Free Web NovelChapter 29: Chapter 29 It’s Complicated
Christina’s POV
My brain was doing somersaults.
I knew the Laurents were throwing this party, but I’d thought Hudson was just a guest, not the bloody Alpha himself.
Hudson hadn’t exactly lied to me, but neither had he told me the full truth about his position in the pack.
Then something his friend had said earlier lit up in my head, and I circled back, "If this is your house, why the hell did you rent the apartment opposite mine?"
Hudson looked me dead in the eye, his intensity making my heart skip. "Well, the whole building belongs to The Sabreridge. I stay there sometimes when I need space from the pack house."
"That’s how you knew I’d moved there. I’m your... tenant?" The realization settled uncomfortably.
He nodded, watching me carefully.
Another memory struck me."And La Vache Dorée Restaurant? You own that too?"
He nodded, face impassive.
"And the bar?" Damn it, I couldn’t even remember its name. "The one where we... the night we..." Where our wolves had nearly claimed each other in that heated moment of passion.
Another nod, but this time I caught the flash of possessiveness in his eyes.
My emotions and my wolf were doing the cha-cha. Badly.
Since the day I met him,Hudson had given off a dangerous aura. Not rogue-dangerous, more like apex-Alpha dangerous.
His height, his build, those powerful arms that looked like they could overpower another Alpha, and those unreadable eyes that seemed to see everything - you’d have to be crazy not to feel intimidated.
And yet.
He lived in the apartment across from mine and told me where to go when I was having an emotional breakdown.
He’d agreed without complaint to my desperate, drunken one-night stand plan.
He’d even offered to fake an engagement to help me get my pushy parents off my back.
Somewhere in my idiot brain, I’d filed him under "dangerous but good-hearted Alpha."
Now, though, knowing he literally controlled half of Highrise’s territory and more, the pressure crushed down on me like a hydraulic press.
I didn’t know what I felt.
Shock, sure.
But it was more than that.
It was like thinking you’d been running alongside a lone wolf, only to realize you’d been cuddling with the most powerful Alpha in the Northern Territories.
The room went dead silent.
Then Ysolde mumbled, "I, ah, I can’t wear this. I need to change. You, come with me."
She grabbed the man’s arm and bolted out of the room.
"I’ll put the first-aid kit back," Hudson said, disappearing into the en suite bathroom, giving me a moment to process.
I heard Ysolde’s voice outside,"Why the hell didn’t you tell me he was Hudson Laurent? The Alpha of The Sabreridge pack?"
The man she called Cassian shot back, "How was I supposed to know you’d met him before? And why are you dragging me off? I haven’t even asked about the bloody mate-bond yet!"
"Did you not hear? They’re engaged."
"No way! Hudson’s been tracking his fated mate for years. What’s this engagement bullshit?"
"What? What mate? Who is it? Spit it out—"
Their voices faded as they stormed down the hall, but my ears had caught every word.
I sat there, the echoes of their argument fizzing through my head, alert and curious.
"Complicated" did not even begin to cover what was happening between us.
If what Hudson’s friend said was true, that he was bound to a fated mate somewhere, why’d he agree to be fake-engaged to me? Unless...
I heard the footsteps before I saw them, my enhanced senses picking up the familiar scent.
Niall shoved the door open. "Christina! Have you lost your bloody mind? Apologize to Beatrice! And that idiot bestie of yours, yelling about you ending our mate-bond, embarrassing me in front of the whole pack community! Was that your idea?"
I tilted my head, brows pulling tight. I’d just managed to cool down, but Niall’s voice was like silver to our senses. It was painful and toxic.
"Niall," I said sweetly, "we’re already done. Ysolde was just telling the truth. You rejected me, remember?"
"We’re not done unless I say we’re done!" He scowled."We’ll talk about that later. Beatrice’s face is swollen thanks to you. Don’t you feel the tiniest bit guilty for hurting your sister?"
Behind him, Beatrice clung to his sleeve.
"I’m fine," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "If she doesn’t want to apologize to me, whatever. But she should apologize to the Laurents. The ballroom’s a complete mess now. The pack gathering is ruined before it even started."
Niall gave her hand a patronizing pat, then turned back to me. "Beatrice is right. You need to apologize to Alpha Hundson. Publicly. Immediately. Or I’ll—"
The words had barely left his mouth when the bathroom door behind me swung open.
Hudson strode past me, planting himself right in Niall’s face, Alpha energy radiating from him. "She’s not apologizing to anyone."
Niall blinked at him, thrown off balance as his wolf instinctively recognized a superior predator.
I could see the wheels in his brain creaking under the weight of realization. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
He’d seen Hudson downstairs earlier, thought he looked familiar, but couldn’t place him among the Alphas he knew.
In his tiny little mind, that meant one thing—I’d picked up some random loser.
Niall’s nostrils flared. He looked Hudson up and down like he was some nobody from a lesser pack.
"And who the fuck are you supposed to be in our personal business?"I couldn’t see Hudson’s face, but I felt the surge of his Alpha energy that made Niall stiffen.
"This is the Sabreridge’s territory!"Niall gulped,"You’ve got no say here.And whatever’s going on between me and Christina is none of your damn business either. If you’ve got half a brain, you’ll submit and get lost."
Hudson took half a step forward, his Alpha aura expanding.
Niall flinched and staggered back before he even knew what he was doing.
Before anyone could challenge for dominance, Dominic knocked once and pushed the door open. "Alpha Hudson, I got the footage."
Footage?
I saw Niall’s right eyelid twitching like crazy, and judging by the way he was suddenly sweating through his shirt, he was about to have a very bad day.
"Alpha Hudson? What...?"
Then I saw realization dawn in his eyes as him finally recognized who he’d been challenging.
I caught Niall giving Hudson a double take.
For a second, I almost pitied him. Almost.
Niall opened his mouth, probably about to dig himself even deeper, but Beatrice jumped in first, her voice trembling. "W-what footage?"
Hudson didn’t even spare her a glance. He was busy watching the tablet Dominic handed to him, his face carved from pure ice, his rage barely contained. freёwebnovel.com
"Put it up on the main screen," he said. "First floor. Play it on loop. Full volume."
"Got it, Alpha." Dominic nodded and spoke into his earpiece.
