Bride of the Cursed Alpha - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Auren POV
As soon as Sable exited, Alpha Lucien left me and stepped away at an arm’s length. I gawked at him, wondering about his possessive behavior and his gloating about the soup. What was he trying to convey to her? “Should I go back?” I asked in a low, cautious voice.
“Yes,” he replied, his nose becoming pink again. He rubbed it and added, “I pulled you against me because we have to put up a show in front of everyone.”
I nodded, remembering how his touch sent goosebumps crawling on my skin. Before my mind formed words to say anything, I turned and practically jogged back to my room. But seriously, I needed to eat something better if I had to sleep. The concoction—sorry soup, was soul shattering. Thankfully, Vivi returned from wherever she had gone and brought great food for me, which included spinach and corn sandwich and tomato soup.
Next day when I woke up, I got ready in my room and peeped out to see if Alpha Lucien was there or not. I really didn’t want to confront him again after yesterday’s debacle. I think he wasn't there, hearing how the servants talked loudly with each other. Vivi spotted me immediately as I walked to the kitchen.
“Lady Auren,” she chirped. “Your breakfast is ready!”
“Thanks,” I murmured with a smile. I sat down at the island table, watching all the servants speaking loudly, putting utensils with force on the counters and hurling abuses in their common language at each other. They all looked at me, bowed, and then went back to shouting at each other. The whole place was chaotic as hell.
As she served it to me, she asked, “Did you try to cook yesterday?”
“No. Why?” I asked as I took a spoonful of hot soup, savoring the taste.
She raised her eyebrow. “This place was a mess! Can you see how these fools are fighting?”
I nodded meekly, my gaze scanning the six people in the kitchen, all of whom were looking like they could kill each other. They would occasionally glance at me and continue to talk in their common language.
“Yeah, why are they so… aggressive?” I asked and bit my sandwich. Goddess, it was so delicious. The flavors burst on my tongue. “Mmm…”
“Because they think that you don’t know how to cook and you created the mess yesterday evening. They are blaming each other for leaving the kitchen all at once.”
I blinked my eyes at Vivi and gulped my sandwich down. “Oh no! I didn’t cook. It was Alpha Lucien who made soup for me yesterday.”
The impact of my words was so intense that the whole kitchen fell silent. They all stared at me with wide eyes, their faces laced with shock.
“Ummm…. Why?” I asked, shrinking under their stares.
Vivi stared at me like I had grown two heads. “Alpha Lucien prepared soup for you?” she asked, blanching.
“Yes,” I said, and bit into the sandwich. I wasn't going to tell them how disastrous it was.
“Oh. My. Goddess.” Vivi said as she plopped on the chair in front of me. “I can't believe it. Alpha Lucien has never stepped in the kitchen before to make a toast, and he made soup for you?”
Stunned, my eyebrows shot to my hairline. Now, I understood the reason for the disastrous soup.
All the servants came to circle me. They must have talked via mind link because a few minutes later, Vivi said, “Lady Auren, please save my number on your phone, and if you feel hungry, call me. I’m afraid that now Alpha Lucien would throw one of us out for not attending to you.”
I laughed nervously. “No, no. He wouldn’t do that?” Right? But now I was afraid for these people.
A warrior’s cough disturbed us. We all snapped our necks to look at him.
“There’s a delivery for Lady Auren,” he said, holding a large, neatly wrapped gift box. It had a shiny silver ribbon tied on top, looking all fancy.
"This came for me?" I asked as Vivi took it from the warrior.
I took the box from her, feeling both curious. "Who sent it?"
She looked at the card and smiled. "Alpha Lucien."
My eyes widened, and my heart did a little flip. Lucien sent me a gift? That was... surprising. He didn’t seem like the gift-giving type.
I had my breakfast quickly and took the box upstairs. I placed the box on the bed and carefully untied the ribbon, peeling back the wrapping paper. When I lifted the lid, my excitement quickly turned into confusion. Inside were several strange-looking objects made of soft silicone and leather.
I stared at the contents of the box as I sat down. There was a set of rings, a long, bendy object, and even something that looked like a mini whip. They didn’t look like any things I’d seen before, but I figured they must have some fun use.
Did Lucien think of me as a child? I picked up rings with O and stacked them on my fingers and wrists. Were these my engagement rings? Then I took the leather necklace with O and wore it.
I took the pink bendy thing out and pressed a button. It started twisting and turning while vibrating. Squealing, at first, I threw it on the bed. But then slowly, I picked it up while it was still vibrating and brought it to my eye level. Was it some kind of a palate cleanser? I put it in my mouth. “Rrrrrrrrr….”
Just then the door opened with a bang. I turned sharply to see that Alpha Lucien had come in followed by Vivi and the warrior. “Rrrrrrrr…” I pulled the bendy silicone thing out from my mouth. "Thank you for the gift!" I said, standing to greet him.
He froze, his eyes widening as he took in the sight. His gaze traveled from the rings stacked on my wrists to the necklace around my neck, and finally to the whip I held like a fly swatter.
"What..." His voice came out strangled. "What are you doing?"
I lifted my fingers. “Thank you for the engagement rings. I—I don’t have one for you.” Then I put the bendy thing in my mouth. “Rrrrrrr…” I removed it. “Is this a palate cleanser?”
While Vivi’s and the warrior’s face turned beetroot red, Alpha Lucien had an unreadable expression on his face. “Out!” he growled. Vivi and the warrior fled from the room, closing the door behind them. Puzzled, I tilted my head to ask a question. He strode to me and plucked the cleanser from my hand. He started pulling out my rings one by one, carefully. “Take them off,” he growled.
“But why?” I whined.
He turned me around and unclasped the leather necklace. And something poked me sharply at my back. It was hot, and so long that I gasped. I pressed it back and Lucien groaned. “Stay still!” he commanded. He unclasped it and removed it from my neck. “Fuck!” he muttered, stepping away from me and taking the bendy thing from my hand. Once he had placed every object back in the box, he said, “I did not send these. Stay away from such objects, okay?” Why was he sweating?
I don’t know why but I got angry. “You ask me to stay away from everything I encounter!” I snapped.
With eyebrows raised, he stared at me but his gaze dropped to my lips. His lips parted and his breath hitched. Clenching his fists, he growled, “Stop pouting!” And stormed out of the room with the box in his hand, shouting, “Who delivered this gift to her?”