Chapter 319
The Blood Test
Third Person POV
49
+8 Pearls
Aubrey raised her brow slightly. “No rush. I still have unfinished business.”
Matco feigned just the right amount of disappointment.
Leaning closer, his breath warm against her car, his voice dipped low and suggestive. “Fine. But remember–I’ll be waiting. And…” He paused deliberately, his gaze brushing across her lips. “What I can give you goes far beyond mere cooperation.”
“What are you talking about?”
Alpha Henry’s voice cut in like a blade. He strode over, expression carved in stone, his aura crashing down like a cold tide–an unspoken warning against the intruder on his territory.
Mateo smoothly stepped back, his smile tinged with regret. “Henry, I’d barely exchanged a few words with Aubrey, and you rush in so quickly? Can’t you allow us even a moment to catch up?”
“Hmph.” Henry’s cold snort was heavy with disdain. He hadn’t forgotten the ambition that lurked behind Mateo’s eyes. Every sense sharpened with suspicion, he stepped between them, his broad frame shielding Aubrey completely. His voice was ice, yet every word carried the weight of a claim. “It’s not that I won’t allow it. Aubrey has simply been very tired.”
Mateo’s lips curved in an unreadable smile. He cast one last glance at Aubrey. “Take care. And when the time comes, don’t forget our agreement.”
Aubrey gave a slight nod, watching him leave.
The air hadn’t even settled before Henry turned on her, voice taut and fraying at the edges. “What agreement do you have with him?”
Her lips pressed together. She gave no answer. Instead, she rose and reached for a glass of red wine from a passing waiter’s tray.
Henry followed–only to be jostled by someone stumbling into them.
A gamma wolf fell forward, knocking the tray from the waiter’s hands. Crystal glasses crashed to the floor, wine spilling like blood, shards scattering across the marble.
Henry’s arm was nicked by a sliver of glass, a thin red line appearing–then sealing almost instantly as his body healed.
The pain was trivial; he barely felt it. His eyes were locked on Aubrey.
15:08 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 319 The Blood Test
49
+8 Pearls
She had already turned toward him, her expression flickering with worry until she confirmed he was unharmed. Only then did she let out a breath.
“Forgive me, Alpha, Ms. Mary,” the flustered waiter stammered, bowing deeply before hastily sweeping up the shards.
From that moment, Aubrey stayed close to Henry, unwilling to risk another incident. And though several she–wolves tried to draw him into a dance, Henry refused them all.
When the ball finally ended, they left together, stepping into his car as the gates of the York
estate swung open.
The guard at the entrance watched the vehicle disappear into the night, his eyes glazing as he sent a mental message to his master, Harold.
Harold did not act at once. He waited another half hour before rising and making his way to the study.
Inside, a gamma wolf awaited, holding a tray. On it lay the shards of glass–some faintly stained with Henry’s blood.
“Begin,” Harold ordered. Fog Pack operatives had taken Bailey days earlier, and they had whispered suspicions to him–that Alpha Henry might be infected with the Kajit virus. Harold had doubted it, but he’d begun digging. Despite the heavy suppression of information, scraps of truth about Flame Pack’s outbreak could still be uncovered.
So he had staged this evening’s ball–creating the chance to secure Henry’s blood.
“Yes, sir.”
The gamma wolf activated a blood analyzer, carefully feeding the fragments into it.
Moments later, the results flashed across the screen. His expression tightened, voice dropping into grim certainty.
“Mr. Harold… the Alpha truly is infected with the Kajit virus.”