ALPHA LYALL.
"Are you even listening to me?"
I snapped my head to look up at Trenton. He had a look of displeasure on his face. He had been standing there for a long time and waiting for me to speak to him but I'd been too engrossed in my sinking thoughts to actually hear him out.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't. Can you come again?"
He sighed in exasperation and nodded. "Sheila returns in three days. What are we going to do about the mess you made?"
The mess I made. It was the funniest statement I'd heard in my almost thirty years of living. Nowhere was it heard that a man had to hide to be with his mate. It started with me.
Sheila's return set a depressing tone in my heart. Usually, every one of her travels had me waiting in anticipation for her to return so we could talk like friends and have good sex. It was a dynamic I had grown to love. That we both had grown to love and now, it seemed like things were starting to make sense, Aria had walked into my life, bringing me to my fuckin knees.
"I don't know, Trenton. I have been thinking a lot about that."
"Or have you been thinking a lot about her?" Trenton asked, his brows raised in askance. He didn't like her. Not one bit and I could see it in the way he spoke, his voice laced with dislike. "Can you act like it for once? You know what will happen finds out that you have been cheating—"

"I didn't cheat on her." I gritted out, my fingers pressing into the leather-bound before me. "I have never cheated on her so I don't know what you are talking about."
"Are you being honest with me, Alpha?" Trenton asked, his voice laced with obvious disbelief.
Pushing back my chair, I stood to my feet. "I do not answer to you, Trenton. I shouldn't have brought you into this."
"You didn't bring me into this," He said as he followed behind me. "I found out myself."

"Well, sorry for you. Just leave me to deal with all these. I am not your kid."
"Of course, you aren't my kid. But you are my—"
"Trenton!" I snapped, eyes wide as I stared at him. "It's okay. Let's not talk about this anymore."
Sighing, Trenton nodded before he walked out of the room, the door to my door banging in his wake.
As soon as he left, I leaned into the door, raking my fingers through his hair. He was right about it all but right now, I was unable to make rational decisions. Hell, I couldn't even think straight. I wanted to make sense of everything that was happening but I couldn't bring myself to do that. All I wanted was Aria. I wanted her in my arms, in my bed. In my fucking chambers.
For the whole of tonight, I kept tossing around in my bed. I found it hard to shut my eyes in sleep. My mind was dominated by thoughts I had no control over Aria, Sheila who was going to return in a few days and hell, I didn't know what I was going to do about that.
For a man as strong and powerful as I was, I couldn't even bring myself to make the right decision. A woman had brought me to my fucking knees but I had to assume my role as an Alpha once again. I had to exercise my authority and not even Sheila could change that. There was nothing she could do about it but watch or leave. Aria was my true mate and I was going to have her no matter what.
For the whole of the next day, I decided to ponder over it. That way, I was going to get more clarity before making a drastic decision.
There was a lot to do today, ranging from palace duties to meeting with the elders at my throne room and for the most part of it, I was absent-minded, only hearing but not listening. A few times, some of the elders had to repeat themselves, much to my chagrin because all I wanted was for them to end this meeting.
"What are you doing today?" I asked Trenton as we walked out of the courts.
He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me, his lips pressed into a thin line. He hadn't spoken to me since our encounter at my study yesterday. All he had done was give me monotonous replies.
"Do you need me to do something for you?" He asked, raising his brow.
"Stop acting like we had a fight or something. I have no issue with you so stop making this about you and fucking see this from my own angle."
"See it from your own angle?" He laughed.
"Yes!" I snapped. "You are married to your mate and the love of your life. What more could be better than that, huh? Do you have to stay all night confused because you got married to the wrong person and now, the right person is right before you? And don't you fucking tell me that I choose her? I had no option. I believed I had no mate, that I was the same with Sheila. It was why I chose to marry her so don't fucking look at me like I am a terrible person!"
Sighing, he nodded. "I am sorry, I know I should have reacted better. I was thinking about Sheila."
I scoffed and raked my fingers through my hair. "Fucking imagine. You are my beta but you are thinking a lot about someone else you shouldn't be thinking about.."
He draws close and his voice dies into a whisper. "You know what will happen if the elders realize that you have eyes for another woman? They will latch onto her and make Sheila's life miserable and I am sure that you know what it means for Sheila, right? I understand that she isn't your mate but let's be fucking honest, Lyall. She is a good woman. You both are good together and if birthing a child hadn't been so hard for her and you both, I am sure you would have chosen her over and over again."
"That's where you get it wrong," I scoffed. "I believed that you of all people should have understood, you know? But you don't care about anyone else. I see it now. Why don't you leave your wife and fall in love with someone else you didn't fucking mark?"
His eyes widened. "You didn't mark her?"
"For fuck's sake, she's not my mate. Don't you get that? Don't you fucking get it? Out of my sight, Trenton. I see that you aren't ready to see things from my own angle."
"Alpha—"
I raised my hand to stop him, shaking my head in the process. "I want to hear none of what you have to say, Trenton. You can go on your way."
As soon as he left, I called on one of the guards standing by the entrance of the Palace.
"Have the Chief maid direct you to Aria. Bring her to me. Do not hesitate to exert force if she tries to pull away.”