Contract Marriage With Alpha Snow novel Chapter 374

Chapter 374: Ares’s POV

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Chapter 374

~Ares’s POV~

I leaned back on the couch in my hotel room, a glass of whiskey in one hand, my phone in the other. The golden liquid swirled in my glass, but I barely took a sip. My mind was too occupied to enjoy it.

Ella.

After Zara left earlier that day, I had insisted on taking Ella back to Snow’s mansion. She was still healing, and she shouldn’t be anywhere near him.

But Richard refused. The bastard had looked me dead in the eyes and said, "She stays."

Of course, Ella had tried to play the peacemaker, pleading with me to leave it alone. She told me she needed to talk to Richard, that she needed time to figure things out.

I had been reluctant as hell, but in the end, I let her have her way.

Now, I was here.

Alone. Thinking about her.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair before picking up my phone. I was about to dial Apollo when my phone lit up with an incoming call.

Aether.

I frowned, but before I could answer, my screen split into three—their usual way of ganging up on me. Apollo had joined the call.

"Look who finally remembers his family," Apollo drawled lazily.

"We should charge him for disappearing on us," Aether added. "An Alpha tax or something."

I rolled my eyes. "Don’t start."

"Oh, we will start," Apollo said. "You left us to handle everything, remember? The least you can do is check in more often."

"Yeah, yeah. How’s the pack?" I asked, leaning forward and rubbing my temples.

"Thriving, as usual," Aether answered. "You should be proud of your beta too. Damon has things under control. No rogues, no witch interference. Just boring pack politics."

I exhaled in relief. "Good."

There was a brief silence before Apollo spoke again. "So... about her..."

I stiffened immediately. "Who?"

"Don’t play dumb, Ares," Aether cut in. "Ella. You sighed earlier. You never sigh three times in a roll. That’s rare. So tell us, what’s wrong?"

I hesitated. The fact that they picked up on my mood so damn fast was annoying. And when the hell did I sigh thrice?

"I’m not in love," I said flatly. "I just... really, really care about her."

Apollo burst out laughing. "And what exactly is that if not love?"

I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose. "It’s complicated."

"Complicated how?" Aether asked. "Don’t tell me she’s still mad about you lying to her. That wasn’t even that big of a deal."

"There’s that," I admitted, "and the fact that she just found her mate."

Silence.

Dead. Fucking. Silence.

Then—"Shit."

"Wait, what?" Apollo asked.

Aether whistled lowly. "That’s dangerous territory, brother. You do realise that, right?"

"I know," I muttered, swirling the whiskey in my glass.