The Mystical Attraction of Alpha
Chapter 168

Chapter 168

Chapter 168 – Sinclair Prepares to Leave

Sinclair

“She’s still mad at you, huh?” Gabriel remarks, glancing pointedly in the direction of my sullen mate.

Ella is curled up on the couch reading the Vanaran history book she risked her precious life to reachlast night, and occasionally glancing up to shoot me vengeful glares.

“You can say that again.” I chuckle humorlessly, my wolf reaching out for her through our bond, only tohit a granite wall. The clever minx certainly learned how to shut me out quickly, and though part of meis proud, my wolf is not the least bit amused. Still, as much as I hate the idea, I’m trying to give hersome space. I know how mixed up Ella’s emotions have been the last few days, and I realize that’s tobe expected between the pregnancy, our exile and her wolf waking – she’s truly been through morethan most people could bear lately.

At the same time, I can’t let my desire to spoil the sweet creature sway my judgment. Thus, Ella wasbeside herself when I refused to change my mind about embarking on my travels alone, and she wasfurious when she realized I wasn’t going to let her antics in the library go unpunished. Today I amdefinitely paying the price. The wiley she-wolf snuck out of bed before I woke this morning, and shehasn’t spoken to me all day.

“She’ll come around.” Gabriel assures me hopefully, patting me on the shoulder.

“Spoken like an Alpha without a mate.” I remark dryly. It would be one thing if Ella were merely angry,but the horrible part is knowing that her vexation is covering a deep well of pain.

“So how are you going to make it up to her?” Gabriel inquires, looking back and forth between us.

“Well, I’m leaving Philippe as her head guard, but I’ll take as many men as you can spare to watch overher.” I request, knowing I’m going to need most of my own men for the journey ahead. I don’t like theidea of leaving Ella in the care of men I don’t know, but Gabriel and I have been friends since we wereboys, and I trust him implicitly. “I think it’s really important that she continue visiting the refugees.There’s no one better to oversee their relocation and she needs to maintain those relationships herself.The people will take comfort in her presence, and they’ll trust her with things they won’t tell Vanarans,or even my own men.”

Gabriel nods in agreement, “They really do adore her, you know? You would have thought she’s beentheir Luna for years.”

“That’s Ella for you.” I smile, unable to suppress my pride. “My little love magnet.”

Gabriel laughs, “What else?”

“I’ve been thinking that it might be good to plan some sort of event at the end of my trip. That way I cango to the Alphas and make my case without demanding an immediate answer. I can invite them to thecapital in two weeks for a summit or festival or something, and they can come with their decision afterhaving time to consider the alliance fully.” I muse aloud, sharing this thought for the first time.

“Are you sure you want to give them the time to think?” Gabriel inquires. “It’ll be harder for them to sayno if you’re there in front of them.”

I shrug. “I’ll be in front of them anyway, and I don’t want to form these alliances through fear orintimidation. If people are going to go to war for my cause, they need to be on board of their ownvolition.”

“Alright.” Gabriel concedes, though I can tell he thinks I’m being too noble. “And where does Ella fit intothat?”

“She can plan the event – if she’s up to it.” I amend after a moment, recalling how tired she’s beenlately. The bigger the baby grows the more often she naps the afternoon away, and I want to give herresponsibilities without exhausting her or piling on too much stress.

“You know she’ll force herself to be up to it if you give her the chance.” Gabriel warns, clearly having agood sense of my mate’s determined personality.

“If it becomes a problem let me know and I’ll set her straight.” I decide, making mental notes for myselfin anticipation of sharing all this with Ella. “Besides, I’m only going to be gone for a couple of weeksand she’ll have plenty of help.”

My gaze stays locked on the she-wolf in question as we speak and, as if she can feel my scrutiny, Ellalooks up and replaces me staring. She narrows her beautiful gold eyes and her grumpy voice sounds in mymind, Take a picture, it will last longer.

I know she means it as a barb, but I have to admit this isn’t a bad idea. I think maybe I will. I’m going tomiss seeing your stunning face and gorgeous curves while I’m gone. How about I take you upstairs andstrip you naked, and we have a photoshoot.

