Alpha Nocturne's Contracted Mate

Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell

Chapter 235 Familiar

Ann cleared her throat loudly as she and Aoife made their way across to where Allen stood with his

arms wrapped around Lexi protectively.

Lexi moved away from Allen quickly and plastered an overly bright smile on her face as soon as she

noticed Aoife at Ann’s side.

“Hey! I’m Lexi,” She grinned broadly, much to Ann’s surprise.

She had been fully expecting a frosty reception from both Allen and Lexi but had planned on chalking it

up to the current circumstances if Aoife had asked about it.

“Yes! I know, Felix had introduced me to your father and he mentioned that we were around the same

age, and wondered if we had met through school or something before.”

“Oh he did, did he?” Lexi asked with a raised eyebrow, “What else did my dear old papa tell you about

me then?”

“Nothing incriminating, I promise.” Aoife giggled.

“I find that hard to believe.” Lexi scoffed, “With all of the many shenanigans and thoughtless tomfoolery

that I’ve gotten up to in the past, I’m a positive repository for incriminating tales.” She replied in mock

outrage.

Allen and Ann exchanged an incredulous glance. Was this even the same Lexi? “Listen, we don’t want

you to feel like you’re alone while Felix is off getting rid of the rogue issue, so we were thinking, maybe

drinks and nibbles? A movie maybe or just a general chit-chat, a proper girl’s night. What do you

think?” Lexi continued amiably.

Ann wanted to pinch herself. She wasn’t sure what was funnier, the sudden change in Lexi’s demeanor,

or the way she was speaking to Aoife. If this was an act, it was an incredibly good one. “Oh, that would

be lovely! I was just telling Queen Ann, that there are far too many males back at the Dubois

residence.” She grimaced before quickly adding, “No offense Allen, of course.” Lexi chuckled lightly.

“No, I can understand that for sure. Being surrounded by these Alpha males beating their

chests all the time…” She trailed off as she rolled her eyes heavily and giggled with Aoife. “Hey!” Allen

protested weakly with a wounded look on his face.

“Not you.” Lexi waved her hand dismissively, “You’re a softie really.”

“I resent that…” he muttered, jamming his hands in his pockets sulkily as Ann stifled a chuckle.

“Listen,” Lexi continued, “We have to be at the Elders Court shortly, and I need to go over a few things

with Ann, would…”

“Oh! Say no more! I have plenty to keep me occupied while I’m here.” Aoife interrupted, smiling

bashfully.

“You do?” Ann asked, her suspicions instantly aroused.

Aoife nodded shell.

“Yeah, I’m taking a couple of courses that I need to study up on. Nothing too fancy, but I wanted to

know more about the gardens and the plants within them back home, and Felix was good enough to

find me a course that I could study from home. You can usually find me buried in books somewhere.”

She laughed lightly, flushing a cute pink as she suddenly became embarrassed about her over-

enthusiasm.

Ann couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Well, I’ll certainly know who to come to if there’s anything I want to know about the beautiful flowers

here.” She said gently.

‘LET ME KEEP HER! SHE’S FREAKING ADORABLE! We can build her a little house in one of the

gardens here and she can just potter about in her little garden, tending to her flowerbeds and…’ Maeve

interrupted excitedly in her head, her voice so loud that Ann physically flinched from the shock.

‘Maeve we can’t keep her! She’s Felix”s wife!’ Ann replied in horror.

Maeve was silent for a while, but Ann could practically feel her mulling something over in her head.

That foresight really didn’t prepare her for what she said next though.

‘What if… and hear me out… what if we got rid of Felix?’ Maeve said in a seemingly innocent voice that

only made the sly grin on her face that little bit more sinister.

‘Maeve!’ Ann gasped.

‘What?! I’m just saying… she’s probably safer with us than she is at the fancy pants Dubois

residence…’

‘Maeve, for the last time, no,’ Ann answered forcefully and if she didn’t know better she could have

sworn that Maeve was pouting at her sullenly.

“We can come grab you after we’re finished with the trial if you like?” Lexi said as she linked arms with

Ann.

“I’d like that very much.” Aoife said before waving and turning to leave.

But, halfway across the hall she paused and turned suddenly, seemingly hesitant to say what she was

thinking.

“Thank you.” She blurted out finally as her pink blush turned to a deeper crimson, Ann and Lexi looked

at each other in confusion.

“For what?” they asked, almost in unison.

“For being so nice. I’m not… I mean… people aren’t always so friendly. So, thank you for

treating me nicely.” She said as she curtsied again and whirled around, scurrying off through the

doorway.

Ann and Lexi stood in silence for a few moments, both of them a little stunned at their brief interaction

with Aoife.

Finally, Ann broke the silence as she turned to Lexi with a smirk.

“Okay, spill. Who are you and what have you done with Lexi?”

Lexi pouted sullenly at her.

“I don’t know what you mean. I was just being friendly like you told me to be.”

“Shenanigans and tomfoolery?” Ann grinned, “Since when have those words ever been present in any

of the conversations you’ve had?”

“Don’t forget about the part where she said she was a positive repository for tales of…” Allen smirked

as he leaned in towards them before Lexi interrupted his teasing by turning and batting him away in

irritation.

“You can both f**k off.” She said as she let go of Ann’s arm and folded her arms in front of her

defensively, “Look, she seems like she’s from a well-off family. Nobody is that softly spoken if they

haven’t been brought up in a sheltered environment. I figured she would probably feel more

comfortable if I sounded a little more like the hoity-toity types that she’s most likely used to mixing with.”

Allen chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her, paying no attention to her sulky face. “It was a bit of

a shock… that’s all.” He said gently as she glared up at him. “I can be fancy too, you know. I just

choose not to be ninety-nine percent of the time because I enjoy the reactions of people when I open

my mouth.” She replied as a frown descended on her face, “Although, I can’t seem to shake the feeling

that I know her from somewhere.”

“She does seem familiar, doesn’t she? Although I can’t place my finger on where I know her from

either.” Ann said thoughtfully as she glanced at the antiquated old clock that stood against the far wall

and sighed as soon as she saw the time.

“Come on, we can ponder this before we go and collect her,” Ann said as a slow smirk spread across

her face. “We have an Elder to put through a trial.”

Lexi’s face seemed to light up as she realized the day of reckoning for Elder Linus had finally come.