Alpha Do I Know You (Book 1 of the Rosewood Trilogy)

Chapter 5

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Revised Chapter

READ AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE

Chapter 5

Elizabeth stopped inches away from the man, her teeth sharpened into the weapons they were. She snarled at him as she backed away on her hind legs.

And if it wasn't clear this man was more powerful than Hans, his power surged again and made Elizabeth buckle to her knees until she fell face down, whimpering. Looking around, I noticed that everyone was on their knees with their heads down, the pungent scent of anxiety mixed with fear apparent in the air.

The man's power was pressing on my every being but instead of being beaten down to submission like the rest, I felt it move past me and the air around me, like the quick flowing stream of water moving against an immoveable rock. But I slowly bowed my head in unison with the rest of the wolves because there would have been countless questions about my identity.

His power receded back to its humdrum warmth after a few long moments so I raised my head to discreetly look at Elizabeth whose whimpers began to fill the night. But as I glanced up, the man was looking at me with a glint in his eye I couldn't decipher so I snapped my head back down quickly, pretending I had my head down the whole time.

I almost sighed in relief as I felt the weight of his gaze leave me when he spoke. "We'll talk about your punishment later Elizabeth, but see to it that this doesn't happen again. Are we clear?" Elizabeth's whimpers were all we heard from her but we knew it was as clear as day for her that this wouldn't happen again.

Punishment? Who is this guy? I don't think that other Alphas can punish a wolf not in their pack. And it's weird that Elizabeth just attacked me because she doesn't simply fly off the handle for no reason. Almost always when she attacks me is because I've committed some sort of breach to normal human-werewolf etiquette I don't know. But this time, I kept to myself until the man talked to me. So does this mean that this guy is more important than I thought?

As people tried to awkwardly ignore what just occurred by resuming the party, I was led inside the house and into Hans' personal office by the man, followed by Hans and a stocky bald middle-aged guy who scampered to the man's side after the tension cleared and the party continued.

Two long couches decorated the center of Hans' office, with his desk at the end of the room by the window. Hans and the small but well-built guy proceeded to sit on one side of the couch while the man and I sat on the other couch.

Hans and the guy were facing the window which made Hans' light sheen of sweat on his face and his blinking fast all the more noticeable. I raised an eyebrow at Hans' meek behavior, since this is the first time I've ever seen the arrogant alpha act any less superior. He gulped before saying, "Illia, I heavily apologize for my wife's behavior. She—"

Illia, apparently the name of the man beside me, raised a hand to stop the start of Hans' babbling tirade. "Is that really what's important here?"

Hans looked taken aback, his sweat glistening more than his pale blonde hair. I bit my lip, trying to hold back the laughter at how ridiculous he looked at this moment. Kind of makes whatever I unconsciously did that angered Elizabeth enough to attack me to be worth it.

"I, uh—I apologize for not—" he stuttered, trailing off when he couldn't figure out what to say. He was babbling like a fool and sweating like a pig, it was honestly the funniest thing I'd ever seen. I lightly bit my lip to prevent laughing out loud at this moment.