The Alpha's Vessel [The Alpha's #2]
Chapter Thirty-Nine

THEA PETROVNA

“And how long ago was that?” Thea asked in a quiet voice after a few moments, still struggling to wrap her mind around the fact that the head of the council, elder Malachi was a corrupt leader, one whom had cheated his way to the guaranteed spot at the top.

“Around 2 years.”

Even though her eyes went wide with the substantial amount of time that had passed since Malachi had been involved in this whole situation – and she could only assume that it had been going on for so much longer than that which in turn made her wonder just how many children they had killed over the years – Thea worked hard to keep control of herself, not wanting to alert Orpheus of what she was really thinking right now.

“What did he say exactly?” Thea finally forced herself to ask, needing to know more about the current situation. The more information she had, the more knowledgeable she would be in bringing down this whole thing and saving the lives of all those innocent children that they were fucked enough in the head to think they were sacrificing for the greater good even though that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“You didn’t hear? I heard a little but not nearly enough to be able to make out the conversation.” He asked curiously, his whole now turned so he was facing her now.

“I’m human, remember?” She chuckled even though the sound sounded strained to her ears, though it didn’t appear that Orpheus picked up on it. Even though it worked in her favour that he didn’t realise anything to be out of the ordinary with her, she couldn’t help but wonder why he had missed it as usually, Orpheus was always so perceptive, especially in regarding to anything and everything that concerned her.

So, the only two possible explanations were that he was putting up just as much as an act as her, or his vision was clouded by the mate bond that tied their souls together even though they couldn’t be even less suited to each other. Or rather, that was what she was adamant in convincing herself of.

“Sorry, I forgot. I’ll be sure to put it on speaker next time.” Orpheus apologised with a genuine look about him, though she refused to be moved by it. “But to answer your question, Malachi called to inform me of the fact that a female in the Moon Shadow pack has just gone into labour.”

“What does that mean for us?” Thea asked quietly even though she suspected what this meant for them or more specifically, this child that was about to be born.

“It means that once we get our hands on this child as soon as it’s born, we’ll be one step closer to raising the true God.” Orpheus stated with determination wrapping around his voice, this being the one goal in life that trumped and overruled everything else.

“Wait.” Thea couldn’t help but frown as she stared at him, watching as he rose to his feet. “You’re leaving now?”

“Yes. The younger the child is, the greater the sacrifice so we don’t have any time to waste.” Orpheus stated as he left the living room momentarily to head up to his bedroom which he has been sleeping in alone these past couple weeks – her sleeping in a guest room she didn’t even know he had so as to not strain their relationship even more that he had already.

Blinking back at the TV that was still playing in front of her, Thea could barely believe what was happening right now. She couldn’t believe that these people were actively planning on kidnapping an innocent child only to kill him during whatever ritual they believed worked.

Not for the first time, she couldn’t wrap her mind around what she had done to deserve such a despicable mate.

When he came back into the living room, Orpheus settled himself back on the sofa next to him so he could lean over and he could tie his laces.

“Should I come with you?” She asked quietly, not really thinking.

While being part of this sadistic, cult practice of sacrificing new born children to raise back a God who sounded more evil than good wasn’t exactly high on the list of things that she wanted to do or be a part of it, Thea was too deep into all of this and believed it would look strange and suspicious if she didn’t express her interest in joining him and whoever else that would be part of this excursion this evening.

It was one thing to say that she supported him and was being open minded about everything that him and his pack believed in, but it was a whole other thing to show it through her actions and while she preferred not to get even more mixed up in this whole mess than she already was, it was far too late for all of that.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Orpheus frowned lightly as he slipped his arms into his jacket, glancing down at her from under stormy hooded eyes.

Thea made a show of frowning, wanting him to think that she wasn’t a fan of being left out of this even though the truth was that she couldn’t be even more relieved.

“I thought you said you trusted me. That we’re all in this together now.” She pouted as she leaned back on the couch, tilting her head to glance up at him.

Almost as if her little act was getting to him, Orpheus sighed and chuckled lightly before leaning down to brace both his arms on either side of her, essentially trapping her between the sofa and him. As fearful as she was that this would be the third time that he would place his hands on her body without her consent, that she was powerless against him once again, she refused to show it.

