Chapter 14
I bared my teeth at him, letting my wolf s eyes and fangs shone that even the people sitting nearby flinched.
“Vesta.”
“Shut up and leave.”
He heaved a deep sigh. “We‘ re thirty thousand feet in the air.”
“So what? You‘ re an Alpha–don‘ t you have powers to fly or control the air or something?” I asked with a mocking incline of my head, the grin on my lips.
Surprisingly, he’s not like a ghost this time compared to when we were in Moonstone Grove. There’s an unspeakable calm in his eyes, a lulling serenity in his voice.
It looks like he has now moved on but is still willing to chase after me.
“You‘ re still craving for me, aren’t you?”
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I teased, poking his shoulder.
Though his smile didn’t reach his ears, his eyes glimmered with the light of the moon. “Don’t be afraid. I’m just escorting you.”
I snorted. “I don‘ t need a bodyguard.”
He shrugged a shoulder, an air of playfulness and arroganee swirling around. him. “You probably don’t need one. But you want one.” He glanced at me before jerking his chin forward, “It’s your first time outside the Brightheart Pack. You need someone who knows the Foghounds Pack with all his heart.”
“And I suppose it’s you?” I flashed my teeth at him.
“My mother is from there. She’s the daughter of the Alpha there so he’s my grandfather.”
I blinked. He never told me about his parents nor his lineage.
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I teased, poking his shoulder.
Though his smile didn’t reach his ears, his eyes glimmered with the light of the moon. “Don‘ t be afraid. I’m just escorting you.
I snorted. “I don‘ t need a bodyguard.”
He shrugged a shoulder, an air of playfulness and arroganee swirling around. him. “You probably don’t need one. But. you want one.” He glanced at me before. jerking his chin forward, “It’s your first time outside the Brightheart Pack. You need someone who knows the Foghounds. Pack with all his heart.”
“And I suppose it’s you?” I flashed my
teeth at him.
“My mother is from there. She’s the daughter of the Alpha there so he’s my grandfather.”
I blinked. He never told me about his parents nor his lineage.
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His sharp scent of cedar and the cool earthiness of pine made me wrinkled my nose. It wrapped me like some cool hug from the first day of snow. I found myself not flinching at his uninvited presence. I found myself relaxing, the tension slowly melting away like how the first day of spring thaws all those ice and snow.
My mind drifted back to what happened in those two weeks. The food he constantly instructed to be delivered were always the ones I love. Since there are times I cannot turn them away, because he made sure of that, I gave them to my colleagues who were gawking at every delivery that came to my office.
They didn’t think twice to accept the meals themselves and ate them with all their gossiping mouths. At least in that way, I’ve shown my kindness and extended the generosity of our beloved Alpha to those in need.
I chuckled at my own thoughts that made
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my seatmate bunched his brows. “What are you laughing about, Vesta?”
“You.” I laughed again when he frowns. Lucien was completely oblivious to what I’m even referring or thinking.
Alpha Lucien’s stubbornness and persistence worsened for the past weeks. He managed to insert himself in unexpected ways. Even in this new life I was about to start, he still inserted himself -beside my airplane seat.
Maybe there’s a reason why Fate never wants us separated from each other.
“Why are you really here, Lucien?”
He just shrugged, his demeanor earlier misting away. And in his silence, I comprehend the thousand of unspoken
truths that stretched far and wide.
His answer was the same as when I asked him if he really loves me.
Perhaps his silence…his silence was an
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answer enough. Silence means yes, as they say. Or perhaps it should have meant yes.
I looked away, turning my attention to the window as the silence went on and on. It was thick and heavy, like how his scent is.
Just when I was about to sleep for the duration of the flight, he broke the silence with a soft, “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I blinked in surprise.
He turned to face me, the motion so casual and swift. “Since I was a child, my father always told me to take care of Charmaine,” he started, placing his hands. atop his lap. “Decades ago, my father held a Ball attended by several Alphas and their respective Lunas for a social gathering.”
I straightened. I had never heard of that story before. Lucien continued, “Drinks were served, of course. And the richest Alpha was the Alpha of the Mistborn Pack. He’s so drunk that he collided with my father and thought he was being attacked
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by my father.”
Lucien sighed. “Charmaine‘ s father, Beta Vincent, the always persuasive and intoxicating one, was there. The entire Brightheart Pack and Mistborn Pack were gathered in that hallway when
Charmaine’s father declared that my father was only helping the Alpha of the Mistborn Pack to not trip and fell off the stairs because of his drunkenness.”
I gasped, but my hand shot right to my mouth. Alpha Lucien toyed with the keychain of my handbag. “As there were no other witnesses, my father pointed at the security cameras and indeed, my father just seemed to help him even when it was truly an accident that they bumped into each other. A war was prevented that night. In their way of gratitude, the Mistborn. Pack invested in the Brightheart Pack and our economy is as booming as theirs now thanks to them.”
“Wow,” I managed to say just above a
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whisper.
“As I grew up, I was constantly reminded of this. My father would say, ‘We owe them our lives and our pack, and he made it clear that I should always be there for Charmaine and Charmaine‘ s father to support them in any way I could.”
you were pressured…to impress Charm s father by constantly being around her?”
He gave me a tight nod. “His father is a savior to the pack. The Brightheart Pack would’ve been dissolved by now had it not been for him.”
“But you never answered my question though.”
He smiled as if he knew which question I was referring to. “The video I sent you personally is my answer. I might not be brave enough to voice it out during our time in the Moonstone Grove. But now…it’s my only answer.”
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Lucien’s eyes locked onto mine, his expression more serious than ever. “I handed my Alpha title to Charmaine‘ s father temporarily. He deserved it.”
“You did–why?”
“Because I want to heal–to repair what was once between us first. How can I be an effective Alpha when I can’t even mend a relationship to one of the subjects I love?”
He didn’t really…he gave up his Alpha title just so he can be with me?!
Even if it’s temporary, it’s still-
“So he’s the acting Alpha as of the moment,” he added as if to answer my question. “That’s why, Vesta. Believe me, Charmaine was never my first choice- not then, not now, and not in the future. You are my priority. I was just inserting Charm between our schedules.”
I shook my head. “We can’t fix what‘ st broken already, Lucien.”
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As I have said before, our bond is like a glass. Once broken, there’s no mending it back even with the shards scattered all over the floor.
“I know and understand that, Vesta,” his eyes smiled at me. He placed his hand atop mine. “I’m just here for you, not as Alpha Lucien, but as Lucien–your friend.”
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