to let me hang up.

"Aren't you supposed to be investigating!" I snapped when he burst out laughing again. You're doing an awful job of trying to catch people when they can hear you from a mile away and start running." He only laughed harder.

"I'm hanging up!"

"Wait, wait! Sorry, Claudia, I just knew this was going to happen eventually. So funny... But, hey. Listen."

His voice dropped to a serious timbre so quickly I froze.

"Evan's been through a lot. You know the start of it. But what he's been through as he grew up, how he fought his way from the bottom to the top when everyone wanted to kick him while he was down... He'll never tell you that part. Maybe the surface stuff. But he's never told you what it was like to get back into the Scarlet pack as a rogue and get rid of Adrain, has he?"

My heart dropped. A rogue? It made sense but I hadn't thought it had gone so far. But how could it not have? When his parents had been killed and Adrain had taken over as Alpha, to remove the heir would have been the only way to get rid of all future competition. And with no pack, Evan had been all alone, fending for himself as an outcast, never with friends and comrades...

To overcome all of that and take his rightful place in the Scarlet pack must have been unimaginable painful.

"Listen, Claudia. He's still the same kid he was before, and I don't mean in a good way. He's got all that pain locked inside with nowhere to go. Spent his whole life waiting to get revenge on Adrain and then it ended... just like that. He's not broken, don't get me wrong, but he hasn't got all his pieces back. You could hurt him more than you know."

"I'm the one who was scared," I said softly. "It wasn't easy. I came to him first and he made it clear what he wanted wasn't... what he needed."

"Yeah. I get that. I've been there with him seeing all he does. And... I know you still haven't come to terms with the way he takes down enemy packs. But for him, it's black and white. If they're the enemy, they get slaughtered, the end. And I know you don't see eye to eye with him on that. But eventually..."

"Evan is a better person than the level he drags himself down to. He's changing. I can..."

"You can change him? Claudia. This isn't about him looking for his mate or giving it up so you two can be together. This is his whole life. And you know, eventually, there's going to be an end to it all. He'll find every last werewolf who hurt him and his family, wipe them, out... and then he'll move on to his next mission in life with a vengeance. This is who he is. You're going to hurt yourself if you try to change what can't be changed."

And here I'd thought Peelle had been happy for us. My stomach churned, heavy with newfound anxiety.

"We'll figure it out. I believe in Evan."

"Yeah, so do I. Just know that this is the first time he's ever opened himself up to someone like that... and you have more power over him than you realize. That talk about changing him, it's dangerous. Know that."

When Peelle hung up, I was too agitated to rest. I called Raf, not bothering to text her first to ask if she was busy. I needed someone to listen to. I needed sounds to fill the void breathing darkly all around me, something light to chase it away. "Claud! I thought you said you'd be too busy to talk! What's going on, did you find out why you had to leave all of a sudden? Do you want me to take the train there? Leon and I can take a few days off and-"

It was so good to hear her voice. Despite my new life in the Scarlet pack, going to university, living in a house like a real member of the family instead of scurrying to and fro tending to Elly and Maria - I had yet to make more than a handful of friends. Raf, Leon, even Ken were all I had, outside of Evan and Peelle who were always busy with pack matters.

I let her ramble on about her new job as a barista and how Leon was gunning for a new certification to improve his resume. It was the best escape. For those two hours, I put everything out of my mind except the insane mundanity of Raf's life, away from the dread of losing Evan, away from the fear of enemies on the prowl, away from Peelle's warning that the road ahead would be even rougher and harder than the path we'd traveled already.

"Hey... you feeling any better, Claud?"

I sighed and closed my eyes. I had her on speaker with the phone set beside my pillow, and I pulled the covers up to my chin. "I'm scared," I admitted. "Everything worries me. And I have a bad feeling... Can't shake it from the moment he left."

"You think he's in danger? Alpha Evan, the guy who can singlehandedly wipe out an entire pack on his own?"

That was true. I sighed again.

"Okay, Claud. You need to go get something to eat. Let's talk after lunch?"

We hung up, and I obediently went down to the first floor to fix myself something in the kitchen. It was strange to have the run of the place now, but I didn't think too hard about it. The mass grave outside somewhere, full of the Dark Moon pack who used to live here still haunted me...

The Deltas in the kitchen stopped whispering as soon as I entered. Two of them were teary-eyed and puffy-cheeked, although they were quick to hide their faces, but there was no hiding that they had been talking about something, urgent and worried.

I froze. My heart dropped.

Was it...? Could it be?

I'd had such a terrible feeling as soon as Evan left. I knew it! I should never have let him go-

"What is it?" I snapped, and the Deltas straightened at my tone. "Tell me. Now!"

My tone was miraculously enough to get them to bend. The Delta on the left cleared her throat.

"My cousin... He just sent word to everyone. They found Osborn's body."