Alpha Noah

~Abella

This is it. This is when he finally realises what a freak I am.

“It’s not what it looks like,” I exclaim immediately. I don’t even care that I’m undressed and still bleeding from my cut toe. Avoiding the purple swirling around in the water, I step out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my body. This should have never happened. Cian doesn’t need to know about this. He doesn’t need to have his hands in any more secrets of mine.

“You’re acting like it’s nothing,” I say, following he out of the shower, his clothes still dripping wet. I glare at him, wishing he would just drop it.

“It’s a sickness I had, even when I was mortal,” I tell him. I now realise that this problem didn’t go away, meaning that whatever sickness I do have still plagues me, and I have no hope of getting rid of it. I hated having to hide it back then. Nothing has changed. “Don’t worry about it.”

Cian stares at me, dumbfounded.

I’m not surprised he’s so shocked. Seeing someone bleed a colour other than red isn’t an everyday occurrence, but he’s an immortal; surely, he’s seen crazier ailments in his life. Or maybe it’s because I’m his mate, and he’s doing this out of fear that what I have is going to kill me. Too bad I’ve lived with this my entire life, and I’ve never noticed anything happen to me in regard to the colour of my blood.

“Do you bleed…in other ways that colour?” He asks warily. When I glance at him, towelling myself off, I notice the slightest tint of colour in his cheeks, making me smile. Despite everything – especially the fact that I’m naked – I can still find it in myself to smile at his show of rare emotion.

I walk out of the bathroom into my bedroom, followed closely by Cian. “You mean my period? Yes Cian, it’s always been this violet colour.”

Ignoring the throwing up of his hands, I dig around in my dresser for clean clothes. Thankfully Cian allows me to dress without too much protest. The fact that my toe has stopped bleeding is another mercy.

He grabs my arm. “You know this isn’t normal, right?”

“Yes, I’m aware. I hid it my whole life, but I’ve never had any other symptoms. Just ignore it,” I tell him promptly. He sighs, exasperated. I’m not sure what he expects me to do. Ever since I was young my mother told me never to tell anyone about this sickness, and that she had it too. As long as I remained quiet about it, it wouldn’t get worse. That meant not even seeing a doctor.

“We need to see someone. Seriously,” Cian says, not yet having stopped holding my arm. I tug away from him, pulling shoes on. Believe it or not, I don’t have time to argue with him about the colour of my mind.

“Cian, I was planning on delivering the last piece of mail I was meant to sort through for Noah’s assistant, and I’m probably late,” I tell him. The sun has completely set outside the housing area, the walk slightly perilous and unlit once night falls. Gia will have most likely gone home, which will mean I’ll have to walk right in and leave her on her desk.

“Abella-“

“Go home,” I tell him, collecting what I need from my desk. I feel bad for abandoning him, but I can’t tell him I can’t see a doctor. That is only going to make him more adamant that this is a serious infliction that would need a magical cure. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Cian doesn’t protest, as I shove the letter into my back pocket, walking out the door. I expected him to follow me, to continue harassing me until I agree.

Instead, I find myself walking from the staff compound to Noah’s manor on my own, keeping under the minimal path of light from lamps above me, which lead me safely away. Yet still, I can’t shake a feeling of uneasiness. Maybe it’s from the pit in my stomach, knowing Cian now knows my secret.

Rubbing my arms against the cool breeze, i quicken my step. I can see someone in this distance, walking toward me.

Odd… I didn’t think anyone was meant to be around here at this time of night. I know how much Noah doesn’t like his staff hanging around after the sun sets. Maybe he’s just delivering a message like I am. It’s not uncommon…

As he approaches, I realise how tall he is. Unnervingly too. As he passes me by, I lower my gaze, until it causes me to bump into his shoulder, the force having me stumbling sideways.

“Sorry,” I mutter, risking I glance at his face. He has a very serious expression. He looks vaguely familiar, although not his appearance. Just the way he looks at me. “Do I know you?”

“I think we’ve crossed paths,” he replies.

He’s an odd looking person, as I take a proper step back to look at him. His hair is a dark, woodish brown hair and his eyes are a striking close to black colour. But what hits me as his most shocking feature is the tattoos in some kind of patterned dialectic creeping up his neck from below the collar of shirt, up to his jawline, where it creeps slightly to his cheekbones.

I’ve never seen anything like it.

“You work here, I assume,” I blurt out. The silence was starting to get awkward, so I speak what first comes to mind. This elusive man who seemed to appear out of the shadows hardly seems like the kind of man Noah would hide… He doesn’t even look human. He’s more than that, like a mythical creature which has arose from my imagination.

“Right,” he comments, looking nowhere else but my eyes, his unrelenting gaze stilling me to the spot. “You’re going to see Noah.”

“Oh, yeah. Well mainly his assistant, but I was…nevermind. I should go,” I tell him. No doubt telling a stranger your plans is not a good idea, especially since I just got this promotion and I don’t want it taken away. I’m trying to bring some normality into my life, no have it taken away.

“You’re bleeding,” he comments.

I notice his eyes are focused on my hand, which clutches the letter. I’ve acquired a paper cut, it seems. Although minor, a thin strip of blood arises from the cut, having my stomach flipping over. You’ve got to be kidding.

