Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

#Chapter 157 - Cora Confides in Roger

3rd Person

As Sinclair and Ella raced away through the winding streets of the Vanaran capital, Roger found his gaze lingering on Cora. The human was staring after her sister in amazement, as if she couldn't believe her own eyes. The wind fluttered through her black hair, carrying her now-familiar scent to the rugged wolf.

Roger had been sticking close to Cora ever since they fled Moon Valley. When he first turned up on her doorstep telling her they had to flee the territory, she'd been too stunned to respond. He'd ended up packing a bag for her while she looked on in shocked silence, only speaking in response to direct questions. In the car he and Henry had explained the situation to her in as much depth as they could manage, but he could feel her fear as if it was his own. It called to his protective instincts, and he felt a strange affinity for this woman - like him, she was watching her younger sibling take the world by storm, and though she never expressed any dissatisfaction with her lot in life, Roger did wonder.

Moving beside her, Roger watched as the frolicking pair became no more than tiny dots in the distance, "Amazing, isn't it?" He remarked, startling the preoccupied woman. "A month ago we didn't even think she had a wolf - and now this."

Cora shook her head, "I can't even wrap my head around it. I've known Ella my whole life... and she's always been different, but I thought that was just... Ella being Ella."

"What do you mean?" Roger inquired curious now.

Her mouth stretches into a wry smile. "I don't need to tell you what it's like growing up in someone's shadow." She murmured after a thoughtful beat. "And don't get me wrong, Ella made incredible sacrifices for me, she cared for me through thick and thin. But I'd be lying if I said I never resented her for being so much better at everything, for being strong or brave enough to face the things I couldn't." Cora paused, clamping her eyes shut for a moment with obvious regret. "I'm not proud of it but sometimes I even blamed her for protecting me rather than letting me suffer - how’s that for ungrateful?"

Roger shrugged. "It's natural to want to fight your own battles." He empathized, catching her gaze, "and just because you aren't proud of a feeling doesn't make it invalid."

Cora's eyes widened slightly as Roger's eyes bored into her own, and she felt a slight flutter of excitement in her tummy. When had anyone ever watched her so intently? As if they were looking straight through her to the very core of her being? Roger's wolf perked up when he sensed a spark of interest in Cora's chocolate eyes, and he shifted closer as she forged on. "Well either way it makes sense now." She continued. "Why Ella always seemed to draw people to her like a magnet, why she was always the smartest, strongest and fastest even though she's the size of a doll."

turning away and encouraging Cora to do the same. "But making sense doesn't make seeing it any less

can say that again." Cora chuckled, wondering why she'd followed the man's movements so naturally. "And the funny thing is that the wolf isn't even

cream parlor with a firm hand on the small

smiled, though it didn't entirely reach her eyes. Roger didn't know Ella and Cora's full story, but he knew enough to realize there were some skeletons in their closets. He was sure he was seeing some now, some past darkness that hung over the sisters even in their happiest moments. "I always knew our lives... the way we grew up... took a toll on Ella, but she's always kept it bottled up. She's never trusted anyone enough to rely on them and she's never known how

her down... trapped her. The Ella I grew up with wasn't playful or free-spirited. She was brave, defiant and darkly funny at times, but this Ella? The one

in the doorway of the parlor, and Roger studied Cora closely, trying to read between the lines of her words. "Do you feel guilty? That

needed to find her mate

"What would

him in surprise. "What

taking notice when Cora blushed bright pink at the sound. "A lifetime of experience." He finally answered

Cora hedged. "I'm on the run in a country I didn’t

flashed his fangs, "So?

"Dreams she never even knew she had are coming true left

demeanor growing more and more predatory by the moment. He wasn't sure what it was about this human, but the more she spoke the more intriguing he found her. The more he wanted

The teenager behind the ice cream counter was smiling at them, completely oblivious that he was interrupting a conversation Roger was finding increasingly fascinating. Cora, on the other hand, was more than happy to jump at the distraction. They ordered, and Roger followed Cora to a table out front, keeping his father and Gabriel in his periphery. The old Alpha and the King were in deep conversation, and though Roger felt he might be slacking off his pack

Cora asked when he sat down, gesturing to