The Alpha's Little Slave

Chapter 73: Could It Be...? I

"Nicole!" I hurriedly got down from the bed and pulled her up, my eyes wide with panic. "I’m so sorry! I don’t know what happened. Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"A simple no would have sufficed, and I’m fine! These girls protected me from the fall." She laughed weakly as she gestured to her chest.

I quickly picked up the fallen books and stacked them on her table as Nicole brushed the dirt off her white coat.

"You’ve gotten a lot stronger than before, though! I almost can’t believe you’re a human. What have you been eating recently?" Nicole asked.

I could only laugh awkwardly. Nicole didn’t know that it wasn’t any special food unless one counted Damon’s ’meat’ as one.

"It’s not..." I began.

"It’s like you got your strength from Damon!" Nicole exclaimed. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"Well... yes. Technically. Because I spent the night with Damon." What could I do but admit it shamefacedly?

"Oh." Nicole’s mouth fell open in surprise, but she didn’t mention anything about me cheating on Blaise, for which I was grateful. There was no judgment, only understanding in her eyes. Maybe I could finally use this opportunity to get some answers.

"Nicole, have you ever heard of something like that happening between fated mates? Did you ever wake up more powerful after fu― sleeping with Kaine?"

"Well, not in the same way as you," Nicole said mischievously, a girlish squeal escaping in her lips. "I do feel powerful because he looks at me like I could crush his entire world without trying. Oh, and when I smother him with my―"

"Okay, never mind, moving on," I said hastily, refusing to let her elaborate on her sex life. I did not need the mental images of Nicole smothering Kaine with her assets. "So, you don’t get extraordinary strength? Does anyone else?"

"Not that I heard of," Nicole said with a shrug. "If everyone could get stronger using that ability, Fangborne’s werewolves wouldn’t train at all. They’d simply mate day and night and this pack would be overrun by children. Oh, that sounds lovely!"

Nicole had a point, even if I didn’t think the idea of children overrunning this pack was anything to be happy about. I guess this special benefit was only limited to Blaise, Damon, and I.

"So, do you think I can start training?" I asked curiously, determined to make the most of this advantage that came from breaking Blaise’s heart.

I wanted to use my newfound strength and accelerated healing to train myself further, ensuring that I could go look for Blaise as soon as possible. I needed to fix things with him.

"Let me take a look..." Nicole hummed, and she began to examine me carefully.

In the end, she beamed and gave me a clean bill of health, with warnings not to overdo it.

"You might have gotten stronger physically, but that doesn’t make you invincible," she reminded. "Your body has to get used to your strength too. Now off you go! Remember to eat later!"

"I understand," I replied, vowing myself to be careful.

Some people, like Damon, could be decked without mercy, but I didn’t want to harm people like Nicole who didn’t deserve it.

I bade Nicole a quick goodbye and left for the training grounds. Elijah had not pointed them out to me, but I was sure I could find them. My nose was more sensitive, and all I needed to do was to follow the smell of sweat on the ground.

North. There was the salty scent of sweat in the air. But just as I started to make my way in that direction, I spotted a shade of blonde hair so familiar from the corner of my eye. The woman turned and vanished from view as she went behind the corner.

My feet automatically stopped in their tracks, while my heart stuttered in its ribcage.

Could this be Lydia? Could she still be alive?

Blonde hair wasn’t an uncommon trait, but I had years to study how Lydia’s hair looked under the lights, natural or otherwise. That particular shade of blonde was the color of a wheat field in bloom, utterly stunning in the sun.

Lydia also often wore her hair in ringlets, and that woman had hair in that familiar style. It was even of the same length! I had a feeling if I pulled that woman beside me, I would see a blonde curl of hair draped framing her forehead.

Surely this was too much of a coincidence, wasn’t it? Lydia was dead, Damon and Blaise implied that much. Even if Damon was cruel enough to continue to let me believe it, Blaise surely would have told me after we became fated mates for real. He knew how much I loved Lydia. I would only be happy that they told such a terrible lie.

I must have been imagining things. I shook my head, willing myself to get back to my task. But I could not shake the image of that blonde hair from my mind.

’Just one look, I’ll only need one look’. I vowed to myself.

I knew it was illogical, impossible, improbable, that Lydia was still alive, but part of me had to know― for better or worse, I had to put my doubts to rest. If I didn’t catch this woman, I would forever be haunted by the what-ifs.

I turned and chased down the woman, but she was long gone from the corridor. My heart sank in disappointment before I caught a trace of her scent. My eyes watered.

It was jasmine, Lydia’s favorite flower. She loved using jasmine-scented shampoos and soaps.

Back then, I didn’t have a sensitive nose back in Stormclaw, so I couldn’t accurately tell what scent Lydia had underneath it all― but as her friend, we spent enough time together for me to figure it out. Lydia smelled like warm sunshine, a jasmine flower in full bloom.

I chased down that scent with the desperation of a cheetah hunting for their next meal. It led me down various corridors through House Sirius before finally leading me outside. It was as if the person did not want to be found.

Unfortunately for them, I was a tenacious bitch and by now, I needed answers. I saw the same hint of blonde hair running ahead of me in the grasslands outside, and I yelled. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

"Lydia Johnson! Stop running!"