***ADRIAN'S POV***
The elder who had officiated our wedding vows and procession was on stage giving a speech.
Many guests had already arrived. The hall was filled with the Who's Who of Ravenshore.
I wanted badly to gulp down a glass of alcohol or two, but I restrained myself. Two nights were already etched deeply in my mind and I couldn't forget about either of them. I couldn't risk getting drunk again, one more night added to that count and I knew I'd drive myself crazy overthinking.
"Sir Adrian!" a voice called and I turned to see a pretty-looking lady standing behind me.
She wore a body-hugging red dress, no makeup except for the red lipstick and black eyeliner that sharpened her eyes.
She should have worn more, I noticed. And Lizabeth should have worn none.
It wasn't as if I cared but I couldn't help stating the obvious to myself: if women wanted to seduce straight men, to have them undress them with their eyes without ever touching them, then they needed to learn more about their own faces instead of blindly following trends.
"I've been looking for you all over, Mr. Carter! I wanted to report the progress of the account you handed over to me three months ago, sir," she said.
It was then I remembered who she was. I had sent her, through my secretary abroad to handle a foreign branch I was planning to open. It was still in the early stages, so no one else knew about it yet.
"Go on," I responded.
Her face dropped a little at my flat tone, the earlier excitement dimming. I braced myself for the news, whatever it might be.
But then, from the corner of my eye, I noticed Lizabeth.
She had been watching me. I could feel it even before I turned slightly to confirm. She stood at another corner of the hall, her gaze locked on me and the woman before me.
And the longer I spoke with my assistant, the darker her expression became. She didn't move nor blink but only stared.
I could almost read what she must be thinking. Maybe she believed I was too relaxed, too comfortable here when only minutes before, standing beside her, I had been stiff and restless.
Maybe she thought I had a lover. That the reason I walked away from her that first night wasn't hesitation but someone else waiting in the shadows.
I saw the way her eyes narrowed at the assistant's dress. The body-hugging red fabric that accentuated her curves. Slender, tall, large chest, smaller backside. My wife's gaze flicked between the woman and herself as though she were measuring, comparing.
And then her eyes hardened. She must have decided something, because she began walking toward us, confident, majestic, her heels clinking steadily against the floor, every step deliberate.
Was that jealousy? I scuffed. That might be before she becomes aware what her brother had done. While other brides get cheated on with commercial pleasure workers and sometimes their friends or women like this, her own husband might end up in the news one day with her brother as his side distraction.
"Oh hi…" she muttered as she reached us, sliding her hand through my arm, reclaiming her space beside me.
"Adrian?…" she said, turning to me, waiting for an introduction.
"Oh, yes," I muttered, clearing my throat. I had nearly forgotten. "This is my assistant. She's been away abroad for some time now."
"Good evening, Mrs. Carter. Congratulations on your lovely marriage," my assistant said politely, extending her hand toward Lizabeth.
Of course she didn't need to be told who my wife was—the entire internet was plastered with our wedding.
But Lizabeth only stared at the extended hand. She didn't take it.
Seconds stretched. The woman withdrew her hand at last, embarrassed, perhaps assuming Lizabeth thought her beneath her notice. Afterall she was an alpha's daughter whereas she lower than her, a third rank gamma.
I remained silent. I didn't step in, not nudge Lizabeth to be polite. I couldn't. For one, I didn't know if she was one of those who looked down on peopleand if she was, that would be a much bigger issue in this marriage than one awkward handshake.
But more than that, I could tell she wasn't simply being dismissive. She was lost in her own thoughts, perhaps comparing and doubting.
My assistant had made me smile—a small one, but more than I'd given my bride so far. And Lizabeth had noticed.
Was that all this was to her? My assistant? Or did she believe she was my mistress? Women. Their overthinking makes them fail to pick subtle hints. I guessed.
I didn't answer her unspoken questions. I couldn't. Instead, I stood still, caught in the silence that hung heavy between the three of us.
Minutes later, standing at the entrance beside Lizabeth, I felt the weight of eyes on us, the expectations pressing down. My body was taut, my thoughts elsewhere but I kept my composure.
When her brother approached, she broke away from me, rushing into his arms with a happiness that felt foreign between us. I forced myself still, though unease rippled through me.
She turned, bright and eager, to introduce us. "My brother, Adrian. He just came back to Ravenshore a few days ago. He won't be going back abroad anytime soon as he's going to begin his lessons as my Pack's new Alpha in training."
I raised a hand, my voice low and clipped. "Pleasure to meet you."
It was easier to wave than to shake his hand. A habit, yes, but not only that. I didn't want the contact. Something about him and about the way his presence pressed against mine made me wary, as though even the slightest touch might ignite something neither of us wanted exposed.
"I'm sorry our pack disappointed yours. I know your father might have been planning for both packs to merge with the marriage since Liza was the former Alpha in waiting. I'm so sorry she had a brother existing somewhere to cause a disruption to those plans, brother-in-law…"
Packs with female Alpha heirs usually merged into the husband's once they married or mated. That much I knew. But the way Landon spoke, it struck me with a sick twist.
I hadn't even known Lizabeth was the Alpha in waiting of her pack. No one had told me, not my father, not hers. And I hadn't been aware her brother came to replace her.
My jaw tightened. I felt the shift in the air, the weight of stares turning toward us. His tone was steady.
Not a drunken babble no matter how quickly Lizabeth tried to cover for him.
"Don't mind him. My brother talks gibberish and out of turn whenever he's drunk," Lizabeth had rushed, her laugh brittle and forced. She caught Landon by the arm, tugging him away as though she could erase the words he had already spoken.
But I wasn't fooled. He hadn't been drunk. His voice had been too steady, his eyes too clear. And the way she scrambled to cover for him only sharpened the unease burning in my chest.
Although I said nothing, inside, anger simmered.
I kept my silence, but my thoughts were cold.