Chapter 109: Chapter 109

“Should I ask why we’re here?”

~Okay~. So ~maybe~ leading him to the basement without any explanation was a bit suspicious. But honestly, what was she supposed to say? ~Fancy seeing some corpses with me~?

… She could have. He would have probably followed. Definitely while thinking she was a lunatic, but—he would have come. Who else did he have? What else did he have to do?

The only downside to this whole thing would be ~Alex~. Now that he had assigned her a chaperone, this would get back to him. ~Oh well~. She wasn’t endangering anyone or doing anything that might cause harm to either of them.

So what if she wanted to jog his memory a little? Nothing wrong with that.

“Consider it a small experiment,” she finally replied.

“In a damp, dark basement?” he suggested.

“Where else would we store the corpses?”

“The what?”

She popped her lips, stretching out her arms. "We—they were searching for clues. So they brought the um…”

“The dismembered body parts?”

"Right—those. They brought them here."

“And?”

“And I thought…it might…trigger some memories?”

"I didn't murder them."

“I get it. Maybe it’ll spark something. ~I’m not sure.~ I’m not the medical expert here, okay. I’m just trying something. You could say I’m desperate.”

“Desperate is the last word I’d use to describe you.”

“Can we stop the flirting and focus on these?”

“Examining decomposed bodies over a beautiful woman. Sounds like a plan,” he joked, striding past her towards the first covered… remains. ~If it was even intact~.

He gently lifted the black tarp, peeking underneath without exposing too much to her. She didn’t need to see it again. Besides, it wouldn’t tell her anything new, except remind her of her unfortunate luck of witnessing two mass murders.

~Lucky me~.

He examined, adjusting his viewpoint, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, then he replaced the cover. He didn’t utter a word. He moved to the next body, repeating his previous actions.

He did this with three bodies before returning to her.

“Sorry, nothing. It’s messed up. But, it’s not triggering any memories or anything.”

She shrugged. “Thought it was worth a try.”

They had found the bodies together, but they hadn’t really taken the time to examine them closely. There could have been a method of… dismembering them… or harming them that might have sparked something.

Perhaps she was being overly optimistic. Maybe she should just accept that his memories were lost forever and they would never fully solve the mystery. If only it didn’t involve a deranged killer still on the loose. It might bother her less.

“Back to square one then.”

But Julian wasn’t moving. He was staring at the heap of bodies nearby, his hands buried in his shorts pockets.

“Something wrong?” she asked, trying to see what had him so entranced.

He gave her a quick shrug. “It’s just—” He paused, shaking his head. “Have you seen something like this before?”

“Like this. No. I’ve seen things but. I guess I don’t know as much as I thought I did. I’m not that old, you know, I haven’t seen it all yet.”

“How old are you?”

~Right.~ At some point, it hadn’t seemed necessary to share personal details. Not when he couldn’t remember the first thing about himself. Plus, they never had a chance for a proper conversation.

Mainly because—sometimes she didn’t trust him. Sometimes she thought fate was cruel… and other times because if she was alone with him… she might not be able to resist him, and she wasn’t ready to go down that path yet.

What if he was different with his memory back? What if he didn’t like her? Sure, the whole ~mate~ thing helped, but as she had seen with Olivia and Alex—some people could resist it a bit.

“I just turned nineteen.”

“That’s young.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Compared to?”

“What do you mean?”

“You mean it’s young in general… or compared to… you?”

Maya watched as his expression fell, the implication of her words hitting him hard. It sounded like he was older and found her young compared to ~him~. It had slipped out without thinking, without consideration. Was it one of those things like the whole name signing?

“I—I guess? I think? I—I didn’t really think about how old I was.”

She approached him, running her fingers through his hair without a second thought. ~Soft~. “Not many gray hairs. With some luck, you’re not some creepy old man robbing the cradle.”

His hand came up, gripping her wrist and stopping her from pulling away. “Wouldn’t want that,” he murmured.

“No,” she replied, her heartbeat accelerating.

Julian’s eyes were fixed on her as he lowered her arm and she didn’t resist. He brought it down until her pulse point was near his lips. She watched, her lips parting as he pressed his mouth to it.

A rush of arousal hit her and she instinctively clenched. His eyes were mesmerizing as he traced his way down her arm, leaving a trail of warmth. ~There are other things he could do with that mouth~. The thought alone was enough to send a flush through her cheeks.

“You smell good.”

Desire.

She'd experienced this sensation before, during her heats. Or at least, she believed she had. Now, it felt like she'd been merely grazing the surface of an itch, unaware of the depth beneath. He was setting every nerve in her body ablaze.

He pulled her closer, and she didn't resist. His broad chest was the only thing preventing her from stumbling.

Just one inch.

One more inch and their lips would meet.

“Hey.”

Alex's voice hit her like a splash of icy water. She pulled away from Julian, despite his attempt to keep her close by wrapping an arm around her. ~Oh, great~. She placed her hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat under her palm.

“Alex.”

“Did the little show and tell help?”

He was addressing her, but his gaze was elsewhere.

“Um, no. Not really.”

The tension between them was palpable. The silent confrontation, the charged atmosphere... it confirmed her suspicion. Julian was an Alpha. And this... this face-off they were having? It was bound to end badly.

She patted his chest, trying to draw his attention back to her. “Actually, we were just leaving. Heading back upstairs.” ~Come on, Maya, think~. “I'm hungry. I... I need to eat.”

Providing.

That's what Alphas loved to do, right?

“Are you coming?” she asked, her eyes only on Julian.

She noticed his left eye twitch, his hand clench. But then, he turned to her. “Yeah. Let's go.”

As they walked past Alex, he remained rooted to his spot, the two ~Alphas~ locked in a silent standoff while she led the way. It wasn't until they reached the top of the stairs and Alex was out of sight that she had Julian's full attention again.

~Perfect~.

Maya, the babysitter of overgrown boys high on testosterone.

What else could possibly go wrong?