7. Just Another Betrayal

Chapter seven

Just Another Betrayal

*ARDEN*

I chuckle when I watch Vander and Léna dancing. She was nervous and shy at first, but when more and more pairs pooled onto the dance floor, Vander was finally able to convince her. They are adorable. Vander has been to one dance class so far, but he is trying his best to lead his girlfriend.

Leila and Beta Emilien are on the dance floor now, earning them curious gazes from all over the room. She is probably the most wanted, unmated she-wolf here today, and with her powers and beauty, I bet some high-ranking wolves would love to have her as a chosen mate. But she keeps everyone at arm's length and mostly sticks to Eric, Valerie, and Beta Emilien.

"What about us?" Coralie asks with a wink.

"I don't have the best sense of rhythm," I admit. "For obvious reasons. But if you don't mind—"

"I don't mind," she hurries to reassure me.

I offer her my arm. "Then allow me this dance, milady."

Coralie giggles at my silly antics. I'm surprised she finds me funny. It's not a trait I think I truly possess. But I decide not to question it and lead her to the dance floor. As an assistant for Eric, I know the basic dance moves. Eric wants all his assistants to be able to attend basic social functions without sticking out like a sore thumb. He doesn't ask the impossible, and while I'm not the best dancer, I can see why he wanted me to learn it.

Coralie snuggles against my body, looking up at me with a smile. Her scent enters my nostrils, catching me a bit off guard. It doesn't smell like her usual scent… it's better.

"You said you were bad," she says. "But you dance really well."

"Are you surprised?" I tease.

"Yes, not that I would have liked you less if you weren't able to dance," she says. "But it's cool that you can."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see Eric and Valerie moving over the dance floor, too. Eric grabs her around her waist and lifts her up slightly, twirling her around and continuing his perfect dance steps. He is a pro… at dancing and at romance. I can definitely learn a thing or two from him.

Eventually, he and Valerie approach us and greet me. Eric squeezes my shoulder while Val gives me a swift hug. "You and your date are looking fantastic," she says.

"You too," I say before clearing my throat. "Allow me to introduce my date. This is Coralie. She is from my pack. She is the gamma's niece."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Eric says, surprised. He looks at her with a polite smile, but I can see a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"It's not important to me," Coralie tells him. "It's not like I am in line for a rank." She turns to look at me with a smile. "Arden and I met outside of the pack."

I nod at her words. At the same time, Vander and Léna join us, and he introduces her to them. Léna is nervous to meet Eric, but he wouldn't be Eric if he couldn't diffuse any tense situation. Eventually, Leila and Beta Emilien join us, also. I don't know either of them much, although Emilien is Eric's beta, and his most trusted subordinate and friend. He is a quiet and serious man, a stark contrast to Eric himself.

Up close, Leila is even more of a dazzling beauty, and both Coralie and Léna are completely in awe of her.

"I think you haven't met, officially," Eric says. "This is Lady Leila. She is Valerie's and my guest and a valuable member of the Council." He gestures towards me. "This is Arden, the young man I told you about."

"Oh, the young genius, am I right?" Leila asks. She shakes my hand and smiles at me. At first glance, I thought she might be more distanced, but she is surprisingly warm and friendly.

"It's an honor to meet you," I say. "But I am not a genius."

"Eric said you would react like that." She chuckles. "He also told me not to believe you when you say that, and that you are an incredible lycan."

Her praise makes me flustered but also happy that Eric thinks that highly of me, and inside, Cato swells with pride. It's rare for him to react that way, so Leila's words must truly have struck something in him.

Before Eric can introduce Vander and our dates, Leila's expression changes. It's almost like a mask drops down, and her whole face is dead serious. Her eyes turn over until we can only see the white of them. Her lips tremble, and she seems to mutter something. She sways slightly, so Beta Emilien hastily takes one of her arms and Eric the other.

It only lasts for a couple of seconds, then she is back to normal. She turns to Eric. "We need to talk," she says.

"You saw something?" he asks.

"I certainly did, but I am not sure what it was. I do think it's one of the girls, though, one of the omegas…"

"One of the girls?" I ask thoughtfully. "You mean the missing cases?" Eric told me only a few days ago that omega wolves seem to be disappearing. He wants me to work on this case. It's only a handful of them, but we are not the only country that's been faced with missing omegas. It seems like Alpha Elden has reported something similar across the continent. "Do you need help?"

Eric smiles at me. "Thank you, Arden, but I want you to enjoy your evening. Leila and I will just talk briefly to discuss what she saw."

True to his words, he and Leila disappear, leaving the rest of us behind. Valerie joins us shortly before walking over to some other guests.

"Omegas are going missing?" Léna asks.

"We don't know for sure what happened," I tell her. "It's currently being investigated."

"It's horrible," she mutters.

"Yes," I say, quietly. "It really is. We don't even know what's happening with them."

"You are not an omega," Coralie tells her. "You don't need to worry."

"But, I do worry," Léna says, "I have friends who are omegas."

"Arden is a genius," Vander tells her, a hint of pride in his voice when he looks at me. "He was chosen to help with this case."

"That makes me feel better," Léna says. "I know you are very smart."

"Every life, every rank matters," I say. "I will make sure to put my all into this."

Léna indeed looks relieved and nods, and soon Vander successfully lifts her mood again, by pulling her back to our table to grab something to eat. Coralie takes my arm, swaying slightly.

"Are you alright?" I ask in worry.

"Just feeling a bit dizzy. I think I might have had a glass of wine too many."

"Let's get you outside for some fresh air," I say, gently leading her towards the huge balcony. It's a cold winter night, a chilly breeze brushing over us. Coralie shivers slightly, leaning against me as if she is seeking my warmth. "Are you feeling better?"

