Mating the Female Alpha
Chapter 10 Suspicion

Jessie's POV

"These are perfect," Jessie declares, selecting some of her finest jewels. She carefully wraps them up and sets them inside the bag she will send to her brother's new Omega - Denise was her name, Jessie thinks. Such a beautiful Omega deserves beautiful jewels.

"Yes, Your Highness," her maid says. It's the same maid that had helped Jessie create a diversion by pretending to faint, and Jessie feels very grateful to her. After all, without her, she would have never seen her brother's Omega! "It's strange," Jessie says to her maid, tying the bag shut and handing it to an errand boy, who carries it off. "I could have sworn I've seen Denise before..."

Her maid looks up at that, a strange look on her face, but Jessie hardly notices, so deep in her thoughts.

"It was the look in her eyes...I've met an Alpha with those eyes before, although in wolf form. So familiar, with gorgeous snow-white fur. But that can't be the same person as Denise, right?"

"Of course not," the maid answers, but she sounds sharp and almost angry. Jessie still doesn't notice, her thoughts have turned now to the female Alpha everyone raves so much about. She crosses to her settee and collapses onto it with a sigh, clicking her fingers for a refreshing drink.

Once another maid brings it, she sips it, still deep in contemplation.

"My brother is at the Alpha meeting again," she tells her lookalike maid. "With that female Alpha. I do hope he doesn't really like that she-wolf, when he has such a lovely Omega at home now."

"His Omega, she has the eyes of an Alpha you've seen?" Jessie's maid asks. Jessie frowns.

"Yes," she says, confused. "But why do you ask?"

"No reason," the maid says quickly. "It's just interesting."

"It is, isn't it?" Jessie says thoughtfully, and does not see the dark look cross her lookalike maid's face.

Landry POV

"This meeting is important!" an Alpha roars across the table at Landry, who glares back. "We are trying to remove all the vampire spies, all the Alphas must be here to help. Where is Bernice, the Sunset Pack Alpha! She was last seen with you!" Landry feels the burning gazes of the assembled Alphas, who all turn to look at him in interest at once. He scowls - he is the Alpha King! They have no right to question him like this!

He desperately thinks for an answer that would make them not suspect anything. Bernice has been missing since the last meeting, and he needs to make them believe she was fine.

"She is undercover," he finally says, keeping his face straight and unchanging. There's some muttering to this, so he clears his throat and says louder: "She's working with me on a special mission. If you value the war effort, you'll say nothing more."

That seems to work. They back off, and Landry congratulates himself on the quick thinking. After all, he has worked with Bernice for years. No one would question her working with him on a special mission.

He sees out of the corner of his eye the Alpha of Aurora Pack sneering, but does not worry about it. He is a lesser Alpha, and Landry has other things to worry about.

Later that evening, Landry is still thinking of Bernice and what he is going to do with her. Is she truly a spy? Is there another secret she is holding? He is so focused on his thoughts he does not see Tina, his cousin at first. When he does, he is glad to have his thoughts to distract him from her and the rest of the noble ladies.

He knows his relationship status has been the source of gossip for many years now, and many noble ladies have tried endlessly to catch his eye. The most recent and most annoying is Tina, who's widely favored to be his future bride. "Not if I have anything to say about it," he thinks to himself. Still, Tina persists.

"Oh, Landry," she sighs, fluttering her eyes. "The way you fight in battle is so impressive! Any she-wolf would be lucky to have you."

"Indeed," Landry says, and Tina flutters her lashes some more and gives him a sigh.

"Oh, please, Landry, won't you dance with me?"

That is the last thing Landry wishes to do. Swallowing his distaste, he shakes his head.

"I decline, thank you, Tina," he says, and turns his back on her, thoughts going back to Bernice at the palace. He is shocked to find that he actually misses her quite a lot.

He kept her handcuffed to prevent her from running away, but the look on the Alpha of Aurora Pack's face during the meeting is now starting to concern him. He feels a deep sense of unease grow in him and decides to take his leave and go to her immediately.

As he makes his excuses, he hears the other noble ladies converge on Tina and begin teasing her.

"Not so sure of yourself now, are you?" they laugh at her, and she huffs, indignant.

"I will be the Luna Queen yet, just you wait and see!" she declares, and Landry rolls his eyes.

"As if," he mutters to himself, and heads back to his palace.

The journey is quick, occupied by Landry's thoughts on what he will say to Bernice and how he can talk to her when she is so stubborn. He doesn't notice the unnatural stillness of the palace until he comes upon his two guards, unconscious by the doors.

They've suffered blows to the head and dread makes Landry feel sick. He snaps his gaze up, only one thought running through his mind. "Bernice!"

He races through the halls, focused only on his goal, moving so quickly he is almost a blur. He makes it to the room he's left Bernice in just in time to see a masked assassin with a knife, standing above Bernice, holding the knife up and ready to stab her!