Page 4 of Alien Charming (Alien Wolf Tales #3)
CHAPTER 4
S eren moved through the trees towards Elli’s garden, staying in the shadows. He shouldn’t be here. He had responsibilities—meetings to attend, treaties to negotiate, a pack to lead—yet here he was, unable to resist the thought of seeing her again.
Even though he knew she was rarely in the garden this early, his beast growled unhappily at the sight of the empty plot, the neat rows of herbs and the artful clusters of flowers silent under the morning sun. She wasn’t here yet. He fought back the impulse to shift and pace, to tear up the ground in frustration. He needed to calm down, to suppress these feelings. Instead, he settled into the shade of a large oak, watching and waiting.
An hour passed without any sight of her, and he could no longer evade his duties. He made his way back through the forest to the main road leading into the village, then paused to watch the humans moving through the streets. Their scents mingled in the air—sweat, smoke, livestock, fear. Always a trace of fear when the Vultor were concerned. But beneath it all, he searched for one scent. Hers.
Four decades he’d lived without a mate. Four decades of watching others in his pack find their other halves while he remained alone. Few Vultor survived to his age without a mate, no matter how strong they were. Malrik had been convinced he would escape the curse but he’d succumbed to his beast nonetheless. No one, least of all Seren, knew why he hadn’t been affected. Some whispered it was unnatural.
“Unnatural,” he muttered, clenching his fists. “As unnatural as wanting a human.”
Not always . The traitorous thought couldn’t be entirely dismissed. Two of his pack had found human mates, both of them males who had been deeply wounded by humans. If they could overcome those troubled pasts to find happiness…
His beast agreed, rumbling deep in his chest. Mine, it insisted. Ours.
But neither Finnar nor Korrin were the alpha. Neither of them had the same ties and responsibilities. The logical part of him listed all the reasons this was madness: she was human, fragile, barely more than a girl. The peace between their peoples was tentative at best. Taking a human mate would be seen as weakness by some in his pack, provocation by others in her village.
Yet his beast knew only one truth. Elli’s scent called to him like nothing he’d ever experienced. The gentleness in her eyes when she looked at him—not with fear but with warmth—made something long dormant inside him unfurl.
“She doesn’t even know what we are,” he growled softly. “What being a mate means.”
The beast didn’t care. It recognized what his rational side tried to deny. After years of violence between their kinds, after all the blood spilled, the universe had a cruel sense of humor—making his perfect match a small, delicate human with sad eyes and dirt beneath her fingernails.
He sighed and forced his face into his normal controlled mask as he strode into the village. Just as he reached the square, a flash of movement caught his attention. Elli. She emerged from a shop, her shoulders hunched as if trying to make herself invisible. Even from this distance, he could sense her discomfort, smell the anxiety rolling off her in waves.
His claws extended involuntarily, his protective instincts surging. Ours , his beast growled again. Protect.
He forced his claws to retract again as she disappeared around a corner, his breathing steadying as he regained control. He needed to focus on the trade alliance negotiations. He’d disliked Mayor Jacobson even before he was aware of her treatment of Elli, but he wouldn’t make the mistake of underestimating her.
The mayor was waiting in her office, dressed in an outfit clearly designed to show her wealth and importance. She was large for a human female, with a hard face and a commanding presence, and he’d never been able to detect any familial resemblance between her and Elli. She nodded as he entered, her smile tight.
“Alpha Thalos, punctual as always.”
“Mayor.” He inclined his head slightly, taking the seat across from her desk—a chair clearly too small for his body. A deliberate choice on her part, he suspected.
“I have been considering your latest proposal. The restrictions on the timber rights are not acceptable. They will make it more difficult to log the woods efficiently.”
He kept his face neutral. “Perhaps a little, but by restricting your loggers to the trees we mark, we will ensure a healthy forest, both now and in the future. That is not a point we are willing to concede.”
She pursed her lips, clearly unimpressed by his reasoning. He was sure she would have been happy to clear cut as much of the forest as she could, but he would never permit such an action.
“Everything is negotiable,” she said dismissively. “Your people will need our grain and our produce as winter approaches.”
“We would appreciate them,” he corrected. “But the Vultor are quite capable of surviving without them.”
They both knew he was right, and a flash of annoyance crossed her face before she smoothed it into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“We have other products that are more… necessary,” she said, tapping the stack of papers in front of her in tacit acknowledgment of his point.
