Chapter 30 – Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate

He warned lowly.

Both Ann and Maeve were a little shocked by this.

They were contracted mates, not fated.

There was no cause for him to be jealous at all as they weren’t really his, to begin with.

‘Maybe he’s enjoying finally getting his leg over.’

Maeve sniggered.

Anne ignored her and smiled apologetically at him.

“There’s no need to be jealous of anything, Adam.

I have no interest in pursuing anything or anyone outside of our contract, okay?”

She attempted to reassure him.

Adam’s shoulders sagged a little and seemed to be appeased although his eyes were still sharp as he watched her intently.

Anne took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Adam, I was chatting with Maeve earlier and I realized that there seems to be a lot of odd stuff happening around my stepmother and stepsister.

In my mind, there’s just too much for it to be simply a coincidence but she thinks I might be overreacting.

So… I guess I just wanted to chat with you about it a bit before I decided what to do.”

“Okay.

Tell me what’s bothering you.”

Adam said as he leaned back in the chair, his face suddenly serious.

Ann proceeded to explain her concerns and the more she spoke, the deeper Adam’s frown became.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he mulled Ann’s concerns over.

“Ann, is there anything…

ANYTHING at all that you remember when you changed at the banquet?”

He asked seriously as his phone began to ring in his pocket.

Whilst Adam took the call, Ann racked her brains for any memories that remained of the night.

It was as if every time she tried to grasp onto them, they slipped away from her, remaining out of reach.

Then suddenly she had it.

She slapped the table with her hands and stood up abruptly, her sudden movement startling Adam slightly.

She looked at him with an expression of triumph as he quickly hung the call-up and she snorted loudly in disbelief at the fragment she had remembered.

“Oh my goddess, Adam.

It was them!

Narcissa and Ada!

They forced my change!”she exclaimed indignantly.

“Are you sure?”

Adam growled as he stood warily as if she might attack him at any second.

“I’m positive, Adam!

I’m having a hard time remembering anything from that night if I’m honest, but, right after I changed and when Narcissa grabbed hold of Ada, she asked her what she had done.”

Ann paced angrily around the side of her desk as Adam rushed over to her and took hold of her shoulders firmly.

“Ann, are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes!

The fucking bitch…

Narcissa asked what she had done and Ada said she didn’t mean to.

Narcissa was furious with her… I know that look, I’ve been on the receiving end of it many times.”

Ann said, her voice shaking in disbelief.

“If that’s the case then I think you might well be right in your assumptions that they had something to do with the inactivity of your wolf… and perhaps that of your fathers too.”

Adam frowned.

“I’ll fucking kill them,” Ann growled as Maeve surged forward to sit at her side, the two of them staring out furiously of Ann’s eyes.

“No.

Ann… wait…we can’t just go rushing headlong in there…”

“Why?

Why can’t we?

What if my father is in danger?”

Ann protested loudly, pushing Adam away and grabbing her coat.

“Ann, be rational about this for a second.

If they wanted your father dead, they could have done so a long time ago.

I think he’s safe, for now.”

Ann snarled furiously.

“For now?

Then I should stand by idly and do nothing while they carry on as normal and work towards whatever nefarious goal they have?!”

She snapped.

“What if you try to talk to your father?”

Adam tried to reason with her.

“Surely your father will listen…”

Ann scoffed loudly.

“Oh sure, because that went so well every other time I’ve tried.

He didn’t even give a shit when my mother was fading away before his eyes and he…”

Ann suddenly froze as she gripped Adam for support.

She swore loudly and her legs seemed to sag from beneath her.

“Adam… they killed my mother… they had to have done it!

Oh… I’m so stupid!

I should have stopped them!

I should have…”

Ann trailed off into breathless sobs as Adam held her tightly against his chest.

In all honesty, he was more than a little perplexed by the whole situation.

Seeing her so distraught and grief-stricken almost tore his heart in two and his wolf bayed for the blood of the people that had done this to her.

He tried his best to soothe the beast within whilst he supported her to sit and cradled her, muttering soothing words and rubbing her back.

“I’m so stupid…”she whispered over and over.

“Ann, that’s not true.

I promise you.

There’s no way that you could have known.”

“But it all makes sense now!

My mother confined herself to one wing of the palace.

It was ours, just me and her.

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