Number 28
“Lorelei! Lorelei!” Luna C called out to her repeatedly but of course, she didn’t stop. She dashed out the room following her behind to comfort her.
The victim of the day stood in the middle of the room, faced down with both hands placed in front of him as he contemplated on what to do. He knew he had to eavesdrop on their conversation but at the same time, he wanted to provide Lei a shoulder to lean on. The situation was quite a sticky one, panning out as an ultimate dilemma to poor Damien. He knew he could not just stand there like a complete weirdo, it wasn’t just a matter of making the right choice, turned out a bit of urgency was required on his part.
“Are you not…,” just before Damien could finish his statement, he raised his head, excused himself and ran off, so they thought.
They, beyond all reasonable doubt must have thought he ran after Lei to explain himself since that was the most logical thing to do, but that was far from being the case. Roman exited eyeshot but remained within earshot. Yes, he came to a conclusion to stay back and eavesdrop on whatever they were going to discuss. Ultimately, he prioritized his mission, placing it above ‘appeasing Lorelei ‘ on his scale of preference. He hid by the door outside, close enough to apprehend the two’s conversation. Not only were ware wolves skilled in picking up scents from ridiculous distances, they – especially those high statuses as the alpha and beta – also had the ability to conceal themselves, hiding their scent briefly, eliminating all possible barricades standing between Roman and achieving his goal.
“What did we last talk about before the rude intrusion?” Damien turned his attention back to Alpha C.
“You talked about us having a secret meeting at the ridged Valley before dawn tomorrow and I was of the opinion that it’s rather too sudden to carry out this grand mission,” he reminded.
“The earlier, the better, Alpha C. If we want to successfully pull this off, we have to be as swift and conscientious as possible.”
“I agree with the latter part of the statement but don’t you think we need a little more prep…,”
They kept conversing within themselves, completely ignorant of an extra ear – the very ear they wouldn’t want to get wind of their plots.
Well, turned out it was a wise conclusion Damien arrived in consideration of what he just found out. His actions still proved that his mission remained paramount to him despite the hurdles he’s had to cross and the burdensome weights he shouldered.
‘This is bad,’ his wolf said to him.
‘’You’re seeing this too, huh?’
‘’I am you, you are me, Roman. Whatever you see, I see too!,’ his wolf replied with every iota of sarcasm in his tone.
‘Right?’
‘That’s a given! So how do you intend to avert this?’
‘Shhh…let’s hear what they have to say first,’ he requested and felt his wolf roll back into its shell. They conversed in Roman’s head as he obviously couldn’t speak out, jeopardizing his hidden agenda.
Luna C dashed into Lei’s house and bumped into her with her packed bags in one hand and her child in the other. She first stared at the bags she held, her son, before finally turning to her.
“What’s going on here?” she finally shut the door behind her.
“What does it look like?” she responded wittily.
“It hasn’t gotten to this Lei,” she tried to take her bags from her but she stepped back, in order to prevent her from doing so.
“My mind is made up, Luna,” she faced the other direction.
“You can’t make such key decisions rashly. Think it through first.”
“I’ve thought things through, Luna,” she faced her again. “Anywhere Damien won’t find me is best for me to stay in right now.”
“And the child?” using her head, she gestured in Xander’s direction.
“Of course he’s coming with me,” she retrieved the hand she held her box with and supported the other wrapped around her baby boy.
The Luna heaved a sigh before speaking further. “Look, I understand how you feel…,” she beckoned to take Xander in her arms but Lei didn’t budge, so she somehow managed to fix her hands below is armpits – around his axilla – and took him from his mom, “but you still have to remain calm and deduce wisely, the way forward,” she completed, holding Xander in her arms this time. Lei fell to the floor, with both palms covering her face as the tears she had managed to cage back in, escaped trough her eyelids.
“Lei,” she called out gently as she stood the little boy by her and squatted to comfort her. “Let’s talk about this first, okay?” she held her by her shoulders and pulled her up from the ground. Helping her sit on the couch a few inches from where they stood, she sat beside her and laid Lorelei’s head on her shoulders. With the Luna’s right hand across her back, she held Lei her in place by her shoulder.
“I really am confused right now, Luna,” she sniveled continuously.
“It’s okay, Lorelei. Calm down first,” she urged, caressing her back warmly in a bid to make her regain composure.
“I don’t know what to do!!!” she accentuated the ‘do’, raising the tone of her wails gradually.
Luna C discerned it was best to let her cry to her heart’s content. She then placed her other hand around Lei and hugged her compassionately while rubbing her back gently, whispering into her ear, “it’s okay, everything will be fine.”
After much said and done, she managed to pull the deed off; Lei piped down and now was in a condition to utter comprehensible words.
“What do you suggest I do, Luna?” holding both her hands closely, staring deeply like a child whose mother’s just been found , she asked.
“You need to stay, Lei. You can’t take Damien’s word to heart and leave just like that,” she tucked her hair behind her ears and facepalmed her, using her thumb to wipe minute traces of tears that lingered.
“you still think I should stay?” she asked meekly.
“Yes,” she nodded. “Personally, I don’t think Roman is the type to commit such atrocities…,” she paused before continuing. “I didn’t say this before because I felt there was no need to…,” she breathed in.
“What?” eager to hear what she wanted to say, she asked.
“I sensed alpha blood from Roman the very first day I saw him,” she said, causing Lei’s brows to furrow painting a puzzled look.
“Alpha blood?” she voiced.
“Exactly! So It’s completely out of the question that someone who’s destined to be an alpha in the future would engage in such condescending acts,” she analyzed. “He’s a good guy, Lei. I’m sure beyond all reasonable doubt that there’s a mix-up somewhere. He even joined the ware wolf training, he’s definitely genuine,” with one palm on her cheek, she stated further, “do well to hear his side of the story, okay?” she urged. Lorelei nodded affirmatively.
“Thank you so much, Luna,” she expressed her gratitude heartily. Luna smiled and nodded still caressing her wobbly cheek.
‘Roman has alpha blood??!’ she thought. How many more secrets did he keep hidden from her? Luna C intended to make her see reasons with Roman and listen to his side of the story, but ended up adding more to the list of reasons Lei had to leave, and fast.
She promised Luna that she’d talk to Roman, little did she know her mind was long made up; she was going to get away from Roman as the danger that lurked around became very obvious, the impending doom looming, inevitable.
Luna, oblivious of what she had done left the house feeling satisfied and happy, swelling with the thought that she managed to drive home her point successfully.