Chapter 7 Speechless

Caspian's POV

As I drove to the estate, I bent down to reset the connector under my chair with one of my hands. I know too well how I feel whenever I am given a scrutinizing look. I could feel her eyes burning right through me so desperately.

At that minute, I knew that if she had the opportunity to shred me to pieces so as to get the information she required, she would make no hesitations. Finally, the recorder whirred to life again.

My words took a kind of toll on her and I knew that she could break down in tears if I poked further. I watched how she became silent instantly from the rear view of the mirror. I was careful to not get caught.

I saw it in her lips just slightly parting, in the inward catch of her breath as if I had struck her. A pang of guilt stirred within me but I crushed it down before it could take root...there was no reason for me to feel bad, After all, I am the Alpha and could demand silence from anyone I wanted it from. Is that now an issue?

My mind drifted off how she felt and was settled on multiple thoughts about what had been gnawing at me since my run-in with the werebears. I asked myself a lot of questions as I tossed the thoughts around like an omelette in a heated frying pan.

I kept wondering why the werebears were attracted to her. It was a strange encounter to have experienced given the many uncomplimentary remarks that her pack members, especially Theodore, gave about her.

What was it they wanted from her? And why had they been so relentless? Normally werebears didn't waste time chasing after omega males...especially those who had already been expelled from their own pack.

I stole a look at her, tightening my grip on the wheel. She was not like what I had expected. Her scent was different. It was stronger and more pungent but there was something else about her, something I couldn't put my finger on. Each time I tried to clip a meaning to it, it usually escaped my hands like a vapour fizzling out of a heated pot that had just been uncovered

All at once, the story I had been told by her former pack began to seem less credible. Was it that I had been lied to or her pack members didn't know what they were talking about?

I was almost on the verge of discarding all that I had been told about her when a subtle reminder of my past echoed in my mind. I knew better than to trust women, especially ones who have already been branded as traitors by their own allies and pack members who should have the highest level of trust in them.

"Well, she was only there to satisfy the elders of the pack. Nothing more and nothing less than that," I thought to myself, slightly shrugging my shoulders unconsciously.

Between us, silence swelled thick and pressing. I turned the radio on and then off, but instead of filling the gap the sound of silence stayed put. I wasn't used to this kind of quiet. For some reason, I wanted to say something...whatever it was, just to ease off the tension...yet before I could, she spoke.

"You know what, you are a liar and you have no right to have said that to me," she said in one breath, more like those words had been bottled in for so long.

Her voice pierced through the silence, sharp and certain. I frowned, turning my head slightly toward her. "Excuse me? Were you talking to me? Should I be worried?"

She snorted, crossing her arms. "The Alpha must be some horrible old monster if he needs... breeders that badly," she cussed. I felt annoyance welling up inside me. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"What do you mean by that statement?" I asked casually.

"I mean exactly what I have said. Wait, you are quizzing me like one who has encountered this old monster of an Alpha," she paused and waited for an answer. "Oh oh, my bad, he is your boss. Now, I see"

She laughed without humour, shaking her head. "You know, the world is becoming wicked by the day," she paused like one picking up on the right words to use.

"You see, if an Alpha has to force women to bear his offspring, then he's either the ugliest thing on earth... or is completely unable to find himself a lover. That is a pathetic state to be in, don't you think so?" She continued

My teeth were clenched in fury. "Watch your language, woman!" I barked hysterically. "If you have nothing else to say about your supposed mate to be, then you had better keep your mouth shut before I..." My voice trailed off as I fought the urge to make a big reveal of my identity.

"...before you what? Are you threatening me now?" she asked carefully, her tone very subtle. There was no fear in her voice. Silence almost prevailed upon us again but I responded after some seconds to her probing questions.

"Does that look like a threat to you?"

She ignored me and turned a little in her seat to confront me fully. "Or maybe it's not the Alpha's problem at all. Maybe it's you." There was a trace of something teasing in her eyes now.

"Could that be it? You're the one who can't..."

"Shut up!" I thundered at her. It was simply shocking that I would one day bring myself so low as to take words with a woman after the death of my mate years ago.

"I would do so when you start taking a sip of your own medicine. If you are this annoying and troublesome, how then would your Alpha be?" she murmured and fell silent.

My eyes never left the rear mirror. I kept staring at the element of chaos I would have to endure for God-knows-how-long.