"A bit," she says. "Thank you, Arden." When I turn my face to her, she cups my cheeks and pulls me into a kiss. It's not the first kiss we've shared, but somehow Coralie is more eager this time, leaning her body against mine and seeking my touch.

She draws back, laughing before she takes my arms and twirls us around.

"Coralie," I say with a chuckle.

"Don't always be so serious." She grins, taking my hand and tugging me along. She is almost running while I follow her, feeling both amused and confused at what she is plotting now. To my surprise, she drags me through the whole building, not stopping even once. She also doesn't answer my curious questions, just keeps laughing.

When we reach my guest suite, she opens the door and pulls me inside. Before I can even react properly, she has pushed me onto the bed, straddling my hips. I sit up again, suddenly feeling sobered up. Grabbing her hips, I make her stop whatever she was planning on doing. I have a feeling for what she wants to do now, and it's probably the atmosphere and the wine. I don't want to take advantage of her when she is vulnerable.

I do want her. She is beautiful and fun, and no one has ever given me the attention she has.

But I still don't want her to regret something later.

"You are beautiful," I tell her. "You really are."

"Thank you." Coralie smiles while starting to unbutton my shirt and opening the belt of my pants. "You are beautiful, too." Her fingers glide over my naked chest, making a shiver run down my spine. It feels so good to be touched that way. I haven't had sex, yet. Growing up as the bullied kid didn't make me popular, but Coralie looked past that and still wants me.

Coralie pulls her dress over her head, revealing her delicate body to me. I touch her gently, scared that I might actually hurt her. "I don't want you to regret anything," I say quietly while touching her back and pulling her into an embrace.

"I won't," she whispers.

"You wanted to wait for your mate."

"Well," she says. "I think it's okay to share this with you."

I gaze up into her eyes, wondering what to say or do. The erection in my pants reminds me that my body longs for her touch, but I can't just switch my brain off.

"Arden," she says seriously. "You always think too much. Sometimes you just need to enjoy and go with the flow."

"You know, I'm not the type of guy to go with the flow," I mutter. "You know me, Coralie." I pause. "Why do you want me?"

"You are hot," she says. "And I like spending time with you."

For a split second I think of my brother and his date—probably girlfriend from today on. Léna seems to really like Vander. I never got that feeling from Coralie, not to that depth. It didn't matter to me because we decided not to be serious. But… "I can't do this," I say.

She looks disappointed. "Why not?"

"I don't want to have a one-night stand," I say. "I either date someone seriously or I don't."

Or I wait for my mate.

"What if I told you," Coralie says, leaning forward to whisper into my ear. "I want to be serious with you."

A shiver goes down my spine, but not due to her suggestion but the fact she whispered into my mostly deaf ear with the hearing aid in it. She is too close; her voice is too close. I almost flinch away from her.

To my relief, I manage to catch my reaction and control it. Still wrapping her in my arms, I gaze around the room absent-mindedly. Coralie's bag is in a corner; it's open. My own stuff is here, too. I already put everything away earlier this morning when I arrived. The books are on the shelf—Eric always gives me a room with books in it, knowing I love to read.

The books aren't in their usual order.

I know they aren't. I was in this room this morning, and the books were placed differently. Who messed with the order? Was someone in this room?

Cato.

I can feel his relief that I didn't give in to Coralie's seduction, and he is all too eager to lend me his senses, our eyesight sharpening. That's the plus side of having a lycan who is almost deaf; all his other senses are enhanced.

With his sharpened vision, I scan the room again; the shelves in particular. That's when I see it. I truly can never switch off my mind. I can't. How much easier would my life be if I could? I grab Coralie's waist, taking a lungful of her scent like I did when we were dancing. She almost succeeded in making me switch off any reasoning, though. I have to give her that. She almost outsmarted me. I noticed it wasn't her real scent but thought it would be a perfume. If I have to take a guess now, I'd say she had her scent enhanced with something that would be alluring to me.

My heart breaks, but I don't want her to know it did. It's not that I loved her, but I liked her. I trusted her. I grab her by her waist and pull her off me. Ignoring her disgruntled complaints, I walk to the part of the shelf where the books are in disarray.

"Arden," Coralie mutters, jumping up and hurrying towards me. She grabs my arm, but I shake her off.

"Leave," I tell her.

"It's not how it looks," she hurries to explain. "You know how I feel about you."

"That I do," I say cooly, trying to harden my heart.

I trusted her. We weren't mates, but we could have been friends. Now it makes sense why Eric looked at her the way he did. He thought something was off about her. Vander was right as well. She was too beautiful, too hot to be interested in me.

Coralie's eyes fill with tears. "Please, Arden," she begs.

"Why?" I ask her. "Why did you do it? Did someone threaten you to do it?"

She looks away from me, a hint of shame in her eyes. "No," she says.

"Then why?"

"I thought I could use it later," she admits.

Yeah, to blackmail me, I guess.

"Come on, Arden. We can give each other so much," she says. "We get along. I could be your luna, and I wouldn't mind giving myself to you. You are broken. You have an impairment. Your mate might not want you."

Even my lycan seems shocked at her words. I can feel his sensations. He is sorry… for me. After all, he never wanted Coralie. Only I did. Fuck around and find out, I guess.

"It's a win-win," she says. "You get sex, and I get a rank. I—"

"Coralie," I say firmly. "Shut up."

"What?" she blinks.

"I asked you to shut up," I say. "Did you really think I have no dignity?"

Does she think I have no feelings?

I am pathetic, so pathetic, for having fallen for her scheme.

I open the book and take out the camera, handing it back to her. "Here, take this and leave. I might have an impairment, but I'm still an alpha by blood. Don't cross my path again."