She flushes visibly, but she only bares her sharp little fangs in my direction. Not a chance. You don’t getto be rewarded when you’re abandoning me.

My wolf instinctively rises to the challenge. Oh really, and how are you going to stop me, trouble?

I’ll bite you. She threatens sassily, her own wolf rising to the surface. Hard.

Is that a promise? I purr, watching as my mischievous mate shivers in response. My blood heats, andI’m sorely tempted to abandon my conversation with Gabriel and go scoop her up this instant.

“Whatever you two are talking about, I don’t want to know.” Gabriel observes, shaking his head.

I chuckle, breaking the connection with Ella and returning to the matter at hand. “Sorry, I suppose I gotcarried away.”

“You think?” He jibes, grinning at me.

Still laughing, I continue, “there is one more thing I could use your help with.” I explain, sharing thedetails of Ella’s mysterious past. “We were planning on investigating her parentage back home, and Ithink that’s mostly on hold for now. Still, there may be other ways we can try to replace out what happenedto her.”

“Like what?” Gabriel asks, sounding a bit confused.

“Well blood tests for starters, they were supposed to do genetic analysis in Moon Valley but we leftbefore we could get the results. And how do you feel about hacking the government servers on thecontinent? If we can replace a birth record to match Ella, we might be able to identify her parents.” Isuggest.

“I’m not opposed to it.” Gabriel admits, “but I’m not sure this is the time to play that card. I’m sure mytech engineers can manage it, but if Damon gets wise to the hack then he might patch any weak spotsor back doors into his systems, and you may need those for the war. I know you want to replace out aboutElla’s past, but I don’t think you want to compromise the revolution by doing so.”

“You’re right,” I sigh, scrubbing a hand over my face. “We’re probably going to need to hack him atsome point or another, and I don’t want to risk making our jobs even harder.”

“Ella doesn’t remember anything about her family?’ Gabriel questions, and I appreciate that he’s stillsearching for solutions.

“She was a baby when they gave her up.” I explain, mentally sorting through all the conversationswe’ve had up until this point. “There’s a chance some details from her childhood might have beenrepressed, and we even talked about going to a hypnotist to see if we could uncover anything, but Idon’t know if she’s ready for that.”

“I don’t know if it’s ever possible to be ready for that sort of thing… especially not if her parentsintentionally bound her wolf for so long.” Gabriel assesses. “But I can put some feelers out for hypno-therapists, and if she starts looking into her past while you’re away and wants to try going down thatpath, I’ll be prepared.”

“Thank you.” I breathe, feeling relieved already. I know none of this is going to resolve our fight, but Ihave to hope that staying busy and having her own purpose will help the next few weeks pass moreeasily for Ella. Part of me worries that I’m piling on too much, but that’s why I’m going to stay in closecontact and make sure she has all the support she could want. Of course, I would have told her all this– asked her opinion and consulted her – if only she would speak to me.

I catch myself glancing back to Ella, who stubbornly pretends that she can’t feel my gaze. We onlyhave a few hours left together, and I don’t want to leave on bad terms. Ella might not want to kiss andmake up, but I’m not going to give her a choice. There’s no telling what might happen in the next fewweeks, and we can’t take a single moment together for granted.

My wolf rumbles through our bond, and Ella’s rose gold head jerks up, her eyes wide as my words slippast her defenses. You have until this evening to sulk, little one. After moonrise we’re going to go for arun, and we’re going to settle this as wolves. Then I’m going to bring you home and claim you as manytimes as it takes for the message to sink in.

What message? Ella squeaks, and I can feel her heart racing through the bond.

That I’m only leaving you because I love you so much. I answer fiercely, my voice dropping to agravelly purr. I’m going to rut you so hard that you won’t be able to walk normally the entire time I’mgone. So that every step you take and you feel that ache between your legs, you’ll think of me andremember exactly who you belong to. And when I come home, we’re going to do it all again. Do I makemyself clear?

Once her shock wears off, Ella’s eyes harden and she scowls at me. You’ll have to replace me first.

You do not want to hide from me mate. I warn her, my hackles raising.

Her wolf immediately rises to the challenge. Watch me.