I quickly put my hand behind my back. “Oh no. How did that even happen?”

Now is my chance to get out of here before he starts asking questions I can’t answer. Hopefully he will consider it just a trick of the light, although I somehow doubt it. You can’t just excuse purple blood. Maybe he will tell people and no one will believe him. At least that’s what I hope for, as I go to turn away toward Noah’s manor, however, he ceases my arm.

The feeling of his hand against my bare wrist makes me shiver, as he stares at me with those glassy eyes. “Sometimes keeping secrets from the people you’re closest with is better for everyone.”

“Okay…”

My manage to get myself, falling into a quick jog until I reach Noah’s front door. My heart thumps against my chest, as I pull the door open, not bothering to knock. I’ll drop this off and take another way to get back to the accommodation. I’m not risking bumping into the enigmatic figure.

However, just my luck, as I run up the stairs, I’m greeted at the top by a very surprised Noah. He flinches at the sight of me, but at least I didn’t catch him indecent. He wears casual trousers and a loose shirt, my averting immediately away from his bare arms, instead focusing on those emerald green eyes.

“Just dropping this off,” I tell him, handing him the letter. I was hoping I would slip in and out undetected, so I could disappear again and wallow in everything that has happened today on my own.

Noah looks me up and down, the obviousness of his gaze heating my cheeks. “You okay? You look pale and shaken up.”

“Sorry, I just came across the weirdest guy out there,” I admit. At least if I tell him, he’s unlikely to react like Cian did. Cian cares too much about me, as his mate, but also cares too much about revenge. “And he looked so…Oh my God.”

It hits me like a bus.

“You look like you saw a ghost,” Noah notes warily.

“I think I just did,” I murmur. “I remember who I saw that night when I…died. His name is Stace and he was just here.”

Everything comes streaming back to me with dizzying force. That night, when he approached me, those tattoos becoming clearer in my mind. The way he talked to me, with that oddly seem voice entwined with an unfamiliar accent. He told me he killed me, he told me we would talk later. Just the thought of ever seeing him again gives me uncomfortable chills, but the questions I have for him overpower this.

“Where? I don’t think anyone else is on the property,” Noah says, trailing after me as I pace down the stairs and right outside, flinging the door open. Darkness cloaks the entire area.

I glance at Noah for only a fleeting moment. “How would you know? Your property is massive.”

“He’s not here. Are you sure it’s him who you saw?” Noah says. He’s being skeptical because I probably sound crazy. He’s being rational, because that’s the kind of person he is, and he knows that even if I did see Stace – whoever Stace is – he would be gone by now. I mean, why would he even come to see me for just a small conversation.

And what he said… Sometimes keeping secrets from the people you’re closest with is better for everyone.

“I can’t explain it, I just know,” I tell him. I can practically feel the remainder of his presence in the air.

I can feel Noah place his hand on the small of my back, his fingers digging into the cloth of my shirt. “Okay. Come inside. If it’s him, you don’t want to be alone out here.”

Letting him lead me inside, I allow myself only one more fleeting glance into the darkness, of course seeing nothing. “Thank you, I feel like I always owe you something.”

“You owe me nothing. If you don’t feel safe, you can stay here,” he offers.

“Cian can protect me,” I find myself saying. Habit, or maybe guilt. “I guess.”

Noah leads me into the living area, letting me sit down on the couch, enjoying the warmth floating around me. I don’t understand why Noah is so nice to me. Maybe it’s because I’m one of the only people who treat him normally, but he’s still an Alpha who is admired by all. I should be grateful he’s being so kind to me, so warm and so helpful just when I need someone the most. Instead I just feel guilt. Cian should be doing that.

“You look as though you have something on your mind,” Noah says, coming back from the kitchen after leaving me in the living room for a few moments. Alone with my dark thoughts.

“You could say that,“ I mutter, gratefully taking the warm drink he hands me. “I’ve had this sickness for most of my life, which has never affected me, but Cian finds it strange and I’m just not in the mood to have an immortal tell me I’m the odd one.”

Noah nods, sitting beside me. I ignore the feeling of the presence of his body next to me. “Fair, I suppose. We all have that one thing we are insecure about.”

“What does an Alpha have to be insecure of?”

“See I try to impress you. Not embarrass myself,” he tells me, ensuring that there’s no way I’m going to get him to admit his biggest secrets. I shouldn’t blame him, but it does bother me sometimes that he keeps so much from me. He’s afraid of something, surely…

Suddenly he leans forward, going to place his glass of water on the coffee-table in front of us, but he slips. It explodes into small glass fragments everywhere, even hitting against my clothed legs. I yelp, as Noah pulls his hand away, hissing in pain. It must have nicked him.

“Oh…Are you okay?” I ask immediately.This content belongs to Nô/velDra/ma.Org .

“Yeah, just cut my finger,” he tells me, moving his entire body to face away from me. “Don’t worry about it.”

It wouldn’t have bothered me. Maybe he just didn’t want me to see blood in case it unnerved me. But no, the moment I see it, my entire heart falls into my stomach.

His blood is purple. Like mine.