Chapter 61

[Evelyn’s POV]

Where the hell am I?

My eyes slowly peeled open as I struggled to decipher my surroundings. The room was far too dark for me to fully comprehend where I was. But there was a familiarness about it that made me believe I’d been in this exact situation once before.

Only, this time I felt that there was something warmly and securely wrapped around me. Slowly, I curled and flexed my hands while trying to get a better feel for what was going on.

I almost immediately came upon a large, muscled arm that was securely wrapped around my middle. Suddenly, a loud breath was released from behind me. My eyes opened wider.

“What the—”

Another loud sigh was let out along with a muffled groan. My heart leaped in my chest the second the reality of the situation hit.

Oh my God. Was I in Alexander's room...In his bed?!

How on earth did I end up back in here? Why was I back in here?

Now that he and I lived in separate rooms, there was no reason why he wouldn’t have informed the staff to have me placed back in my own. Surely, this was somewhat inconvenient for him.

Why would he want anything to do with me in my disillusioned state?

Of course, there wasn’t much of the past few days that I could actually remember, so there was no way of telling myself how something like this could have happened. Honestly, my memories were coming back to me in clips and fragments.

I remembered the tea. Then falling. I recalled the feeling of the hot water enveloping my body. Alexander’s voice called out to me from beyond my subconscious. I was so, so hot. Then the room was spinning out of control...

And now? Now I found myself caught up in Alexander’s arms with no idea how to escape. Then again, did I really want to?

This was the first and only time he was being unconditionally affectionate toward me—although he was asleep—it felt rather remarkable. Unlike before, when I felt like I was melting from beneath my skin, I was comfortably warm and happily content.

We’ve just been through days of pure hell, can’t we just enjoy the moment?

I really wanted to. Unfortunately, there was still a frightful matter at hand. Something had gone wrong with the tea mixture and I needed to know what went on during my ill-absence.

I, ever-so-slowly, tried to maneuver myself out of his restrictive hold. I shifted my hips and carefully inched myself toward the edge of the bed. But Alexander quickly caught on to my plan.

A disgruntled gasp tore from my chest when I felt a harsh tug from his arms, yanking me back against his chest. A chilling snarl slipped through his lips.

“Stop moving,” he ordered, roughly.

My heart slammed into my rib cage as I tried to re-situate myself once more, only to be met with another disapproving growl. This time, Alexander gripped the side of my hip, preventing me from moving any further.

“Alexander—”

He leaned forward to whisper into my ear. “Stop rocking your hips against me or else this morning is going to end up far differently than originally intended.”

My eyes widened as I felt an unstoppable heat dance across my cheeks. Now that he mentioned it, I began to feel the noticeable hardness pressing into my lower back.

He let a low rumble from the back of his throat. “Good girl,” he hummed, approvingly.

I clenched my eyes shut, fighting back the urge to press into him further. Goddamnit, he knew what that did to me.

“I can’t stay in bed,” I told him weakly.

“Yes, you can. Your body has been fighting the poison you accidentally ingested when you were testing the tea mixture.”

I wanted to pay attention to his explanation but my mind couldn’t get past the notion that the pads of his fingers were gently stroking the bare skin of my stomach. Oh, God. Did he even know he was doing that?

He kept telling me to stop moving, but each brush of his hands had me slightly arching back into him. Millions of chills were spreading over my skin.

Alexander continued to speak, but I was hearing very little of the conversation at that point. Part of me felt a bit shameful for not being able to pay proper attention to him. There was no telling the amount of stress I had put him under these past couple of days and I couldn’t even give him my full focus.

However, Alexander must have realized that I wasn’t paying attention because he’d stopped talking altogether. The only sound that filled the room was the erratic rhythm of my breathing.

He must have known that I was distracted by the movement of his hands because he suddenly made an experimental move. Alexander daringly slid the tip of his hand upward through the small valley between my breasts.

I sucked a sharp breath through my teeth and fought to keep still. His chest vibrated from the deep chuckle he let out.

“So that’s what has you distracted,” he hummed.

His fingers continued their tantalizing little dance along the underside of my breast.

“Alexander,” I gasped.

“Tell me to stop and I will.”

“I don’t want you to stop...It’s just...I really think...Maybe...I should be getting up to—”

Before I could even finish my sentence, I was suddenly turned over and facing Alexander’s fierce gaze. He snagged the edge of my jaw and forced me to meet his gaze.

“Have you any idea the absolute hell I endured for the last three days?” he hissed. My eyes went wide once more. “For fuck sake, there were so many moments when I really thought I was going to lose you.”

All the air had seized in my lungs. My lips parted, yet I hadn’t a single clue what to say.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

His expression turned incredulous. “Sorry? What could you possibly be sorry for? You’re not the one who sabotaged the tea mixture. If anyone is meant to be sorry it’s Fiona. But I guess none of that really matters now.”

My brows reached into my hairline. I was stunned. “Wait, what?”

Fiona?

Parts of my memory were still trying to come through. Although I couldn’t fully recall if I had mentioned Fiona’s name to Alexander during my respite, I knew I had seen her before I brewed that tea. I must have mentioned her to him at some point though.

“Right. I suspect you don’t recall most of what went on while the poison was working through your system. Well, I’ll have you know that your intuition against Fiona was spot on. She was the one responsible for having tampered with the mixture. Not only that, but you were right about the Belladonna as well,” he said with a smile. “Fiona has been relieved of her position here in the pack.”

My jaw would have rightfully hit the floor had it not been for him still holding it between his fingers.

“So, Fiona is really gone?”

I tried to keep my tone of relief down to a respectable minimum. But it was really no mystery that she and I didn’t get along.

Alexander nodded his head. “She completely confessed to having mixed the Belladonna in with everything else.”

“But why?” I asked impatiently.

“She saw what you were doing with the tea and believed it was a threat to her own profession. Fiona wasn’t fond of the idea of you getting the praise and attention that she is normally used to.”

I practically gawked at his response. “That’s freaking ridiculous!” I seethed. “She could have poisoned half the damn region—all because she was being an insecure bitch?!”

Alexander let another hearty laugh and leaned down to place a swift kiss on my lips. All traces of anger were all but swiped away.

“It’s good to see back on the mend,” he acknowledged.