Alpha Alden ✔️

Chapter Twenty Four

Word Count: 1604

~Kezziah

Holding my gasp in, I stumble out the room.

No, I must have been seeing things. There is no way Alden is branded by Time. No way at all. As much as it makes sense, I don't want to believe it. It is why Alden has such a vengeance against Time, and why he wants to find the cure for the branding so desperately.

Falling onto my bed, I stare up at the ceiling, trying to make sense of what I saw. I have a million questions I want to berate Alden with, but I doubt he will answer them. Especially considering I walked in on him just after he showered. Somehow I don't think the reception to that will be very pleasant.

This just means I'm going to have to get him to admit that on his own. Alden seems to be more persuasive than me, with plenty more secrets he won't admit easily.

I didn't face Alden until the next morning. Late morning.

"Good morning," he says smoothly, when I finally wander into the kitchen. He's sipping some kind of thick, creamy yellow liquid. I eye it suspiciously when I go for a glass of water from the sink.

I mumble a greeting in response, avoiding his eye contact. Filling my glass with the crisp water that has come out of the mountains, I think. All I have to do is get through however long Alden wants me here. Then, hopefully he will get this brand off me and the mark removed, and I will be out of here.

"Did you enjoy the show last night?" I hear him ask, a hint of amusement in his tone that tells all.

I freeze.

Turning around, but not before cringing, I realise painfully that this is over. He knew I walked into the bathroom with him in it. He knew I saw his brand. And now, he's probably going to silence me from telling anyone about it.

"I'm so sorry, I promise you I didn't even hear that you were in the shower...And then I walked in. But I didn't see anything, I swear," I blurt out. Before I think, I keep talking, only digging myself into a deeper hole I don't see myself getting out of. "How did you even know I was there? You didn't turn around."

He raises an eyebrow. "I heard a door slam and after your reaction this morning I assumed it was you, not the wind."

Of course he heard.

He slides out of his seat, making me take a cautionary step back. My heart is racing as fast as my mind is, as I try come up with an excuse. That I didn't see the brand upon his skin. That I simply glanced and left right away, not spending a few extra seconds to take in the sight of Time's brand.

"I know you saw it," Alden says slowly, leaning against the side of the counter. I swallow uncomfortably, mouth going dry as the excuse I was conjuring disappears within my mind. "So now you know."

This isn't a trap, I've been caught. "I guess so."

Alden closes his eyes for a moment and sighs. Quietly, he beckons me to follow him, so I do so, right into the lounge room, where we sink into couches opposite each other.

"I guess you understand what this is all about now," Alden says gently, leaning forward while clasping his hands together. "I'm sure you know this is about revenge. About finding not only a cure, but a way to end this forever. Otherwise he will continue to terrorise us forever. He doesn't have an end in sight."

I tilt my head to the side. "I suppose I had a feeling. After I saw it."

Now that everything's coming together in my mind, I'm not sure what to think of it. Either I could use Alden's intelligents to get this brand and mark off me, and then make a run for it, or I could stay and help him. Use my brand to help everyone else. Morally, there's only one option.