The Alpha King Call Boy
Chapter 222

Fiona

"What is going on, Alex?"

I had set the photograph of his mother aside and now took both his hands into my own.

"Something is really bothering you, I can tell. What happened today? Is it something to do with Conrad, or is it about the business stuff?"

My husband seemed really not okay. He was feeling. ashamed about something. Deeply ashamed. That's the predominant emotion I sensed as his energy pulsed from his hands into my own.

"I showed Conrad a picture of Lexi," he started. "That's why he gave me the photo of my mom."

"Okay."

"He had a strong reaction to seeing her." Alex closed his eyes and gave a small shake of his head. "One I certainly did not expect."

He opened his honey -gold eyes again and brought them to mine.

The pain in his gaze was undeniable.

I wanted to lean in and give him a little kiss. Stroke his beard. Do something to offer him comfort. But I got the sense that maybe he did not want comfort right now. He was feeling bad about himself, very bad, and like he deserved this pain he was sitting with. "And how did he react?" I probed gently.

"Their similarity, it made him remember my mother. Seemed likethe most he'd really thought about her in a long time. And he... I don't know, Fi. He regrets it now. Killing your father. He saw Lexi's eyes, your eyes, on a face so much like that of his sister, and he was overcome with feeling like he'd betrayed her. Like she would be ashamed of him, if she could see how he reacted to her death. What he did in the name of avenging her."

"Hm." Yes, this was definitely unexpected. I never imagined

Conrad Knight capable of emotions like regret and shame." And... why has this gotten you so upset, though?"

He swallowed hard and said the next part very fast, like he wastrying to get it out before he could hesitate any more.

"I planned to kill her," he said quietly, "Scarlet. Ever since I learned about her involvement in my mother's death, that was my plan. I was going to kill her. I was sure that I was going to do it. Not in any sort of legally justifiable way. I was just going to kill her with my bare hands."

The depth of raw emotion that flooded through Alexander as he spoke of this was too much for me to handle. I had to slide my hands out of his, leaving his palms open and empty. "Alex..."

He rubbed his eyes, "I know. It's."

"I am not judging you, Alex. Look at me, please."

He pulled his hands away from his face and did so. That pain in his eyes... it was deep and dreadful.

"Your thoughts don't define you, Alexander. We all have fucked up things we think about sometimes. It doesn't make you a bad person." He frowned. "Going through with it might."

"But it doesn't sound like you are thinking about going through with it any longer. You said you were planning to kill her in the past.

Not that you still are. Am I right about that?"

He nodded and cleared his throat. His voice was thin when he spoke again. "You're right. I was thinking about it on the drive back. I just can't... I can't do something like that in my mother's name. And I can't set that kind of example for Alexis, either."

I dared to reach out and take hold of one of Alex's hands again. "You don't need to, my love. You can get justice for your mother, without violence. You can hold Scarlet accountable for her crimes using legal means. And your mother would be proud of you for doing so."

His energy softened when I uttered that last sentence. I felt the change, the relief, in my entire body.

My Alpha gave me a long, hard look. "You and Lexi have made me a better man than I used to be," he said somberly.

I reached out and ran a hand through his long, fluffy blond hair. He leaned into my touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment when my fingernails grazed his scalp lightly.

"No, I don't think so," I said. I brought my other hand to his chest and let it rest atop his beating heart. "I think you have always been a good man, in here. You just needed a little help seeing yourselfas such."

Third person

Kayden: I'm about to hit the gym. Wanna join? I've got the Gammas meeting me there tonight, though - so it might not be as fun as last time

Nina blew out a noisy exhale, accidentally sending a lock of her fuchsia hair flying forward.

She replied before she could think too much about it.

Nina: Yeah, sounds great. I could use a workout.Kayden: Cool. I'll come pick you up from your room in a few.

She locked her phone and tossed it down onto the bed. And released another heavy sigh.

Nina wasn't sure if she was hoping that guy would be there tonight or not. The broad shouldered, square jawed Gamma with dark, lust-drunk eyes, with whom she'd recently shared a heated moment. She'd been thinking about him. And not just about what happened at the gym. Al so about that night they'd gone to Bad Wolf together.

She definitely had not been doing any of it for fun or pleasure, when she kissed and rubbed herself all over all those guys on that night of their mission. It had been necessary for their cover, and their cover had worked. Their mission had been successful. But of those four guys she'd kissed - right in front of Kayden, who she knew was hating every second of it - this one had stood out.

Literally. The others three lieutenants had worked hard to remain stoic as their Beta's lover smeared glitter and hot orange lipstick all over them. They had all gotten a little aroused, of course. But only this one... didn't fight it. He didn't grope her or anything. But he'd groaned a little into her ear when she was kissing his neck, apparently unable to stop himself from doing so, and pressed forward slightly when he started getting hard, letting his bulge push into the soft skin of her exposed stomach. Nina shook her head, trying to jostle that memory out of her brain.

She hadn't even thought about all that since it happened. Not until she saw the man again in the gym.

She changed into her workout clothes quickly. A pale green tank top and a pair of black leggings with heart-shaped cutouts down the sides. Then she went to the bathroom and brushed out her hair.

She selected a tight black hairband to pull it up into. And paused.

Yeah, it was time for a change.

Nina toyed with her hair for a few minutes, pushing it this way and that, watching herself the mirror and thinking. Trying to decide on a new color.

Kayden's knock sounded on the bedroom door just as she was finishing up. She tied her now emerald green hair up into a high, tight ponytail.

Guys liked high ponytails. They liked thinking about holding onto them like handles.

She flicked off the lights and made for the door, but not before giving her reflection one last reproving shake of her head.

Nina knew she was playing a risky little game. But she could not seem to stop herself.

She liked games. She was good at them.