Alpha Nocurne's Contracted Mate

Chapter 255 Similarities

As soon as Lexi reached her father’s quarters, she didn’t bother knocking. She flung the doors wide open as she called out for him.

“Papa? Are you here?” she called frantically as she tried her best to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

Lord Brarthoroz’s head appeared around the edge of the doorframe and his frown deepened as soon as he realized the state that Lexi was in.

“My daughter,” He greeted her with a soft smile as he threw the book he had been reading onto the bed and made his way over to her, “Tell me what troubles you.”

The combination of his soft, coaxing voice and the way he looked at her with such concern, seemed to open the floodgates as her grief poured forth with tears streaming from her eyes as she choked back a sob.

“Papa it’s Aoife! She… she’s dead. She was in the room right next door and I didn’t hear a thing…I should have stopped it, I should have…”

“Hush child, that’s enough,” Lord Brarthoroz soothed her as he wrapped his arms around her, cradling her head to his chest as he had done when she was a child, letting her sob noisily for as long as she needed, “I am sure that had there been anything that you could do, then you would have acted immediately.”

Lexi sniffled miserably as she pushed back from him and looked up at him with the eyes of a daughter that was desperately seeking reassurance from her father.

“Papa, her room, it looked… well, it’s so similar to Mama’s disappearance…” she whispered hesitantly

“What?” her father snapped a little harsher than he had meant to, making her flinch slightly.

He sighed lightly at Lexi’s reaction. He hadn’t meant to make her jump, but the memory of losing his beloved was still so fresh and raw in his mind, that he wasn’t sure he would ever get over it.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you…”

as she smiled up at him weakly. “But, you said there were

Lexi nodded slowly.

me.” Her father said seriously as he gestured for her to sit down and offered her a drink, which she declined with a shake of her

He was distraught enough and covered in enough blood for that to be true.” Lexi explained

no body… just the horrific aftermath of a clearly violent crime

as he swirled another double shot of whisky around in the

and, I know it’s not a weapon, but there was the pungent odor of sulfur tainting everything when we arrived. The damn shifters are so lucky not to be able to smell that,” she

grunted again before downing the contents of his glass in one gulp, and placing

moment’s pause, he nodded,

me,” he said simply gesturing towards

once they were out of his room, she began to lead the way to the infirmary. She could feel the tension rolling off him in waves and understood completely how difficult this would be for him to face. Yet he was still willing to come to their aid and

father’s as they entered

colossal size in comparison to him. Shifters weren’t small by any means, on average, they were frequently taller than 6ft and built like they spent their lives in the gym, but Lord

a smile

pushing through the door of the innocuous-looking room, and her father

the air around them, and walked straight past Felix to the corner of the room without so much as a

a grimace, “That’s my Papa, Lord Brarthoroz,

he stared at

smaller does he…” Felix breathed almost

much larger in his own realm. Reducing his height to this is just a courtesy. Wouldn’t want you shifters getting all shifty

played on Felix’s lips but he was too preoccupied with his wife’s fate to see any humor in the situation without feeling too guilty. He watched Lord Brarthoroz like

certainty as Lexi and Felix rushed to his side,