The Alpha's Omega Mate-Chapter 167: Knock knock.

~Kai’s POV~

Her sweet laughter drifted across the empty house, filling the space and my heart with more warmth than it’s ever felt in ages.

I followed the sound of her voice, stopping by the door to the living room when I noticed her seated in a low sofa, her lips moving animatedly as she chatted with her daughter and a young maiden, Sai.

Her hair bobbed with each movement she made, her eyes twinkling like they’d specifically fallen out of the sky and onto her face. Her brows knitted as she fumbled with her daughter’s hair which she was weaving into a ponytail and then...

As if drawn by a magnet, her eyes lifted.

She saw me.

And godforsaken Hades, I heard her take in a sharp breath when she did.

Sai, who had been confused by Dahlia’s sudden speechlessness, turned to look at me and as soon as her eyes met mine, she instinctively bowed her head, muttering; "Alpha, good day your Grace."

"Good day, Sai." I greeted her back lightly, my eyebrows cocking when a speechless Dahlia still didn’t say anything.

Her eeys trailed down my body slowly, hungrily, and when they landed on the exposed part of my neck, she gulped audibly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

"Alpha Kai."

When my name left her lips, I felt something akin to exhilaration course through me. I stiffened— because for me, that was way better than moaning, and then I dropped my eyes to Amara who was already watching us with a frown, her bottom lip tugged downward.

This girl doesn’t like me, and she seem to like everyone else around here.

"Hey Mara!" I called out eagerly, "how are you?"

The little pretty witch rose to her feet slowly, that is after checking to see if the ponytail was to her liking, and then she turned around as if I had just not spoken before whispering to her mom; "Can I go now?"

Dahlia balked. "Go where?"

"Go outside." Amara argued. "I want to play with the other kids."

"No, you cannot. Especially since you didn’t greet your Elder—"

"She can go." I drawled, interrupting their argument. "Moreover, it’s you I came to see, not her."

Amara spun around quickly as soon as I said that, her frown deepening until they appeared like mini cracks on her very perfect face. A flash of regret crossed her features but before I could feel victorious about it, it quickly disappeared, replaced instead by a scowl. "Good morning, Alpha Kai."

"Good morning, Mara! How are you?"

The youngling pressed her lips together when I asked that, her eyes flashing with a dangerous intensity that momentarily took me aback. And then she bowed even lower. "I am fine. Can I go and play now?"

"Yes you can."

Mara didn’t wait for a confirmation from her mom this time, she didn’t even stop to acknowledge any of us before she dashed out of the house so quickly one would think that there was a trail of undead birds after her.

My eyes followed her until she disappeared out the door but for some reason, I felt unsettled. She didn’t like me, that I was aware of.

But there had been something else in her eyes— something dangerous, something powerful, it made my blood turn to ice.

I stared after her for a long time, too long if you ask me, but now that I’ve looked at her—like really looked at her as if for the first time— I couldn’t help but think that there was more to her than meets the eyes.

More to her than what Dahlia told me.

Amara was no ordinary child, not a blend of wolf and human, but a full blooded wolf. With an insane amount of Alpha aura.

"Kai...?" A sweet feminine voice called out to me, snapping me out of my reverie and I turned quickly to see Dahlia now on her feet, bouncing from foot to foot as she peeked at me from under hooded eyes. "You said you wanted to see me?"

"Yes," I muttered, my traitorous eyes wandering to the swell of her breasts, to the curve of her lips... to her fragile creamy neck. Her luscious—

Oh fuck it, get a grip on yourself!

I swallowed thickly. "I wanted to tell you that I’ll be going on a short trip very soon, and that I want to put you in charge of the house doing my time away..."

Dahlia’s eyes darted around the room, to the marble floor, to the chandelier hanging deftly from the ceiling, to the drawn curtains behind me— but not once on my face.

"What is it?" I gritted out, glaring at her. "Is there a problem?"

"Can you not ask Lady Elodie to return? Or talk to her if you must? I’d prefer if you ask her to take care of the house instead of me, she’s more fit for the job than me." She said quickly, but as the words tumbled out of her mouth, I found myself stiffening with rage and more rage.

...And more rage.

Until my eyes landed on her cleavage.

Fuck.

"She’s refused to come back." I gritted out, more out of sexual frustration than annoyance. "Do you want me to force her to return?"

"Have you tried talking to her?" Dahlia countered stubbornly. "Maybe she’s just scared you’d turn her away and that’s why she’s refused to—"

"Did I have to talk to her before she left?" I snapped, immediately causing her to slap her lips together.

This time, when she stepped forward, I felt her annoyance, her frustration... but most of all, I felt how drawn to me she was. She huffed; "Don’t be so stu—"

"Were you having a wet dream last night?" I asked instead, interrupting her.

Dahlia froze at first when she heard my words, and then like a balloon, she deflated—but not in a bad way. Her face soon became the brightest shade of pink I could ever think of before she smacked my arm with so much force, even my wolf whined.

"That’s not what we’re talking about now!"

"But you were, weren’t you?" I asked, and when she still wouldn’t respond, I added; "Was I in it?"

Dahlia opened her mouth then, her face twisted like she was about to say the sassiest snarkiest thing she could ever think of; but before the words could spill out, someone— something— pushed the door to the living room open and I turned around in irritation, angry that someone had interrupted me at a moment like this.

However, my irritation soon turned into full blown rage when I saw who it was and I frowned; "Elodie?" Then to the man behind her; "Orion?"

"What are you doing here?"

I frowned at the question, my rage tripling when I heard those words from Orion. It took me a moment, and a surprised gasp from Dahlia to realize that it wasn’t me he was talking to.

It wasn’t me he was staring at like he’d just seen a ghost.

It was her.

My Dahlia.

Orion’s face immediately went pale, his body rigid and eyes widening as the wheels soon began to spin in his head. When he spoke up seconds later, he sounded hoarse, like his vocal cords had been scrapped clean. He drawled; "You’ve been here the entire time?"

Dahlia wasn’t moving. She wasn’t breathing. She was as white as the doves flying through the clear sky.

"You’ve been here while Zarek and I have been looking for you? Scouring the earth for you? You came here to hide... with him? Uncaring that we were hurting?"

That made Elodie freeze. She spun around to face him. "What?" She croaked out; "what’s that supposed to mean?"

But Orion wasn’t looking at her. His eyes were focused on Dahlia, and Dahlia alone. "You could’ve said something... told Zarek, rejected me. That was better than leaving without a trace. That would’ve hurt less than making us think you may have died." He spat, and with that turned and stormed out of the room, leaving Elodie and I staring at his retreating frame in shock, that is after muttering something along the lines of;

"I no longer see any reason to apologize that you were with me when she’s been with him this entire time!"

Elodie gasped, her wild eyes flaying as they darted between me and Dahlia. She croaked; "What?" But I shrugged. Hell, I was confused too.

Dahlia however, was the most shaken.

She was trembling, tears were leaking out of her eyes but she didn’t move. She didn’t dare speak.

She looked like she’d been caught stealing, and I understood why— she’d been running from them. She’d tried to escape from them.

But for the first time, I now believe that she wasn’t running for the reasons I thought she was. She wasn’t fleeing because she was scared— yeah maybe she was.

But she was running from them.

Orion and Zarek.

What the actual hell?