Chapter 317: _ Who Did I Marry?
Lila swallowed. "She was heading toward the south garden side. Behind the red arch."
The red arch. That secluded section of the estate. It was quiet and out of the guards’ patrol route unless requested.
My stomach dropped. Something about this didn’t sound right.
"Gracias," I muttered, already halfway out the door.
The air changed the moment I stepped outside.
The night was thick with the scent of damp grass and blooming roses... the kind María José liked. The kind she claimed reminded her of her abuela’s garden. They were heady, sweet, and always a little too much. Just like her.
I followed the scent, fast and focused. Her perfume was faint coconut and something warm like honey. Its traces were still hanging in the air. But it was layered now.
With something else.
Álvaro.
I stopped in my tracks, chest tight, and nostrils flaring.
What the fuck was he doing near her?
I didn’t see anyone yet, but I knew what my senses were telling me. The garden curved into a sharp turn just past the red arch, a place that was conveniently off-guard rotation unless explicitly scheduled.
Why would she come here? Alone?
"Hugo," I growled inwardly, summoning my wolf that had been too quiet lately.
"You feel that too?" he responded, voice low and taut in my head. "That’s his scent. Álvaro. He’s close to her. Too close."
"Why is she with him?" I asked, more to myself than him.
"That’s our mate. You should be the one with answers."
I gritted my teeth and pushed forward, steps silent despite my raging heart. The closer I got, the stronger both scents became. My fingers twitched with the need to shift and rip something apart. To rip him apart. But I couldn’t... not without knowing what tonight was all about between them.
But I knew my wife. She was an innocent little Dove. Probably the most innocent and dignified woman this pack had ever seen. There has to be a good and justified explanation for whatever it was she was currently doing with Álvaro.
And then I heard low voices. It was hers at first as she spoke in a calm and professional tone.
"I know what I’m asking," María José said. "And I know the cost."
I paused in the shadows, my heart thundering. She was standing near the stone fountain, the one overgrown with ivy. Her back was to me, straight and proud, like she was negotiating peace between kingdoms.
Álvaro stood across from her, relaxed in that smug, snake-like way he always had. His coat was unbuttoned, his shirt open at the collar, and his hands buried in his pockets like he had all the time in the world.
I should have known this wasn’t going to be a casual chat.
I crouched low behind the thick trunk of an old olive tree, its gnarled roots twisting into the earth like the snarled mess inside my chest. My eyes never left them. María José, standing like a fragile flame flickering in a storm, and Álvaro—my brother, my enemy, leaning against the cold stone fountain with that slow, smug grin that could peel paint off walls.
She didn’t look scared. Not even a whiff of hesitation in her eyes.
That pissed me off more than anything.
Because here I was, fists clenched so tight my knuckles cracked in the chill, pacing the shadows, heart hammering like it wanted out, and she was cool. Calm. Calculated.
What the hell is she doing, bargaining with my brother?
I wanted to storm forward, to shove Álvaro off that fountain and drag María José back into the safety of our suite, but Hugo, my wolf pulled on the leash inside my mind.
"Hey, let’s not take irrational steps. María is here for a reason. Let’s give her a chance to do what she wants."
He was right. I should at least know what she was here for.
I took a breath, the cold night air burning my lungs, and forced myself to stay hidden.
She was speaking in a low but an ’I know quite well what I’m doing’ tone.
"I’m not here to ask for favors. You and I both know the war for the Alpha throne is ongoing. You’ll win it. I’ve seen the pack whispering it already. I want to make sure that when that happens, Axel—my husband, doesn’t lose everything."
W-what?!
Álvaro laughed. It was a victorious venomous sound that made the hairs on my neck stand on end. "You’re a brave one, María José. Or maybe just desperate. Why should I spare him anything? He’s been weak. A pathetic Beta. Our pack needs strength, not sentimental fools clinging to the past."
My hands curled into fists that wanted nothing more than to punch through the stone. Weak? Pathetic? Me?
Coming from that pompous bastard?
By the Moon, he wouldn’t have had such a platform to spew his bitter words about me had my wife, who never failed to remind me how much she believed in me not going to him.
It was laughable how I used to believe her. She’d said she knew deep down that the Alpha position was mine. It was her who used to whisper words of motivation on days when I was down to one percent mentally.
Yet, behind my back, she could so blatantly show my enemies how much she doesn’t believe in me? She knows Álvaro would win it?
Seriously?
Who was María José, really? Because for the past two months, I doubted I even knew her at all. Who on earth did I marry?
I clenched my fists, gnashed my teeth, and readied myself to intervene because I wouldn’t keep on standing here and watching her embarrass me.
Just when I wanted to take a step, "Oh, come on, Axel. This is a matter to be discussed with your wife later when you’re both alone. If you escalate this and everyone else finds out about it, it’ll ruin her image. If you, her husband could get so mad and wonder who you married, imagine the names she’ll be called in the pack." Hugo reasoned.
Do I care? Was I supposed to care?!