Madeline’s POV
I was a little bit tired.
Dimitri’s anger and fear were immense and I kept trying to make him feel better. I kept trying to make him feel calm. I kept trying to reassure him.
It was hard, though. I would finally manage to calm him down a little, but then another wave of anger washed over him with such intensity my insides twisted. It took me so much time and energy to calm him down again.
Worst of all, he just refused to tell me what happened.
“Will is on his way,” Ellie said, making me look at her.
She was sitting on the couch with her arms crossed over her chest. She looked worried and I knew that Dimitri had already told her what happened.
An unknown feeling made my stomach turn.
Why did he tell her and not me? Did he trust her more? Maybe he didn’t think I would be able to help him. Maybe he didn’t think I would be able to handle it.
‘Stop it, Madeline,’ Skye growled at me. ‘You know that none of that is true. He will tell you.’
I took a deep breath and released it slowly.
‘Look, Maddie, I…’ Skye continued, but I interrupted her.
‘I can’t, Skye,’ I said. ‘Not now. Something is going on with Dimitri and I need to focus on him. We will do this later, okay?’
She was silent for a moment.
‘You will talk to me?’ she asked quietly.
I gulped and tightened my jaw.
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I will talk to you later.’
I could feel her excitement growing. I pushed her back and focused on Dimitri. He was pacing back and forth around our office with a pissed-off expression on his face. His anger was back.
I took a deep breath and focused on him entirely. I could feel the anger pulsating beneath his skin. I could feel it running through his veins. I could feel it wrapping itself around him. I took a deep, slow breath through my nose and imagined I was pulling the anger out of him and toward me.
The anger was cold and its edges felt sharp. It made my entire body tense up. It made my insides hurt.
But Dimitri relaxed immediately and it was all that mattered. It was all I wanted.
“Fuck,” he muttered as he took a deep breath and released it slowly.
“Can you please just tell me…” I spoke, but I was interrupted by the office door opening.
Will walked inside followed by a very timid-looking Ali.
I smiled brightly and stood up.
“Ali!” I exclaimed, reaching out for her.
She looked at me and I saw her relax a little. She smiled and approached me. I pulled her into a tight hug.
“Oh, I am so happy for you,” I said softly. “I am so happy you get to stay here.”
“What’s wrong, Dimitri?” Will asked, drawing my attention back to my mate.
His anger was back.
Dimitri clenched his jaw and looked at Ali.
“Can we trust her?” he mumbled angrily, making Will growl.
Ali tensed up and tried to pull away from me. I just held her tighter.
“She is my mate, Dimitri,” Will said, narrowing his eyes at my mate. “You are my Alpha and my King, but I won’t let you doubt my mate.”
Dimitri growled back at him.
“And I won’t let my mate get hurt because of her!” he exclaimed.
Will’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted him.
“Enough!” I said sternly. “You are not fighting over this. Ali is my friend and she’s not a danger to me.”
Will bowed his head immediately. Dimitri tightened his jaw and clenched his fists.
“Your first order,” Ellie said, chuckling a little. “Nice, Maddie.”
I furrowed my brows and looked at her. Ellie chuckled when she saw my confused face.
“You just ordered them to stop,” she said. “It was very effective, I must say.”
My eyes widened and I looked back at Dimitri and Will.
“Oh, I am so sorry!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t mean to. I don’t even know how…”
“Don’t apologize, princess,” Dimitri interrupted me as he approached me and pulled me away from Ali.
He kissed the top of my head and stroked my hair.
It was hot. He mind-linked me. Maybe you could order me around like that in our bedroom tonight.
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from chuckling.
I am looking forward to that. I responded.
He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
“Can you please explain to me what the hell was that about?” Will asked.
I looked at him and saw him staring at Dimitri with an angry expression on his face. He was holding Ali in his arms and it made me smile a little.
“I am sorry, Will,” I said softly. “Dimitri is a bit nervous this morning. He didn’t mean anything bad.”
Will looked at me and his expression softened.
“I am not nervous,” Dimitri said angrily. “I am pissed as fuck.”
Ali’s eyes widened. I sighed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Dimitri wasn’t making the best first impression.
“Why?” Will asked. “What the hell happened?”
Dimitri took a deep breath and tightened his hold on me.
“Alpha Alistair asked to talk to me last night,” Dimitri said. “He believes that there is a traitor among the Alphas.”
My eyes widened and I looked up at Dimitri. Will growled loudly.
“If that’s true then Maddie is in so much danger,” Dimitri said, his arms tightening around me.
Will growled again.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” Will exclaimed angrily. “We need to do something! We need to protect her!”
Dimitri sighed and raised an eyebrow at Will.
“I tried to tell you, but you were a bit preoccupied,” Dimitri said, glancing at Ali.
She held her breath and I saw fear in her eyes.
“It’s okay, Ali,” I said softly. “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?”
Will looked at her and kissed her temple. He whispered something to her and looked back up at Dimitri.
“We need to call Alastair and talk to him,” Will said, clenching his jaw. “We need to figure out why he thinks that one of the Alphas is a traitor.”
Dimitri nodded.
“We also need to do everything we can to protect Maddie,” he said. “She needs to be with one of us at all times. We can’t leave her alone.”
Will looked at me and took a deep breath.
“Nothing will happen to her,” he said, keeping his eyes on me. “Over my dead body.”
