Page 326

Valerie stared at her elder sister for a long time, her eyes turning moist before she suddenly wrapped her arms around Ashley.

"I’m so sorry for everything and thank you for taking care of papa."

Stunned for a moment, a long sigh of relief escaped Ashley before she equally wrapped her arms around her sister. "Val, you scared me."

Last night was brutal, and she thought Valerie was going to continue from where she began because Alpha Denzel interfered then. It was great to know that Valerie had finally understood the situation, just as Ashley hoped for.

Alpha Denzel realized it wasn’t what he thought and left his hiding spot. Valerie pulled away and stared at Ashley intently.

She trusted Ashley so much and was glad that things were not as they seemed. It would have destroyed her if things had turned out like that of the Yellow Stone Pack.

"Did you think I was going to harm you?" Valerie asked, remorseful and guilty about jumping to conclusions.

Alpha Denzel and Ashley had not hugged or been in an intimate position when she saw them, and yet, she concluded they were having an affair because he kept his meeting with Ashley from her.

"Well, you did slap me and wanted to do worse. I should thank your mate for helping me out last night," Ashley said honestly.

Though she knew Valerie’s actions were due to betrayal, it was still hard to think that Valerie did not have anything against her.

Valerie held her hand and led her to a log. They both sat, and she began to explain. "I was just scared that what happened with Tristan was going to happen again, but I’m so happy to see you."

Just as expected, Ashley’s thoughts were confirmed, and she was also worried for Valerie, regretting leaving them alone to pursue her personal interests.

"I’m sorry for not being there at that time, Val, but Alpha Denzel isn’t someone you can doubt. I mean, he looks at no other woman, and you both mated and marked each other."

Valerie did not seem convinced and pointed out, "He met you at the club before, and your rejection of him got him upset."

Ashley smiled bitterly. Valerie was happy but was still clinging to the past. If she was unable to let the past go, how would she be able to move into the future and enjoy what it had for her?

"And he hadn’t met you then," Ashley squarely pointed out as well. Valerie knew she had to let go of the chains of the past. Her coronation would be in three days, and it would be the right time for her to have a new beginning, both mentally and physically.

"You have a point," Valerie said with guilt in her eyes. The fact that she shared a striking resemblance with Ashley pinned the greatest fear in her that Denzel might just see them both as the same, but he was not that kind of person.

If not for her, his focus would have been on his pack and businesses. He gave his all to her because she was his mate.

"Val, take good care of your man and make him happy. It’s not easy out there. I’ve experienced it all, and you don’t get such men being loyal to one woman, especially when they are exposed to so many in the human world."

She paused to swallow and continued. "The Alphas based there. Do you know what they have done and are still doing?"

She could not help remembering all the threesomes she witnessed with those dons and the things they did to women before returning to their packs and playing innocent.

"Denzel has always tried his best to protect me by every means, but I sometimes feel scared because of how I trusted Tristan. The mate bond was not enough, and he fell for Scarlet, who was not even his mate," Valerie pointed out, but Ashley was upset this time and said directly to her.

"If you keep thinking about Tristan, then you won’t find happiness. He is an asshole who would soon receive his punishment. The only person Alpha Denzel ever loved was his mate, and she died. I am very sure that if you were not his mate, he would not even look at you."

Valerie almost agreed except, "But he looked at you."

Ashley was lost for words. So, her kid sister felt unsecured because of that insignificant incident.

She explained it patiently to Valerie. "He had a track record of dancing with women at the club. I would have been just one of those."

Valerie remembered that Denzel had said the same. He usually danced to release himself from the stress, but everything ended there.

He never danced with the same woman twice and never had anything with them outside the club.

Nevertheless, he always paid heftily for just a dance. "I get it, but I made him upset, and I don’t know how to make it up to him. At first, he used to punish me in other ways, but this time, he kept giving me the cold shoulder," Valerie confessed. Ashley stared sympathetically at her.

"Oh dear. Do you not know how to seduce your man?"

Valerie blushed. "You seem more experienced," she observed. Ashley smiled at her mated sister’s innocence.

"Well, I took on a few jobs in the human world and dated a few guys, but they were all humans."

"Give me a hint," Valerie said eagerly. Ashley whispered something in her ears, and they both giggled.

Satisfied that she had a way to make it up to Denzel and had also overcome her insecurities, Valerie held out her hand to Ashley, who accepted it and also rose to her feet.

"Now let’s go cook and keep papa company."

Arriving at the pack house, they were amazed to hear the sweet sound of laughter coming from inside the pack house.

It seemed strange the voices embedded in this level of laughter, as those men were usually always cold.