Free Web NovelChapter 134: Chapter 134 Flattery
Sylvia’s POV
I stood in the lobby of Vertex Group, trying to shake off the strange encounter with Caesar. Something about the way the project manager kept glancing at me was unsettling. After the fifth time I caught him staring, I finally addressed it directly.
"Is there something on my face?" I asked, arching one eyebrow.
"No, no, not at all," he quickly replied, looking flustered. His eyes darted away, but returned to study me again moments later.
I couldn’t help but smile. "Then why do you keep looking at me? Am I doing something wrong?"
The manager forced a laugh that sounded more nervous than amused. "Nothing like that, Ms. Frost. I’m just impressed by your insights on the project. Someone your age with such keen business acumen... my team could learn a lot from you."
Flattery. The universal deflection tactic. Still, it successfully diverted my attention from his strange behavior, and we returned to discussing the project details.
By the time I left Vertex’s gleaming headquarters, something felt off. I couldn’t place it exactly, but the way everyone had acted around me—from the receptionists to the executives—suggested they knew something I didn’t.
And running into Caesar there? Too convenient to be coincidence.
My wolf stirred restlessly within me. I’d spent three years suppressing her, keeping her quiet while I played the perfect omega for Zane. The habit was hard to break, even now that I was reclaiming my Alpha heritage.
*Something’s not right*, she whispered in my mind.
"I know," I muttered under my breath, sliding into my car. "We’ll figure it out."
When I returned to Frostline Enterprises, my assistant hurried over with updates.
"Alpha Astra was looking for you," she informed me, her expression carefully neutral.
I froze. "Mother came here?" My relationship with my mother had been strained at best since I returned from Stoneclaw territory. freewёbnoνel.com
"Her assistant came by. When I mentioned you were at Vertex, they left without further instructions."
"I’d better go see what she wants," I sighed, already dreading the conversation. "Anything else I should know about?"
My assistant shook her head. "Ms. Selene has been quiet. No other issues requiring your attention."
I nodded, grateful for small mercies. My adoptive sister’s schemes had been the last thing I needed to deal with lately. Without another word, I headed toward the Alpha’s office, my mind racing with possibilities about what my mother could want.
The hallway to her office seemed longer than usual, each step heightening my anxiety. My wolf, usually so calm and controlled, paced nervously within me. We both remembered the cutting words my mother had hurled at me when I returned without Zane’s mark—how I’d failed the pack, how Selene would have succeeded where I had not.
I knocked softly on the heavy oak door.
"Enter," came my mother’s cool voice from within.
I pushed open the door to find Alpha Astra sitting unnaturally straight, as if she’d been waiting specifically for me. Not hunched over paperwork as usual, but poised and attentive. The sight immediately put me on edge.
"Alpha," I greeted formally, inclining my head in respect. "You were looking for me? I was at Vertex earlier, reporting on the project."
"Hmm," she acknowledged with a noncommittal sound, lifting her teacup to take a delicate sip. Her eyes never left mine. "Sit down, why are you standing there looking so lost?"
Her tone lacked its usual sharpness, which was somehow more disconcerting than her typical criticism. I cautiously lowered myself onto the plush sofa she’d indicated, my spine ramrod straight.
To my utter shock, my mother rose from her desk and joined me on the sofa, sitting close enough that I could smell her familiar scent—pine needles and winter frost, the scent that had once meant safety before it became associated with disappointment.
I sat perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe. The Alpha’s presence—my mother’s presence—always triggered an instinctive submission in me that I hated but couldn’t fully control.
She must have noticed my tension because she reached over and placed her hand over mine where it rested on my knee. The gentle pat that followed nearly caused me to flinch in surprise.
"Why so nervous?" she asked, her voice gentler than I’d heard it in years.
"I’m not nervous, Alpha," I replied automatically.
A small smile crossed her face—another rarity. "We’re alone, just mother and daughter. There’s no need for such formality."
I pressed my lips together, unsure what game she was playing. Her eyes held an unexpected warmth that made me feel like I’d stepped into some alternate reality. Cautiously, I tested the waters.
"Mom?" The word felt foreign on my tongue after years of formal address. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"That’s better," she said with approval, patting my hand again. The woman sitting beside me seemed nothing like the cold, calculating Alpha who had sent me away for three years and then berated me for returning unsuccessful.
My wolf was instantly suspicious. *She wants something*, she growled.
"Did you need something from me?" I asked directly, unable to endure the strange pleasantries any longer.
My mother deflected with practiced ease. "Can’t a mother simply wish to see her daughter? We’ve had so little time together since your... return. Since your marriage. I thought we might talk properly."
She reached for a teacup, filling it carefully before placing it in front of me. The domesticity of the gesture was so unexpected that I simply stared for a moment before accepting the offering. I took a small sip out of politeness, watching her over the rim.
Her eyes studied me intently, with an expression I couldn’t quite place. There was something like regret there, or perhaps nostalgia. Whatever it was, it made me profoundly uncomfortable.
"You look so much like me at your age," she murmured, almost to herself.
The silence stretched between us, taut with unspoken history. I shifted awkwardly under her scrutiny.
"Mom," I tried again, "why did you really ask me to come here?"
Her composed façade finally cracked slightly. She sighed, her shoulders dropping a fraction of an inch—the closest thing to vulnerability I’d ever witnessed from the formidable Alpha Astra Frost.
"Very well," she said, her voice shifting back toward its usual businesslike tone. "I wanted to discuss your sister with you."
The mention of Selene immediately set my teeth on edge.
"What about her?" I asked. "What specifically about Selene did you want to discuss?"
Alpha Astra’s fingers tapped rhythmically against her teacup, a rare tell of uncertainty. "I’ve been... reconsidering certain decisions regarding the pack’s future leadership."
"What exactly are you suggesting?" I asked, my heart beginning to race.
My mother set down her teacup with deliberate precision. "I want Serena to get involved in pack business, have her help run Frostline Enterprises."
