Chapter 134: Feedback

Michael’s POV

I watched him walk farther into the kitchen, his hands still casually buried in his trouser pockets.

There was something particularly irritating about the expression on his face. He looked like a man who had just discovered a secret he had been waiting years to use against me.

I took another sip of wine and leaned against the kitchen counter. "What exactly have you discovered?"

"That you can be really impatient."

I frowned. "With what?"

His smile widened. "With Miss Hugo."

I already knew I was not going to like where this was going. Regardless, I probed. "What are you talking about?"

Alaric studied my face for another second before answering. "I noticed her lips when she left earlier."

My fingers tightened slightly around the wineglass. "And what about them?"

"They looked slightly swollen."

I stared at him. His grin became almost unbearable. "You noticed that?" I asked.

"Of course I noticed it."

I raised an eyebrow. "And you decided that her lips were worth investigating?"

"I did not investigate anything. I simply observed what was in front of me."

I held back from rolling my eyes. "You have far too much free time."

"Perhaps, but that is not the point."

He finally pulled one hand from his pocket and gestured toward me.

"The point is that I have known you for a very long time, Lucien. I know what you look like when you are trying to hide something."

"There is nothing to hide."

"Really?"

"Yes."

He gave me an unconvinced look. "You expect me to believe that Miss Hugo’s lips became swollen by coincidence?"

I took another drink. "I have no idea what happened to her lips."

Alaric laughed. "You are a terrible liar, and you are avoiding the question."

"That is because the question is none of your business."

He shook his head, clearly amused by my answer. "I knew something had changed."

I kept mute, so he moved toward the other side of the kitchen island and rested his back against it.

"For months, you insisted that your relationship with her was nothing more than a professor and student arrangement. Then suddenly, I come to Boston and discover that the two of you are together, you bring her into your home, you spend an entire day with her, and now she walks out of here with lips that look like someone has been paying them considerable attention."

I gave him a flat look. "You make it sound worse than it is."

"Then tell me what it is."

I considered ignoring him, but I knew Alaric well enough to understand that refusing to answer would only encourage him. So, I gave him just a tip.

"She and I kissed."

His eyebrows rose. "That is all you are giving me?"

"That is all you need to know."

He stared at me for a few seconds before a slow smile spread across his face. "So you really did kiss her."

He waited for a reaction. When I gave him none, he laughed under his breath. "You are not even going to defend yourself?"

"There is nothing to defend."

"That is not what your face is saying."

"My face is saying that you should mind your own damn business."

He chuckled. "I have known you for too long for that to work."

I held his gaze calmly. "Then you should also know that I do not discuss my private affairs."

"That is true." He paused, then added with a grin, "It is just amusing to see the man who once insisted that Emerald was nothing more than his student suddenly become her boyfriend."

"You have made your point."

"Have I?" He cocked his head to the side.

"Yes."

He smiled but did not press the matter further. After a brief pause, his expression became more serious.

"Lucien, remember she is a Human. She knows nothing about our world, the Primogens, werewolves, or the matebond. Whatever you intend to do with her, you need to remember that."

"I know." My voice was firm enough that he did not need to elaborate. "I have no intention of rushing her. She deserves the opportunity to understand what she feels without being pushed into something she does not understand."

Alaric nodded. "That is probably for the best." Then he went quiet for a few seconds before asking, "Are you set on her?"

I knew exactly what he meant. "As my wife?"

"Yes."

I answered without hesitation. "That is my intention."

Alaric’s expression shifted. He seemed ready to make another teasing comment but paused. Instead, he looked at the kitchen counter and shifted the topic.

"Have you received anything from your men regarding the shapeshifter monitoring around Elias Roth?"

"Nothing yet." I shook my head. "But by tomorrow, there will definitely be news."

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The following afternoon, I was midway through a Zoom meeting with several senior members of my company when my phone vibrated beside my laptop.

I glanced at the screen. One of my men was calling.

I ignored it and returned my attention to the discussion. We were reviewing the progress of a major investment and the decisions requiring my approval before the end of the week.

I listened to the reports, asked a few questions, and gave the necessary approvals without letting the call distract me.

A few minutes later, the phone vibrated again. This was no routine call. My men knew better than to contact me repeatedly during a meeting unless something important had happened.

I wrapped up the meeting, closed the Zoom window, and returned the call. The man answered on the first ring.

"Alpha."

"Report."

"We followed the woman from the club, as you ordered."

I leaned back in my chair. "Go on."

"She remained with Elias Roth’s group for about twenty minutes after leaving the club. They stopped briefly at another location before separating. The shapeshifter left alone."

"Where did she go?"

"We followed her vehicle across the city. She eventually stopped at a private residence."

My expression tightened. "A private residence?"

"Yes, Alpha."

"Who owns it?" I asked.

"We are pulling the ownership records now. We didn’t approach the property; we maintained surveillance from a distance."

"Good. Send me everything you have."

"Yes, Alpha."

The call ended, and I stayed at my desk, considering the report. The woman’s behaviour at the club had already suggested that Elias was not necessarily her target.

She had stayed close to him, yet when he left, her attention shifted elsewhere. That was why I had ordered my men to follow her rather than interfere.

Now she had deliberately gone to a private residence.

My laptop chimed. The file had arrived.

I opened it. The first page contained the address, property records, vehicle information, photographs of the residence, and preliminary background details on its owner.

I scrolled down—and stopped. I read the name again. The information beneath it made my expression harden.

The residence belonged to a twenty-nine-year-old, unmarried political consultant whose father was a sitting United States senator.

I leaned back slowly. A senator’s son. That was not a connection I could afford to dismiss.

I reviewed the man’s background carefully. Nothing appeared immediately suspicious. His employment history was ordinary, his social activities suited someone of his upbringing, and there were no obvious gaps suggesting anything supernatural.

But appearances meant little where shapeshifters were concerned. The woman had gone to his private residence after leaving Elias’s group.

The question was no longer where she had gone, but why—and whether the man inside that house was still himself.

I called my men again.

"Alpha."

"I want a complete investigation of the man who owns that residence," I ordered.

"Yes, Alpha."

"Find out where he has been, whom he has met, where he has travelled recently, and whether his behaviour or routine has changed in any unusual way."

"Understood."

"And listen carefully: do not approach him or confront the woman. I want confirmation before anyone acts. If he is human, I don’t want him frightened or harmed because of an assumption. If he has been possessed, I want to know before the shapeshifter can move him elsewhere."

"Yes, Alpha."

"Maintain surveillance on the residence. Tell me when the woman returns and whether she meets anyone else there."

"Yes, Alpha."

I ended the call and looked again at the photograph on my laptop. The young man appeared completely ordinary.

That was the problem.

A shapeshifter could wear a human face perfectly. It could speak with a human voice, maintain friendships, attend family gatherings, conduct business, and move through influential circles without anyone realising that the person they trusted was no longer human. ℯℯ𝑙.

If one had already reached the family of a sitting senator, then the situation could be far more serious than we had anticipated.

I closed the laptop and rose to my feet. Alaric needed to know about this.

I walked toward the guest bedroom and opened the door without knocking. Alaric was lying across the bed with his phone in one hand.

He looked toward me immediately. "You look serious."

"I have something you need to hear."

He sat up immediately. "What happened?"