GIVEN TO THE TWIN ALPHA KINGS - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Delaney
I couldn't go back to the room or stay alone, so I decided to accompany Elias to the kitchen for breakfast. His words still revolved in my mind, bringing up questions that I didn't know where to get their answers from. I was still shaken; Lucy's image as she convulsed, bones sticking out and blood sputtering, burned in my memory.
"There's only one person in the mansion; her name is Maribel. She no longer goes for the run, so she stays back to prepare breakfast," Elias explained as we walked into the quiet mansion.
"Am I an animal? The last time I checked, I am also in the mansion," a middle-aged man dressed in all black, bald and tall, almost tall like the alpha kings, spoke as we rounded the corner that led to the kitchen.
"You are a guard at the gate, not inside the mansion, and you're technically a werewolf, Rick; what does that make you?" Elias snickered.
"Part animal, part human." Rick shrugged, his eyes snapping to mine.
"You must be Delaney," he said, his voice taking a softer tone.
"I am. It's nice to meet you, Rick." I attempted to smile, but my jaw felt like it was locked in place.
"The pleasure is all mine, princess," Rick answered back, his eyes roaming over my body. Not like Kai's searing stares or Ronan's possessive ones. There was a hunger in his eyes that made me want to put a distance between us.
"You can go ahead, Del; Maribel will be glad to meet you." Elias nudged me, his gaze on Rick hardening.
As I disappeared into the large kitchen, I caught Elias's words clear, spoken in a low threatening hiss at Rick. "Stay clear of Delaney if you don't want to lose your dick at my hands." He paused. "Or the alpha kings," he concluded in a low voice.
A smile tugged at my lips, a warmth filling my cold chest. Elias had just stood up for me, and he didn't need any credit for it. Maybe my stay at the capital wouldn't be so bad with a man that was genuinely good. Or maybe he was just keeping me safe like Kai had ordered him to.
In the kitchen, the smell of pancakes and sausages wafted into my nose. Right in front of the cooking stove was an old woman, flipping the pancakes, humming to a tune that was unfamiliar. She was short, shorter than me, and that was something given that I was only 5 feet 2 inches. I stood at the door, just staring.
"Are you going to come in, or are you going to stand there and stare at my back?" she asked in a warm voice.
"Sorry." I walked in. "I didn't mean to stare."
"With old age as a werewolf comes more heightened senses, they compensate for the frail bones," she chuckled. Werewolves weren't immortal, but we aged quite gracefully. I, however, didn't know what being wolfless meant for me.
"I thought Delaney and I could join you here for breakfast." Elias walked in at that moment, heading straight to the woman, and planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Looks like we are just in time," he added, rubbing his hands together.
"You're back early; what happened?" she asked, turning off the stove.
"Uum, Lucy died mid-shift, but I'll tell you more about it later," he replied quickly, glancing at me. "Have you even looked at Delaney since she came in?" There was something about the way Elias changed the topic that quick. It felt like he wanted to tell Maribel something about Lucy, something that I wasn't supposed to hear.
She wiped her hands with a towel, then turned, a warm smile coating her beautiful face. The moment her bright blue eyes landed on me, however, the smile vanished almost instantly.
"What the hell..." she trailed off in a soft murmur, walking closer to me, scanning my face.
"Huh?" I shifted uncomfortably, looking at Elias, who was looking at Maribel with his brows raised.
She stood in front of me, then opened her mouth, but no word came out of it. She slowly stretched out her hand and cupped my cheek gently. I should have told her to stop touching me, but her touch felt so comforting.
"You look exactly like her," she whispered, stepping back from me.
"Like, who, Maribel? You're scaring Delaney." Elias tilted his head, observing as Maribel turned around and walked back to the stove.
"Don't mind me. Old age has kicked in," she answered. I was the only child, so whoever she thought looked like me couldn't have been my sibling. Was it possible that she knew my mom?
"Did you know my mom? I look exactly as she did," I forced the words out, walking to her side.
"Her name was Seraphina," I added, lowering my eyes to the floor. The possibility of someone outside my pack knowing my mother lifted my spirits. She kept quiet, dishing out pancakes for us. The insides of my stomach felt like someone was stirring them the longer she let the silence stretch.
"Will you please fetch syrup from the pantry, Elias?" Maribel asked. Elias hesitated, looking at her, but eventually nodded and stepped out. As he was walking out, I noticed a bottle of syrup on one of the shelves. Maribel didn't look like the person who threw away things before they had depleted, so she really hadn't needed him to go.
"Listen," she suddenly said, turning to face me. She held me by the sides of my upper arms, her blue eyes looking directly into mine.
"You need to tell the alpha kings the truth." Her whisper was barely audible. So she wanted Elias to step out so she could talk to me.
"The truth?" I echoed, my heart beating faster.
"Your scent masks what you really are; you smell like a normal werewolf, and that is why they haven't been able to tell. But I have lived long to tell what others can't." My eyes widened as her words sank in. Did she know?
"Don't worry, child. I won't tell anyone, but for the prophecy to unfold as foretold, you have to tell them." She paused, looked at the door, then back at me.
"Tell them what?" I swallowed, my palms sweating.
"That you have no wolf, tell them before it's too late." I took a step back, shaking my head.
"You need them for the journey ahead, and they can't help you if they don't know what you are."