Chapter 63

[Evelyn’s POV]

I’d been convinced that ever since I overcame my illness, I had somehow woken into a dream. A blissful, unbelievably sweet dream.

There were numerous thoughts that kept spinning around in my head, I didn’t know what to solely focus on. The fact that Fiona was truly the one responsible for tampering with the tea mixture. I had a hard time sorting through my emotions since Alexander and Olver were able to sit down with me and properly explain the whole matter.

Of course, I was angry—hell, I was downright murderous. How dare she purposely deface my work and put hundreds of people’s lives in jeopardy!!

“She’s a goddamn medical professional!” I explained with heated rage.

Alexander was quick to reach out to take my hand in his. He gave me a comforting squeeze and assured me that her license was in the process of getting revoked.

“I know you’re upset, Evelyn. But just think, it could have been ten times worse,” he explained.

“It’s true,” Oliver chimed in. “If you hadn’t taste-tested the tea mixture, we would have never known that it had been laced with Belladonna in the first place.”

“He’s right.” Alexander went on. “Oliver is the one that originally brought it to my attention. Evelyn, you were never the intended target. For Fiona to alter the tea mixture—what she wanted to do was destroy your reputation and ultimately deface the pack’s credibility.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered to myself. “You’re right. This whole thing could have been so much worse. Anyone with a compromised immune system and even children wouldn’t have survived the Belladonna’s effects.”

Oliver blew out a long sigh and scratched the side of his head. “Yeah, we’d be looking at endless lawsuits, ongoing police investigations, and very likely imprisonment.”

I couldn’t keep from balking at his statement. Alexander brushed his fingers over my chilled skin, reassuring me that it was all over and there was no longer a threat looming over us.

That warm feeling of his hands brought me right back to that morning when I’d first gotten over my sickness. Alexander had his arms wrapped securely around me, making me feel like the most treasured thing he possessed. At first, I wasn’t sure if he’d meant to hold me that close to him. But then he’d taken it all a step further and let his hands roam over the curves of my chest.

My stomach coiled with and fluttered with excitement when I thought back to the way his fingertips so carelessly brushed over my breasts. God. I wanted more. So much more.

Yet, I sort of panicked. It would have been so easy for me to press back into him and tell him how much I wanted to feel him between my thighs. But things weren’t progressing that quickly between us.

Not to mention, Alexander was still struggling with his sleep deprivations and I wasn’t entirely sure if what he wanted was me or if it was the exhaustion taking over.

But for that brief moment, he made me feel that we were somewhat of a normal couple. And then, as if I couldn’t get any more surprised, Alexander had gone ahead and made the grand announcement that he had full intention of acknowledging my birthday.

I was stunned beyond words. Granted, I was a bit embarrassed for having to explain the way my family treated me growing up, but I was surrounded by far too many people who weren’t willing to drop the conversation as easily.

As soon as breakfast was finished, Alexander informed us that he would be spending the majority of his day in his office, bustling up on the work he was far behind in. Meanwhile, Nina and Wendy were eager to sit down with me and go over some of the more major details regarding the party.

“So what are we thinking about as far as guests go?” Nina asked. “Is there anyone, specifically, you’d like to be there for the party?”

My mind drew an immediate blank. After my most recent visit back home, I’d reached the ultimate conclusion that none of my relatives were worth reaching out to. I knew I didn’t need to convince Wendy to overlook Isabella and Samantha given their altercation at the Luna gathering.

“What about your father?” she inquired.

I slowly shook my head. “I’m not sure that I tolerate the way he’s been acting lately,” I confessed. “Plus, if I extended the invitation out to him, then I might be running the risk of having Isabella show up by default.”

“You may have a point,” Nina said. “Anyone else, though?”

I took my lip between my teeth and swallowed the pain of knowing that my own brother wouldn't be able to attend the occasion. I had to assure myself that if things were progressing well with his health, then there was always the chance that he would be able to spend other birthdays with me.

I wore a small smile and shrugged. “Not really. Honestly, I’m more than happy with it being just us. Or, perhaps, we can make it into an open-house kind of event where anyone from the pack can come in and socialize a little.”

Both Nina and Wendy seemed to be on board with that idea. They even suggested that for part of the menu we plan on having a grazing table for people to pick on.

Things seemed to have been coming along nicely. “The only thing that I’m going to have to be insistent upon is that I do not want any gifts.”

Wendy looked like she was getting ready to debate me on that; however, I made the swift decision to get up from my chair and quickly tell them that I needed to speak with Alexander about something important.

And in part, it wasn’t entirely a lie. I did need to speak to him about something urgent.

Thanks to Fiona and her deranged behavior, I had no choice but to toss away all the premade tea mixture. There was only so much sifting that could be done to separate out all of the Belladonna. It just wasn’t a chance I was willing to take.

When I came upon Alexander’s office, I softly knocked on the door and waited for him to allow me to enter.

“Come in.” I stepped through the door and met his curious gaze. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Nina and Wendy are busy trying to iron out the details of the party. I’m trying to persuade her to forego the necessity of involving presents,” I said.

“Good luck with that,” Alexander chuckled. “Those two can be a bit overwhelming when they have a plan in mind.”

“Well, I mainly came here because I wanted to discuss the whole business with the tea mixture. We know that it isn’t salvageable. The mere thought I need to basically get rid of it all upsets me beyond belief. But, in any case, I wanted to hear your thoughts on my idea to head to the open-market for new seeds.”

He softly narrowed his eyes in contemplation.

“Are you sure you’re feeling well enough?”

“I believe so. The market isn’t that far out of the way and if it makes you less worried, I can ask one of the staff to accompany me.”

He swiftly waved off the idea. “No, it’s alright. Just promise me that you will come straight back if something comes up.”

“I promise.”

I was only going to the market...What could possibly go wrong?