The Alpha’s Fated Choice (Alpha's Fated Encounter Trilogy #1)

I’m sorry about everything. I know you trusted me, and I betrayed that trust in a horrible way. Consider this letter and my actions a last attempt to fix my wrongs toward you, my sweet girl. I was sent here to keep an eye on you. And my other purpose was to feed you a specific potion. It was supposed to make you amenable to the person I work for. It was in the coffee I gave you. I wish I could apologize to you in person, but it’s too late. By mistake, I told Noah about your night with your fated mate. It was a slip of the tongue. Please forgive me. I never told him who it was. I knew, but I didn’t tell him.

I thought he would leave you alone after hearing that, but he has other plans for you. I was not the one who gave you the aphrodisiac. It was Noah. He didn’t have to put it in the drink himself; he has other people to do his dirty work. He’s the one who sent me here, and he’s been holding a secret from my past over my head. I was selfish. I’m sorry.

But you are very dear to me. Know that, please.

I’ll be dead when you read this letter, but there are things you need to know. Nothing is as it seems. The people around you are not who you believe them to be. You cannot let Noah give you his mating mark. You cannot trust him, Sophia.

The Silver Wolf is closer to you than you know. She is…

The ink tapers off there, as if the writer was interrupted. Rita must have crumpled up and thrown away the paper at that point.

Noah.

My heart is pounding in sick fear as my eyes swivel to the man sitting on my couch. It was him!

But it makes sense. When I think about it, the pumpkin latte was overly sweet, probably to cover up the taste of the aphrodisiac. And when he brought me to his apartment, the men in the hall weren’t there until after I’d entered. Their purpose must have been to stop me from leaving.

Plus, the pack security team does what Noah tells them to do. He had people watching my apartment building. He sent Wyatt and George to my door the night Rita was murdered.

He killed Rita. He killed her, and he wanted to frame me for it.

Noah was asking her about the identity of my fated mate. Rita died to protect me.

Terror fills every inch of me. What could I possibly have that Noah wants so badly?

Suddenly, I find myself analyzing every interaction with him, every word he ever spoke to me. Why did I believe so easily that he had changed? I haven’t forgotten the fear I felt when I was a child. Yet I still began to trust him so quickly. One apology: that’s all it took.

Elsa warned me. So many people warned me.

Why didn’t I listen?

“My other purpose was to feed you a specific potion. It was supposed to make you amenable to the person I work for.”

That’s why!

I have never failed to heed Elsa’s warning about somebody. But I became aggressive and argumentative when she tried to persuade me to stay away from Noah. My behavior was oddly out of character for me. Now that I think about it, it was never love but rather a sense of compliancy when I was around him. Despite the repeated doses of the potion in Rita’s coffee, though, there were never any romantic feelings within me for Noah. Was that because I’d already met my fated mate?

Would I have developed feelings for Noah had Alex and I not crossed paths first?

The mere thought of it makes me shudder.

Hearing footsteps, I quickly stuff the letter into the vase on the table before picking up my phone. My heart is thundering. I can’t let him figure out that I know. I have to get Noah out of here. I have to run.

Elsa was right all along.

“Everything okay?” Noah asks as he enters the kitchen. “I didn’t hear any talking.”

“Yeah, my phone died.” I try to smile, but it’s really hard to express any positive emotion when faced with him. “I was trying to plug the charger into the outlet and got a shock. These old buildings don’t have the best electrical systems.”

He studies me for a moment before waving his hand around. “Surely you can find a better apartment than this.”

“This one’s cheap.” I try to keep the conversation flowing steadily. “But I should probably look into getting a new place.”

“You could always move in with me,” Noah says.

My blood runs cold as I realize this is not a suggestion, but an order. And now that I know what I know, I’m afraid of what will happen if I don’t comply.

I suddenly recall the last time Noah came to my apartment, right after he killed Wyatt. He made me tea. I’ve not forgotten his reaction when I broke the mug and the tea spilled. He was desperate to remove all traces of the tea, but he left the mug in pieces on the floor.