Alpha's Private Plaything (Elsa and Drake Stone) novel Chapter 243

Chapter 243

Drake

The high–rise apartment felt empty as I walked through the door. No soft humming from the kitchen, no faint scent of lavender and citrus lingering in the

air. Just… emptiness. The kind that feels like a physical weight pressing against your chest.

I tossed my keys onto the marble counter, the sound echoing through the vacant space like a gunshot. Since Elsa left, I’d been staying here instead of my

family estate. The silence was both a relief and a fucking torment.

“Goddamn it, I muttered, walking to the refrigerator and yanking it open to find the neatly labeled containers Taylor had stocked. Everything organized exactly how I’d instructed, yet nothing felt right. The milk brand was wrong. The water wasn’t the sparkling mineral brand 1 preferred. Even the damn protein shakes were vanilla instead of chocolate.

“Can’t even get a simple fucking shopping list right,” I growled, slamming the door shut hard enough to rattle the bottles inside. My wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin, agitated by the wrongness of our territory.

I stalked to the living room and stretched out on the leather sofa, my jaw clenching as I stared at the ceiling. Soon Elsa would be back, and things would return to normal. My wolf stirred at the thought, pleased by the knowledge that our territory would once again include our mate. The smell of her would fill these rooms again, chase away this emptiness that followed me like a shadow.

I frowned, reaching for the throw pillow Elsa always clutched when watching those ridiculous baking shows she loved–the one she’d unconsciously pull to her chest whenever the competition got intense. It wasn’t there. The realization that she’d taken it–something so insignificant yet distinctly hers–irritated me more than it should have. My fingers dug into the leather of the sofa instead.

“Fuck, I breathed, feeling irrationally betrayed by the missing pillow.

My phone rang, displaying my father’s name. 1 contemplated ignoring it but answered on the fourth

ring, my voice deliberately cold.

‘What do you want?”

Is that how you greet your Alpha?” My father’s voice was cold and measured.

“Former Alpha, I corrected, my lips curling. “What do you want, Marcus?”

“An explanation. You took Vera Horton to the Black Obsidian business meeting. What the hell were you thinking?”

1 stretched my legs out on the sofa, deliberately keeping my voice bored while my free hand clenched into a fist. “What does it matter to you?‘

‘Don’t take that tone with me, boy. You’re representing our family, our pack. Parading around with that girl while everyone knows you’re keeping Elsa Hale

as your-”

“As my what?” I challenged, sitting up straight, my wolf bristling beneath my skin, teeth bared. “My assistant? Because that’s what she is, officially. Say what you really mean, Father.”

I heard my father’s frustrated exhale, practically felt his anger radiating through the phone.

“If you want Vera, marry her,” he continued, his voice strained with forced control. “Don’t tarnish our reputation by keeping her around.”

“Our reputation?” I laughed bitterly, the sound harsh even to my own ears. “You mean the reputation for almost killing your ex–wife?”

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10:52 Fri, Apr 24

Chapter 243

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“You insolent The roar that came through the phone would have made any lesser wolf cower. I merely pulled the device away from my rat, my lip curling

in disdain.

I heard Miranda’s voice in the background, attempting to calm my father with soft words I couldn’t quite make out.

“The pack would accept Vera,” he continued, his voice tightly controlled. “I could arrange for her to spend time in Europe, cultural exchange. She’d return polished, perfect for an Alpha mate.”

“Goodbye, Father.” I ended the call, tossing my phone onto the coffee table with enough force that it skidded across the surface.

‘Fucking hypocrite,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. The apartment felt even emptier now, the silence punctuated only by my heartbeat and the distant sounds of the city below, I closed my eyes, trying to push away the image of Elsa’s face when I’d last seen her–the mixture of determination and resignation that had twisted something inside my chest.

Elsa

I woke with a jolt, disoriented by the unfamiliar sound of a nurse’s voice outside the waiting room. Sunlight streamed through the window blinds, casting striped shadows across the vinyl floor. I blinked, surprised I’d actually slept.

“Six already?” I mumbled, checking my phone. I’d slept deeply for the first time in weeks, my body finally surrendering to exhaustion despite the uncomfortable hospital bench that had left my back aching and my neck stiff.

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