“A valid argument on both sides, I’m sure.”
He smiled at her, allowing his fangs to show. He wanted this agreement, not so much because of the goods involved but as a way of improving relationships between their people, but he had no intention of letting her take advantage of him. He suspected she was driven purely by greed but he could use that to his advantage.
“Perhaps an exchange of medicinal plants could prove useful to both of us. I understand your niece has considerable skill with plants.”
Her expression hardened. “Elli? Don’t be absurd. The girl can barely manage simple tasks.”
“That contradicts my observations,” he said, keeping his tone neutral despite the anger stirring in his chest. “Her knowledge of botanical properties seems extensive.”
“You’ve been watching her?” The mayor’s eyes narrowed.
He immediately realized his mistake, and gave a half-shrug. “I observe many things in your village, Mayor. It’s my responsibility to understand potential allies.”
Her face tightened into something predatory. He could smell the shift in her scent—alarm, calculation, and a sharp note of possessiveness that made his hackles rise.
“My niece is simple and easily confused,” she said dismissively. “Any knowledge of plants she possesses comes from the basic gardening tasks I’ve assigned to keep her occupied. She lacks the capacity for anything more complex.”
The lie stung his nostrils like acid, and he barely managed to keep his expression neutral. His beast clawed beneath his skin, enraged at the disparaging comments, but he forced it down.
“I see,” he said, careful to keep his voice even. “Then perhaps we should focus on other resources.”
The mayor relaxed slightly, believing he’d abandoned the subject. “Very well. I understand that there is an old trade?—”
A knock interrupted them. A village clerk entered, carrying more documents. As the mayor reviewed them, he considered her reaction to his suggestion. It confirmed his suspicions—she deliberately undermined Elli and kept her isolated—but why? What threat could his gentle gardener pose to this power-hungry woman?
The negotiations dragged on for another hour. He conceded some points strategically, and gained ground where it mattered most. Despite his best attempts to focus, his thoughts continually strayed to Elli’s garden, to her shy smile when she’d first seen him.
“We’ll reconvene tomorrow,” she finally declared, gathering her papers.
He nodded, rising to his full height. “Until tomorrow, Mayor.”
As he left the stifling office, he caught a familiar scent—faint but unmistakable—from across the market square. He turned in time to see a small boy knock over a display of pottery. Elli bowed her head, her expression resigned, as the shopkeeper hurried out and began to berate her. The small boy who had actually caused the accident hid behind his mother’s skirts.
“Clumsy and simple, just like your aunt says,” the shopkeeper snapped at Elli.
She didn’t attempt to defend herself. Instead, she simply stared at the ground, her hands gripping the handle of her basket as the verbal assault continued. The injustice of it burned through his veins, and his beast growled.
“Apologize to Mr. Tanner,” the boy’s mother demanded, not of her son, but of Elli.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, even though she’d done nothing wrong.
His claws extended. Three strides and he could be across the square. Three more seconds and he could show these people what happened when they mistreated what belonged to him.
“That’s quite enough.” Before he could take action, a tiny silver-haired female stepped between Elli and her accusers, her hands on her hips as she glared at the shopkeeper. “I saw everything, Harold Tanner. That boy knocked over your display while Elli was nowhere near it.”
He breathed a sigh of relief at Agatha’s intervention, his already strong respect for the elderly female increasing. She didn’t hesitate to face down the surrounding crowd, and even the shopkeeper faltered. “Mrs. Ashworth, I?—”
“You what? Thought you’d blame the easiest target?” Agatha’s expression didn’t soften. “Shame on you. And shame on you too, Martha, teaching your boy to let others take punishment for his actions.”
The crowd that had gathered shifted uncomfortably. He remained motionless, watching as this unexpected ally placed a protective hand on Elli’s arm.
“Come, child,” she said, her tone gentler. “Help me carry my packages home.”
The tension in his body eased as Elli was led away from the hostile crowd, his beast subsiding with an unhappy rumble. Agatha glanced in his direction as they passed, her sharp eyes meeting his for just a moment. Something in that gaze—a warning, perhaps—made him step back into the shadows.
The old female knew who he was, and she’d protected Elli when he couldn’t. But as the two of them walked away, he couldn’t help wishing he could be the one at her side—that he could be the one to protect her.