Alpha Nocturne's Contracted Mate

Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell

Chapter 221 Luna Aoife

Whilst Adam and Allen left to make the necessary arrangements for the next day’s departure,

Bartholomew, Lexi, and Ann made their way to the council chambers.

“Don’t you ever find all this tedious?” Lexi asked with a sigh.

“What do you mean?”

“The same scenery day in and day out… I think I might go mad if we don’t get a break soon, you know.”

She whined, “I have no idea how you’ve done it for so long Barty-boy.”

Bartholomew chuckled good-naturedly.

“I can assure you that things are not usually this busy nor intense under normal circumstances.”

“You hear that, Queenie? We’ve brought abnormal circumstances along with us.” Lexi grinned as she

nudged Ann in the side. “Who’d have thought, eh?”

Ann chuckled as they linked arms.

“Are we actually allowed out then? Or do we have to confine ourselves to these dusty halls forever?”

Lexi pressed with a grin.

“We can go out of course. Whether or not we have the time to or not, is a different matter entirely.” Ann

grimaced, “Seeing as how we’ve inherited a whole mess to clear up, I have a feeling that the fun

excursions will be few and far between unfortunately.”

“You know what they say though Ann, all work and no play makes Lexi a stabby mess.” She grinned

imploringly at Ann whilst she fluttered her eyelashes.

Ann sighed as she stared dubiously at her friend’s mischievous face.

“Fine, I’ll think of something after the boys leave tomorrow.” She relented finally with a wry grin.

“WOO!” Lexi yelped happily as she wiggled her butt in delight as she gripped Ann’s arm

enthusiastically, drawing more than a few questionable glances from people they passed in the

corridors.

“It could be nice to invite Felix’s wife along as well… what was her name?” Ann thought hard for a

second, her name eluding her briefly before Maeve interjected and filled in the blank, “Ah! Aoife!”

Lexi’s face stilled as she gradually relinquished her grip on Ann’s arm and she stared at her sullenly.

“What?” Ann asked, disturbed by Lexi’s sudden shift in demeanor.

“Do we have to invite her?” She grumbled. “Why? Have you met her before? Is there something I

should know about? Some rivalry perhaps?” Ann questioned curiously.

She knew Lexi was careful about who she allowed to get close, but as far as she was aware there was

no chance that Lexi and she had ever met previously, so the possibility of poor interactions between

them both was slim at best.

“I’ve not seen her before, no.” Lexi muttered as they continued towards the council chambers, “But with

everything between Allen and Felix, I don’t think it’s right that I spend time getting to know her.”

Ann stopped in the middle of the corridor and looked at her with incredulity as Bartholomew narrowly

avoided crashing into the back of them.

“Lexi… we talked about this. Sometimes we have to suppress how we feel about things for the good of

the kingdom…”

“Yeah, and you said I wouldn’t have to change who I was if I took this position Ann.” Lexi retorted, “It

might not seem like it, but I do have some morals you know.”

Ann sighed internally. She knew that Lexi was loyal to a fault and this just proved that she had

accepted Allen completely.

“Lexi, look. Try to think of it this way. I know that what the Dubois family did was wrong, but Adam has

already stated that Felix wasn’t even born then. He had no part in that incident with his brother Jasper,

and neither did Aoife. She is only associated with all of this drama because she is mated to Felix.

That’s hardly her fault, is it?”

Lexi scowled at her but said nothing as she turned and continued walking towards their destination,

leaving Ann with no choice but to follow, but not before sharing a helpless look with Bartholomew.

Ann still didn’t know the full circumstances surrounding the incident that resulted in Allen losing his

sister, but she had every confidence that Adam had done everything that he possibly could at the time.

It had resulted in a great injustice for sure, and Allen had every right to be furious and pursue

vengeance against the man in question, and the family who, as far as she knew, did nothing to bring

their son to justice, but… she couldn’t help wonder… when did this feud end?

Did it carry on relentlessly as time marched ever onward and pass from their children to their

grandchildren? Centuries of two bloodlines forever locked in an eternal feud… or could it end with Felix

if he could help bring Jasper to justice and if Allen could be persuaded to find forgiveness for a man

who had been born into the midst of this injustice?

One thing was for sure, if she stood any chance of getting Allen on her side, then she also needed to

get Lexi to see the reasoning behind her thought process in ending the feud, and they also needed to

befriend Aoife.

Both women would be instrumental in achieving at least a truce of sorts because they were able to talk

to their mates in a way that Ann could not, and she hoped that a simple evening together would be the

first step towards strengthening the burgeoning friendship between them all.

As the doors of the council chamber loomed ominously over them and she was pulled from her

thoughts, Ann resolved to ask Adam more details about the incident when they finally retired for the

evening. It would be their last night together for a while.

Who knew how long he would be out in the field with Felix and their men? Se only hoped that they

would be able to put an end to this invasion relatively quickly, and with as few lives lost as possible on

their side.

“Are you ready to face the Elders once more, my Queen?” Bartholomew asked softly as his hand

rested on the heavy handle that graced the door.

Lexi grinned at him suddenly, the sullen look vanishing in seconds as a wicked glint formed in her eyes.

“Why wouldn’t she be ready? Didn’t you know that with me at her side, Ann is practically unstoppable.”

She smirked with a wink as Bartholomew chuckled throatily.

“Then let us face the music together.” Bartholomew smiled kindly as he swung the door open, and

strode in confidently, announcing the arrival of Queen Ann and her Beta, Lexi Brarthroroz, only

daughter of the Daemon Lord Brarthroroz and heir to his realm.