Chapter 20: 20: Suspicions

ARIEL

My motorcycle roars through town, but I’m having a hard time enjoying the feeling of the wind through my hair when I remember the car I’m escorting.

Lola peers out of the tinted windows of the back seat of the black SUV.

Maria’s invitation for her to stay for the week had been an impromptu decision and now, the following morning, here I am, escorting her going shopping.

Fate is a fickle bitch.

I keep running the conversation I had with Lola last night through my head.

I initially thought she was nothing more than an annoyance. Something chalked up to bad timing.

But after hearing the ferocity in her voice, the threat of badmouthing me to Alex... I see that there’s something much more sinister going on with her.

I know one thing for sure—she doesn’t care about Alex.

As we come to a stop at a strip of clothing and accessory stores, I swing my leg over my bike and follow her into the nearest high-end clothing boutique.

I sit near the entrance, arms crossed while she tries on a month’s worth of dresses and shoes.

I’m relieved when I see that she’s purchasing a good fifteen outfits.

~At least we only had to hit up one store.~

I stand to help carry some of the bags to the car when I see her hand the credit card to the cashier.

With Alex’s name on it.

~What the hell’s wrong with her credit card? She’s royalty, too, right?~

“What did you say your title is?” I ask, attempting to sound nonchalant.

Lola’s eyes narrow. “Why?”

“I’ve never met much royalty before. I don’t know how all the titles and lineage work. Just wondering.”

“My grandfather is the third born of an alpha line king.”

“So that makes you…?”

“An alpha line princess. What’s with the third degree?”

“I’m just wondering why your pack allowed you to stay gone for so long. Without sending your own royal guard.”

“I don’t like to make a big deal out of my station,” she said quickly. “Are you done?”

I shrugged. “Sorry, just making conversation.”

As I walk the curvaceous blonde out of the store, I can’t help but succumb to the feeling of dread I had the night before.

~Something’s not right here.~

Throwing the bags into the trunk, Lola chides me for being so rough with them. I roll my eyes and get ready to hop back on my bike.

“Where are you going?” she asks.

“Back to the palace,” I respond.

“I’m not done shopping yet!” she says, slamming the trunk.

“You don’t think you got enough to last you the week already?” I quip.

“I’m planning on staying a lot longer than that.” She walks toward a jewelry store.

“Guard,” she calls over her shoulder at me. “You coming? Or do I need to tell Alex you aren’t doing your job?”

***

Three hours and about two thousand dollars racked up on Alex’s credit card later, Lola has decided that she has enough shit to now head back to the palace.

As I’m about to finally get back on my bike, I catch a familiar rogue scent.

I look over to see that Lola is not yet in the car and is instead texting on her phone, completely oblivious to the smell.

“Lola, get in the car, now,” I say, walking over to her.

“Excuse me?” she says snottily. “Who’s working for whom here?”

I dart my eyes around the perimeter. I don’t see anything yet, but the rogue scent is becoming more prominent.

“I don’t have time to argue with you,” I say, grasping her shoulders to try to move her faster. “Just get in the car! Don’t you smell that?”

“I don’t smell anything. Get your hands off—”

She is immediately cut off as a rogue lunges over the hood of the car toward us.

“Shit! Get down!” I tackle Lola to the ground to make her take cover before I launch into a defensive stance against the rogue.

I throw a solid punch to the rogue’s mangy jaw, knocking him down long enough to give me time to shift.

Throwing off my leather jacket, I let my wolf out, shifting as quickly as possible while Lola screams obnoxiously from the ground.

Now fully in wolf form, I stand ready to fight.

The rogue gets back up to his feet.

He immediately lurches straight for my throat, but I easily dodge him and take a bite out of his shoulder, causing a yelp to escape his mouth.

This rogue is big, but he’s clumsy, and I have speed on my side.

He tries to go for my ribs, but I quickly dart out of his reach, and, once again, he just bites at the air.

I dart around to flank him and, in seconds, I take his hind legs out from under him.

