Page 125 of A Second Chance for the Beta

I do because the glint in Aloysius’s eyes subsides, and he nods. He lets go of my hand. “Maybe we will meet each other again, Beta.”

“I certainly hope so.” Not.

Aloysius winks at me before kissing the back of my hand again. Then he takes his leave. Once he is gone, I let out a sigh of relief. Thank Goddess for the candy Silas gave us, and a double thank Goddess for Nefeli’s and my gift. Otherwise Aloysius would have extracted all the information from me, everything I’ve kept hidden.

I wait for around half an hour until Ari links me.Let’s go. We are ready.

I grab the bag and leave my room, acting as if I’m not in a hurry. A bit further down the corridor, Ari and Julianus are waiting, with Ari carrying a bag. It looks like hers, but I assume it’s Julianus’s essentials.

Julianus is even paler than he was before. He looks like he is in pain, and looking closer, it seems like there are dark spots on his shirt. Blood?

While he walks down the staircase, several vampires pass us. They don’t really acknowledge us but nod at Julianus politely. A small part of me wonders if he is going to double-cross us, just like he backstabbed Silas. Silas was his beloved, his mate, yet he betrayed him. Ari and I are two literal strangers to him.

Yet we make it out of the building without any problems. The dude who abducted me, Atticus, is waiting.

“I’m going to drive them,” Julianus says shortly.

Atticus frowns. “I got the order—”

“Change of plan,” Julianus says shortly. “If you want to, you can discuss it with the lord in person.”

Atticus furrows his brows. He seems to contemplate his options, but apparently talking to Aloysius isn’t too tempting for him as he takes a step back. Julianus takes the seat behind the wheel to keep up the pretense.

I look back while we take off, seeing how the castle turns smaller and smaller. I almost imagine something terrible happening before we can leave for real, but nothing happens. “He really didn’t give a shit about us,” I muse.

“He doesn’t care,” Julianus says. “Because you don’t benefit him anymore.”

“Is it a problem for us that Ambrosius was related to him?”

“No, he is just a cousin. Aloysius just cares for his siblings and his own bloodline as he calls it,” Julianus mutters before groaning.

“Okay, halt the car; we are switching,” Aryanna commands.

“I’m okay.”

“No, you are not,” she says. “Don’t act like a petulant child now.”

“There is blood oozing from your back,” I say. “What did he do?”

“Whip me,” he says shortly. He looks torn but gives up the fight and stops the car. Ari and I take the front seat now, with him sitting in the back. While we drive home, I decide to call Liam to give him a heads up about the new situation… and the new guest.

forty

Change of Plans

*DANTE*

I’mstillsittingnextto the two pack members who analyzed the videos for me, going through every detail. I’ve been doing it for hours. In the meantime, Liam and his father have returned too. They found traces of a car, probably a jeep, but lost them once the vehicle moved to the main road.

The videos show three men sneaking onto our pack grounds. Further away, it seems like something alerted Charlie, and she ran. There are no cameras further into the pack, but we see her and the twins running out of the pack grounds. Felix tosses glances behind them; it seems like they were followed.

“How did they know…” I mutter.

“What?” a female voice asks.

“How did they know when and how to come onto our pack grounds? They knew the routes of our guards exactly.” I frown. “We change them weekly, exactly to avoid such a situation, and they clearly knew this week’s schedule. We have top-notch security.”

“That’s truly unsettling,” the voice says and sits down next to me.