She couldn’t afford to show it, not if she wanted for him to believe that she was now on his side and they were actively trying to work past all of their past problems so they stood a chance of having a future together.

If only he knew that, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“I do trust you.” Orpheus murmured, leaning in slightly closer so his breath fanned across her lips as he spoke, only an inch between them. “After what you did for me, after the way you saved my life when everything was in your hands, I trust no one else more than you.”

“You do?” Thea couldn’t help but question in a whisper, genuinely taken aback by his sudden admission.

“I do.” He confirmed with a gentle nod of his head, leaning in a little closer until his lips brushed against hers with every word that he spoke. “The only reason I’m not bringing you with me right now is because I don’t want to put you in danger. This is all very last minute so we have no idea as to what to expect and let me tell you this, my little light, I’m not willing to take any more risks with your safety. I think we’re had enough scares to last the both of us an entire lifetime.” He whispered in complete honesty, genuinely meaning every word that now passed his lips, even if she couldn’t bring herself to believe him just yet.

“Next time?” She couldn’t help but whisper back in response, her head tilting up to press her lips harder against hers, hating the way her body subconsciously reacted to his, especially when he was this close and alluring, tempting her to do something she would come to regret.

“Next time.” He promised and finally, he bit the bullet and leaned in further to close the distance between them.

Almost as if testing the waters as this was the first time that they had done more than holding hands since all that had gone wrong over two weeks ago, the pressure of his lips against was featherlight, teasing her, silently asking her for permission.

With him so close, she wasn’t able to think straight and instead of pushing him away as she should have done, Thea wound her arms around his neck and pulled him further down to slam his mouth against hers, craving for more as she was addicted to the taste of him regardless of much that she tried to deny the fact.

His chest rumbled lowly as she tugged on hair roughly and forced him to slant his head in attempt of deepening the kiss, parting her lips to allow him entrance. When his tongue wrapped around hers, she moaned wantonly and pressed

“I think you should go.” Thea panted against his mouth as she forced his head back slightly, still pulling on his hair.

“You do?” He hummed and risked the pain to steal one more kiss.

“I do.” She sighed and allowed herself to enjoy this one last moment before she pushed at his chest to push him away, desperate to put some distance between them as she couldn’t think with him in such close proximity to her.

Orpheus groaned lightly and made a show of licking his lips as he took a step back, not bothering to hide the way his hungry eyes were running up and down her body.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back but I should be back sometime tomorrow.” He informed her and smiled softly as she rose to her feet to see him to the door.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Not if I see you first.” Orpheus grinned and winked at her before he turned around to jog down the steps of the house and toward the packhouse where a few of his most trusted warriors were awaiting him, chuckling quietly to himself.

The moment he stepped out of the door, she closed it behind him and wiped the sleeve of her top against her mouth, trying to get rid of the feeling of his lips against hers even though she had immensely enjoyed it though refused to admit to that piece of information. She allowed a few more moments to pass – timing it as she headed back into the living room and watched some more meaningless TV – just to make sure that he was truly gone before she reached into her pocket to pull out her phone.

“Anastasia.” Thea greeted her friend as soon as she picked up the phone before sighing and reaching a hand up to brush through her hair, having no idea where or what she was supposed to start with.

“Thea, is everything okay?” Her friend asked in a concerned, unsure tone. “Why are you calling me so late? Has something happened?”

“Honestly, I don’t know where to start.” Thea sighed again and shook her head.

“Did he hurt you?” Her friend questioned frantically but before she had the chance to jump to very plausible conclusions, Thea was quick to cut her off and explain the reasoning behind the phone call.

“No, he didn’t hurt me.” She denied quickly. “But I have some news for you.”

“What kind of news?”

“Not the good kind.” She sighed as she leaned back against the sofa, wishing for it to open up and swallow her whole. “Orpheus got a phone call not long saying that a she-wolf in the Moon Shadow pack has gone into labour.”

“That’s not far from here.” Anastasia hummed aloud in quiet shock. “They’re planning on sacrificing the child?”

Thea hummed, having already explained to both Anastasia and Marcellus in a previous phone call that they had been wrong about the whole child trafficking thing and instead, it was so much worse.

