At the Evergreen pack, the doctor had finished treating Valerie, advising her to have a good rest. Adira went about her pack duties since it was already morning.
There were official matters as well as warriors to be trained in preparation for any future attack. Treated as an outcast, Valerie was not allowed to join training or take part in any of the pack activities.
She slept a lot because of the pain injection given to her. Waking up the next morning, there was food on her table, but it had turned cold because of how long she had slept.
Not knowing what to do with her time before her death, she decided to go for a run. As soon as she lifted herself to a sitting position, pain shot through her foot, and she groaned. "Fuck."
Due to the painkiller, she had forgotten about her injury. She picked up the oral pain relievers left behind by the doctor and swallowed the required amount with a glass of water. She had no appetite for the cold food but had no intention of provoking Alpha Denzel's anger for the latter to return.
The man would never allow her to have a peaceful death, so she would rather enjoy and explore his pack when her foot healed a little.
Thinking about healing, she missed her wolf terribly. Her body went back to being on the bed. Loneliness would not have set in if her wolf was still there. As Valerie thought about Helga, tears welled up in her eyes.
Why won't anyone believe her? She had no recollection of how that strange man got into her bed, wondering how long her sister and Tristan had been at this. Self-deprecatingly, she wiped her tears and picked up the painting brush.
As she held the thin stick in her hand, she began to wonder why there were paints and painting brushes if Alpha Denzel hated it so much.
Then again, could it be that whosoever owned this place loved to paint? As Alpha Denzel's voice and actions spewed her mind into remembrance, her fingers moved with it.
It was so strange that she wasn't being tortured as she expected. If she had not asked for death, the coal incident would also not have happened. Then she recalled again how Alpha Denzel was by her side and lifted her in his arms when she nearly lost her balance.
He pulled out the burning coals from her foot too. Valerie was confused by his actions but as time passed, the person she had painted was the one who pulled the coals from under her foot.
Panicked at the realization, she shivered as her finger moved to tear the painting, but the door of her room opened, revealing furious Adira with a food tray in hand.
She set the tomato soup before Valerie. "Eat, it's hot," she ordered.
Valerie did not refuse, not wanting to cause trouble. She scooped the soup with spoon, blew on it before lifting it to her mouth.
The taste was good, so she helped herself with more soup until Adira curtly began to speak. She wondered how Valerie could eat so freely when she claimed to want to die?
Was her not wanting to eat and wanting to die merely a façade she used to get the Alpha over? Adira would never allow that to happen.
Valerie was rejected and the bond was broken. Never had a rejected mate been paired with the same person again but Adira still wanted to make her stance on the matter clear.
"If you are developing feelings for the Alpha, you shouldn't. He already has someone."
Valerie sipped the soup slowly and responded to her after swallowing elegantly. Her movements were so graceful like the Alpha's daughter and Luna she was, Beta Adira could not help being envious.
"I suppose that someone is you." Valerie went back to sipping her soup after saying those few words. She had enough experience to tell that Adira was crushing on her Alpha but could not tell if it was the same for Alpha Denzel.
Even if Alpha Denzel felt the same way about Adira, Valerie could not bring herself to care since the bond was broken, leading her to not feeling anything but fear of him.
Adira smiled at her response. If Valerie suspected it, then could it be that the Alpha liked her too? Did the Alpha mention it? She was curious.
"You could guess it so easily?" There was light in her eyes but it slowly dimmed with Valerie's response.
"I see the way you look at him and the way you asked about him after he left yesterday. Even a child would know," Valerie said calmly. In a way, her actions resembled that of Alpha Denzel. One could not easily guess what she was thinking.
Adira was disappointed by her remark, not what she expected to hear. She thought that the Alpha had told Valeria about feeling something for her when she went to get the doctor, but it didn't seem so.
"What did the Alpha tell you when I went to get the doctor?" She cast her pride aside and asked eagerly. Not sparing her a glance, Valerie responded absentmindly,
"Nothing. What does he have to say to a sinner like me? It's not as if we are friends."
Adira gritted her teeth. "But he carried you to this room. No she-wolf or were-woman has ever enjoyed that from him no matter the situation."
Valerie did not speak anymore, but the next thing she knew, Adira was upset and tore her painting to shreds. Valerie was going to destroy it anyway, so she was unperturbed. What she said next left Adira stunned.
"If you love the Alpha so much, I think you should tell him. He's human, you know. Given his busy schedule, how would he know if you don't draw his attention? He goes out on business every time. What if other women win him over you?"
Adira felt stabbed in her heart by Valerie's words, recalling that the Alpha had found his destined mate in Las Vegas before she was murdered.
Before she could think further, a mindlink zapped through her mind. 'Beta Adira, there are rumors that the Yellow Stone pack was attacked. Alpha Tristan and Luna Scarlet are admitted at the hospital, and all those involved in shaming and beating Luna Valerie were killed.'
'What? How did you know?' Beta Adira asked through mindlink, a mix of fear and anger gripping her heart. From the way her eyes rolled to the back, Valerie could tell there was a mindlink going on.
The bowl of soup was already empty, so she drank a glass of water and went back to bed.
'Beta, I met their beta at the peace council. He was only selected a day after the coronation and fears that Luna Valerie might be innocent.' Adira's hands balled to fists instantly but there was more coming.