The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate novel Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Executive Best Friend Decision

Elara’s voice cut into her mind before she’d even opened her eyes.

Elara: Serena, where are you?

Serena stirred awake with complete déjà vu.

Fin Shadowclaw’s arms were around her and her back was against his chest. Her head was throbbing, and everything felt fuzzy.

Shit.

She jolted, fully awake now.

The sun was up. She was in another alpha’s bed in her underwear.

He was still asleep, from what she could tell. She quickly slid out of the bed, trying not to disturb him.

He looked exhausted, and kind of adorable. Also unfairly attractive. Fuck she needed to leave immediately.

She saw her combat suit slung over a chair and quickly pulled it on.

She realized she didn’t have a cloak. Shoot. And this would look bad. She had just slept with another alpha in his bed.

Aeron’s voice startled her.

"You look stressed," he observed.

She screamed, heart pounding. Aeron’s expression didn’t change, which meant either he had no startle reflex or this wasn’t the first time a woman had screamed in this tent. She was not going to think about that.

She didn’t know why she was so on edge. Outside of the fact she had just slept with the alpha of another pack.

Shit that sounded bad.

Nothing happened, but it didn’t look that way. At least she thought nothing happened. Did they kiss? Her brain was still concussed. She was in her underwear in a king’s bed and couldn’t fully account for the evening. Gods help her.

"I’m late, and I don’t have my cloak," she answered after a second.

Aeron made a portal without word.

"Thank you," Serena said with sincerity.

✦✦✦

Serena entered her tent, and to her relief, no one was there.

She ran to her bathing chamber to clean herself off.

Why did she feel guilty?

"How did I end up in Shadowclaw’s bed?" she muttered aloud as she washed her hair. "And Gods what is wrong with me?"

She knew she was concussed. And she knew she broke a matebond.

Elara mindlinked again.

Elara: Serena? Are you alive?

Serena took her gold cuff off so that her mindlinks could actually stay private. Or so she thought, since she and Elara still weren’t aware they weren’t making them fully private from the alpha, gamma, or beta.

Serena: Define alive. Because if you mean functioning like a normal person, absolutely not.

Serena stepped out of the bathing chamber, towel wrapped around her, and found Elara already waiting with her combat suit laid out.

"You look like a drowned cat that lost a bar fight," Elara observed, eyeing her up and down.

"Thank you for that," Serena replied flatly. "You always know exactly what to say."

"I’m here to help." Elara tossed the suit at her. "Put this on. We have fifteen minutes before someone comes looking, and I refuse to let you walk out of here looking like a cautionary tale."

Serena pulled the suit on while Elara gathered supplies for her hair.

"Sit," Elara commanded, pointing at the chair.

Serena obeyed, too exhausted to argue. Elara worked quickly, brushing through her damp white hair and pulling it into something elegant enough to hold under a crown.

"You’re quiet," Serena observed after a minute.

"I’m working," Elara replied, but there was something in her tone. A smugness that didn’t match hair styling.

Serena glanced at her in the mirror. Elara was biting her lip, clearly holding something back, and doing a terrible job of hiding it.

"What?" Serena asked.

"What do you mean, what?"

"You have a face."

"I always have a face. It’s attached to my head."

"Elara."

Elara secured a pin and stepped back, grabbing makeup, dabbing it on with aggressive precision, then worked on covering the dark circles under Serena’s eyes.

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