“You want to know the worst part?”

“Worse than Orpheus going to kidnap a new born child only to sacrifice him to that demon God of his?”

“Well, when you put it that way, probably not.” Thea snickered tastelessly, more so as a coping mechanism than actually replaceing the situation funny. “But Malachi

“Elder Malachi?”

“Yes.”

“Malachi as in head of the council, Malachi?”

“Yes.” Thea couldn’t help but groan. “I couldn’t believe it either at first but there’s a whole story behind it.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“No.” Thea shook her head, not that Anastasia would be able to see through the phone. Despite her denial, she went on to explain the situation at hand or more specifically, the way Malachi had all but sold his soul to the devil in exchange for power and title.

“We need to stop them from kidnapping this child.”

“I was hoping you and Marcellus could let the Moon Shadow pack know that something is up without explicitly telling them the truth about this all?” Thea asked in a hopeful tone, needing some sort of reassurance right now.

“Already on it.” Anastasia announced, referring to the fact that Marcellus had been able to overhear this whole conversation as he had been sat next to her for the entire duration of the phone call.

Seeing as they both had things they needed to get cracking on, Thea ended the call after making Anastasia promise to keep her updated with whatever happened.

Taking advantage of the fact that Orpheus was gone and surely would be gone for a number of hours, Thea waited a short while before scurrying out of the living room and into his home office. While he much preferred working in his office that resided in the packhouse simply because it was bigger, he had been using this one more lately so he wouldn’t have to wander too far away from Thea and Malik.

While he thought this to be a small sacrifice to make for the sake of building their relationship by spending more time together, she just saw it as an inconvenience though dared not to voice this aloud in fear of retribution. Even if he did claim and act like he was now a changed man.

With Orpheus or anyone else around to catch her in the act, Thea didn’t waste any more time as she stepped into his office.

If he asked about her scent lingering in his office one that he returned, she could easily make up a lie about retrieving her laptop or some other materials she needed for work but now, she dared not waste any more time and let this opportunity slip through her fingers.

Thea wasn’t really sure what she was looking for or even if she would be able to replace anything but since this was the first time that she had been here alone, she wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip through her fingers. She just hoped that she would be able to replace something that would clearly incriminate Orpheus for his involvement and leadership in this whole operation.

Making a beeline for the desk, she pulled on the first couple of drawers and began to rummage through the papers as carefully as possible, not wanting to make it obvious that someone had gone through his desk as she was sure that she would be the primary suspect.

When all of the drawers on his desk, both the ones on the left-hand and right-hand sides proved to be fruitless, she sighed but when her eyes shifted over to his laptop, an idea sprang to mind.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to act on it.

When the door swung upon from behind, Thea scrambled away from the desk and was quick to rush over toward the sofa to back up the story she planned to use, not even sure yet who had just walked in on her.

“What are you doing in here?”

“I forgot my laptop in here earlier.” Thea shrugged as she reached down to pick it up from the sofa where she had left it earlier. “What are you doing in here?”

“Alpha asked me to check up on you before he left, to see if you needed anything.” Beta Clayton crossed his arms over his chest as he stared back at her, very obvious that he didn’t believe her rather poor lie for even a second.

“Well, as you can see, I’m completely replace and don’t need anything.” She made a show of offering him a smile even though it was forced and since she had already been rumbled, she walked past him and only rolled her eyes when she was sure that he wouldn’t be able to see.

“Why do I have the feeling that you were doing more than just getting your laptop?” Clayton asked with a scowl on his face as he called behind her, having already closed the office door.

At the sound of his question, Thea paused in her steps and glanced at him from over her shoulder.

“What are you suggesting?”

“I’m not going to reveal my theory just yet.” He was forced to pause when she snorted at his choice of words. “But I don’t trust you for a second, Thea.”

“It’s Thea to you and it’ll do you some good to remember, Beta.” Thea sneered at him with a daring, dark look in her eyes. “I’m the Luna of the Apo to Chaos pack and if you disrespect me again, Orpheus will hear about this and I doubt that he’ll be anywhere as calm as me.”

-

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Layla Knight

18.12.2020