He writhes and gnashes his teeth underneath me, but I’ve got him pinned.

I know that given my size, I can’t keep him down for long. Wasting no time, I grip onto his throat, but I hesitate.

~I won’t kill again. Not if it affects my healing abilities.~

As I pause, the rogue throws me off of him and I land with a thud on the ground.

When I hop back up on all fours, the rogue flees. The driver has gotten out of the car at this point and is comforting Lola, who’s bawling on the ground.

Looking at all of the shocked faces around me, it dawns on me that, while there are dozens of people out and about, not a single other person was hurt.

There was just one rogue and he came straight for us.

Taking cover behind the car for privacy, I shift back and pull my clothes on.

Ariel

Rogue attack in the town square

Ariel

1 hostile

Ariel

Retreated

Steve

Was anyone hurt?

Ariel

Just the rogue

Steve

Good work Ariel!

Steve

Are you on guard duty?

Ariel

Yes getting her back to the palace now

Steve

Good. Dave will send a squad to investigate

Lola’s crying, playing up the damsel in distress routine when I walk over to her, still sitting on the pavement, head in her hands.

“Are you alright?” I ask.

“No, I’m not alright!” She looks up at me, eyes blazing. “You pushed me!” She lifts her elbow to show me a rip in her sweater. “And I could have been killed!”

At this moment I notice something strange when I look into her purple eyes. One looks…brown.

“Are you...did you lose a contact?” I ask.

“What? What are you talking about?” she spits at me.

“Your eyes…they’re two different colors.”

Lola immediately covers her left eye. “Don’t be stupid! I—I need the bathroom. To…clean up.” Flustered, she disappears inside the nearest coffee shop.

~Is she intentionally trying to make herself look like Alex’s dead mate?~

***

As we arrive back at the palace, we’re met in front by Alex. I climb off my bike to tell him how things went down, but I’m beaten to it by Lola, who runs into his arms.

“Alex! It was so horrible! I thought I was going to die!”

He hugs her hard and catches my eye over her shoulder.

“Was anyone hurt?” he asks me. I begin to shake my head when Lola interjects.

“Just when Ariel pushed me,” she said, showing him the rip in her sleeve. “I thought I scented something but she wouldn’t listen to me!”

“I—that’s not—” I begin, but Alex is shooting daggers at me with his eyes.

“Didn’t you scent anything before it happened?” he asks, Lola still in his arms.

“Oh my Goddess, Alex,”—she makes him look at her—“I was so scared I would never see you again!

“All I could think about was getting out of there to see you. That’s all that was keeping me going!”

~This two-faced bitch!~

“You’re okay,” he says, rubbing his hands over her back.”

“Ariel didn’t do a thing to protect me! She didn’t get me to safety when I caught the rogue scent. Just kept saying I was overreacting.”

She turns to me. “I hope you’re happy!” she yells, then buries her face back in Alex’s chest.”

~Oh my Goddess, Alex has GOT to see through this!~

“Ariel,” Alex says sternly, “why the hell didn’t you get her to safety as soon as—”

“I tried!” I interrupt. “She wouldn’t listen to me!”

“You obviously didn’t try that hard!” he retorts, his voice rising.”

“I knew you weren’t exactly happy to have gotten guard duty,” he goes on, “but come on, Ariel! Lola could have been killed!”

“I don’t want her to guard me anymore, Alex,” Lola pipes in. “Please! Keeping me safe is the last thing on her mind!”

~Well, NOW it is!~

“That’s fine,” he says. “Ariel, just…report back to General Dave. You’re back on perimeter watch.”

“I didn’t—she —” I throw my hands up in frustration.”

There’s no talking to him with her around.

She knows exactly what she’s doing and she’s beginning by driving a wedge between Alex and me.

I know two things right now.

One: she’s using Alex, but I can’t figure out why.

Two: I’m going to get to the bottom of it.

Lola slinks her head back around to look in my direction. She gives me a sly smile, her ‘purple’ eyes dancing with mischief.

I can’t wait to knock that evil smirk off her face.