Chapter 71

[Third-Person’s POV]

Alexander felt himself teetering on the line of total insanity. Goddamnit! What the actual Hell?? How had he come so close to telling Evelyn the truth only to be snatched away, yet again?!

It was as if life itself didn’t want him to get close to Evelyn—his own wife!

He was feeling bitter and beyond frustrated. His jaw was clenched while his hands were curled tightly into fists. He had no idea what sort of call would be coming in that absolutely demanded his attention. He’d stormed down the hallway toward his office with Oliver close at his side.

The Beta could feel the steaming tension rolling off of him and almost dared not to speak. Had their relationship not been as close and long-standing as it was, Oliver would have feared for his own well-being.

Alexander was not happy.

He of all people knew that the man had been trying to find the right time and place to tell Evelyn the truth. So, it wasn’t as though he’d interrupted their pivotal moment on purpose. Quite the contrary.

While Alexander was spending time with Evelyn, Oliver made it a point to cover any and all calls that were expected to come in.

Ever since the tea mixture had gotten tampered with, Oliver made it a point to reach out to each buyer and inform them about the unexpected mishap. Evelyn thanked him personally for the helping hand while she began the prepping process for the new mixture.

In return, they received numerous callbacks confirming the updates and any other possible order changes. When that one phone call came in, Oliver was fully anticipating that it was going to involve just another customer order update. However, upon answering the phone, he was quick to discover that it was, indeed, not a work call.

It was Alexander’s Stepmother.

With her usual self-entitled tone, demanded to speak to Alexander immediately. Oliver maintained his respectful demeanor and tried to inform her that Alexander was indisposed and wasn’t able to take any calls at the moment.

Caroline was not having any of it. Her tone only grew more impatient and ordered Oliver to find Alexander pronto.

“Surely the Alpha can make time for his family,” she said with her shrill, ear-piercing voice. “His brother is finally taking a break from his studies and will be home for the next two weeks. It is only proper that Alexander show a welcoming face. So, find him!!”

Oliver was, very likely, the only person who truly understood Alexander’s genuine disdain for his younger brother. Of course, he never expressed his own feelings and opinions toward the younger Kingston heir, but one could easily understand the imbalance that was always present when the two of them shared the same space.

“This had better be fucking worth my goddamn time,” Alexander snarled.

“I’m giving you a heads up,” Oliver muttered. “It’s Caroline.”

Alexander halted his movements only slightly when he heard this. Caroline? What the hell could his Stepmother want?

Could it be that she was trying to get Fiona back in his good graces? There was no doubt that after he’d banished Fiona from his pack she didn’t run, crying back to Caroline for some kind of support. If that were really the case behind this unwarranted phone call, Alexander was going to seriously contemplate tearing out the landline in his house.

There was no chance in hell that Fiona would ever be allowed back on his property. After what she tried to do, she should have been grateful that he hadn’t reported her directly to the Royal Family. She deserved nothing less than a serious psych evaluation and possibly imprisonment.

The two entered the office and he practically flew out of the wheelchair to snatch up the phone.

He took in a steady breath and tried to find what little patience was left in him.

“What is it?” he asked tensely while trying to keep the venom out of his voice.

“Finally,” Caroline huffed. He rolled his eyes and bit back a snide remark. “As I was telling your Beta, your brother is taking a short break from his studies.”

Oliver watched with heavy caution as Alexander’s entire body locked into a fierce stance. Every muscle in his body rippled with strain and anger.

“You saw it necessary to interrupt my business to tell me something so inexplicably useless as that?” he growled.

“Oh, don’t give me that tone,” she fired back. “Your brother has been working nonstop and very hard—”

“This may come as a huge shock for you, but everyone works hard and nonstop. It’s called being a part of the real world. I’m so glad that he’s finally decided to make himself useful in some way.”

He didn’t need to see Caroline in order to know exactly what expression she was wearing on her face. The woman was, very likely, standing stiff with her hand on her lip. Her lips were probably pursed and her eyes were narrowed in her usual death glare.

After being told the more grueling truths about Evelyn’s family dynamics back at home, Alexander wanted to divulge his own personal baggage. It turned out that their stories weren’t that far off from each other.

Evelyn suffered growing up in the shadows of a Stepsibling that demanded everyone’s attention at all times. Well, so did he.

Caroline prized her son as though he was the next Royal Prince. Sure, he was smart and dedicated to his work. But his younger brother had a dangerous tendency to think that his way of doing something was the only way possible.

He never took responsibility when it came to making mistakes or coming across errors in his ongoing plans. He was a natural-born narcissist thanks to Caroline and her excessive coddling. In her eyes, her son could do no wrong.

Well, Alexander had a fairly good idea of exactly what that little deviant was capable of. He had it on good authority that his so-called devoted brother was the one who was responsible for the car crash that was meant to kill him all those months back.

He’d been slowly but surely gathering evidence on his end to prove his theory. Alexander would never shy away from the fact that he came with a lot of enemies, but none of them ever managed to come close to ever attacking him in such a way.

But that little bastard...He’s a borderline psychopath.

Because of the stupid guise of ‘family’, his younger brother had multiple opportunities to get close to him.

“So, what would you have me do, Caroline? Should I notify the Royals and have them set up a fucking parade for him? Lord only knows that he’s probably desperate for the attention and the validation.”

“I was thinking something along the lines of a family dinner,” Caroline said with a sneer.

“I have no desire to put on a fake face for the sake of that demented boy,” he said sternly.

His Stepmother clicked her tongue in distaste. “Well, at the very least, don’t you think he ought to meet his new sister-in-law?”

This nearly sent Alexander into a fit of hysterics. “What the hell makes you think I would ever allow him anywhere near my wife?” His voice grew dark. “After that awful stunt, Fiona tried to pull, I wouldn’t accept anyone from your pack to come within ten miles of Evelyn.”

“I’ll admit, Fiona's poor choice in judgment set her back quite a bit,” she commented. “But, you know how your brother is. If he doesn’t receive an invitation, then he will appear as he so chooses.”