Chapter 20 Tense Brunch

**Valerie**

My heart flinched like being clenched by a strong force, a pain washing over my body making me trembled uncontrollably.

I had no idea where this feel came from but it overwhelmed me instantly when I saw Xavier Murphy took the princess in his arm.

A lump in my throat choked me and I couldn’t breathe smoothly.

I heaved in anger, depression, hatred and jealousy, neither of which emotions were supposed to be mine. A strong impulse to leap up and slit the girl’s throat formed in my chest, and I had to dig my nails deeply into flesh to control myself stay still.

Something was deeply wrong inside of me.

My heartbeats didn’t slow down until they finally disappeared into the lounge. It was fortunate that I don’t have to serve in the lounge, otherwise I was pretty sure of lose my mind there.

“Are you alright?” Benjamin came to me and asked in a concerned face when we were preparing the table for guests and masters to take a brunch.

“Yes, I suppose so.” I replied with a nod and explained, “You know, just lack of sleep.”

“Oh...” He said with a suspicious look, but sighed without questioning me further, “I thought you were going to dash out then. You should look at Mrs. Manson’s face. I bet she was scared out.” Then he chuckled amusedly.

I forced a smile on my face and quickly switched the topic. I asked, “Will it only be the North guests on celebration, except masters?”

“Hell no!” he yelped, “The upper-class families of the Red Moon will all come in the afternoon. And some of Mr. Lang’s relatives, you know, the royal vampires may join as well.”

“So you know Mr. Lang was a vampire.” I rolled my eyes, wasn’t very surprised. It’s very difficult not to be acknowledged with his identity by living under the same roof with a blood-sucker.

“I’m sorry Valerie, we were not allowed to discuss about master’s kinds. So that’s why I hadn’t told you it directly. But you got my indications, did you?” He blinked his eyes and said with a whispering voice, again he checked the surroundings alertly.

Indications?

Did he seriously mean the warning not to step out of our rooms after 9 PM? Who’d take it as an indication of a vampire instead of a ghost!?

“Anyway, now, just tell me what Mr. Drakos is. So I can forgive you about that.”

“Mr. Drakos? Oh god. I really don’t know, but” He gulped, before leaning closer and saying, “someone said he was a demon.”

“What?” I blurted out. That’s ridiculous!

“Shush!” Benjamin glared at me nervously.

“Seriously, you know demon exist only in myth, do you? It’s not a creature.” I nearly giggled.

“Believe it or not.” Benjamin rolled his eyes at me and questioned, “Tell me, who would think werewolves and vampires, or even humans were real back then?”

That’s true.

He made a comment that I couldn’t retort back.

If Mr. Drakos was indeed a demon, I was thinking, that did explain about his sudden presence at the terrace, because I was pretty sure I hadn’t heard a tiny sound of footsteps approaching that night.

But this assumption was way too absurd.

When we finished the preparation and got the food ready, Mr. Lang came into the dining room. He glanced at me without a word before seating himself at the table.

“Where’s the guests?” He asked. He wasn’t looking at me anymore so it’s another servant who answered his question.

“The guests are together with Mr. Murphy. But they will here very soon, Mr. Lang.”

Mr. Lang nodded slightly. Then he turned to look at me and ordered with an indifferent attitude, “Coffee please.”

“Yes, Mr. Lang.” I retreated to the kitchen for the coffee pot.

Though I understood it’s very normal for him to treat a slave with such demeanors, I was disappointed and baffled. It didn’t mean that I considered myself to be special for him or I wanted to be special. It’s just my faint anticipation that what he grieved yesterday might be real crashed completely with this cavalier face.

When I entered the dining room again, Xavier, the North Alpha and the North princess had been sitting there, chatting in a joyful atmosphere.

“Xavier was the best young man I’ve ever seen until now. You will be a Great Alpha.” The North Alpha said in a praise.

Xavier returned a smile and replied politely, “Thank you, Alpha Felix. It’s my honor to learn from your experiences in ruling over such a huge pack like The Eclipse.”

Hearing this, the alpha laughed so proudly that that his eyes narrowed into slits. But his laughter quickly put into a halt as Mr. Lang let out a snort clear enough to be heard by anyone in presence.

The Alpha frowned and glanced at Mr. Lang, who took a casual sip of his coffee and raised his sight to confront with the Alpha.

Xavier nearly rolled his eyes at Mr. Lang.

“Why don’t you give me an introduction of your guests, Alpha Xavier?” Mr. Lang said with in an amused tone.

“You’ve already met with Alpha Felix several times, Lucas. Mind your behavior.”

Alpha Felix was obviously annoyed by Mr. Lang, but he managed to keep the decency without losing his temper at the vampire’s impoliteness.

“Oh, I didn’t really mean Alpha Felix.” Mr. Lang paused deliberately before switching his sight to the Alpha’s daughter sitting next to her father, and said with a soft but quiet flirty tone, “I mean this beautiful lady.”

“It’s my daughter, Alyssa Woodland, Mr. Lang.” Alpha Felix replied with a sulky tone while glaring at Mr. Lang. The muscle on his forearms tightened as if he wanted to punch the vampire right into his handsome face.

“I’m sorry, Alpha Felix.” Xavier apologized to the Alpha before Mr. Lang could make another offensive utterance.

“That’s ok, Alpha Xavier. Just ignorant recklessness.” The Alpha said, with a deliberate intention trying to agitating Mr. Lang. Unfortunately, Mr. Lang didn’t retort back, instead, he raised his brows and curled his lips into a scornful smile, eyeing at the Alpha like beholding a fool.

The Alpha clenched his fist with his nostrils flaring and eyes burning in fiery rage. He took quite a few deep breaths and cleared his throat before turning to Xavier and saying, “Alpha Xavier, it may not be appropriate to discuss formal requests at such a point, but I suppose it’s also reasonable to bring this up since I had already reached the agreement with your father, and I believe you had been acknowledged of that as well.”

He paused and looked at Xavier’s deep countenance before carrying on, “We all know that the Red Moon and The Eclipse are the most powerful two packs on this continent. It will be a perfection if we can collaborate closely with each other. And the best way to bond us together is undeniably by marriage.”

Xavier didn’t seem surprised. As if what the Alpha said was utterly fall into his expectations, he replied in a placid tone, “Alpha Felix, yes, I understand but there’s—”

Before he could finish the sentence, the Alpha cut him off and put forward his requests hastily, “No, that’s not what I wanted to request, Alpha Xavier. I’m here to make a plea for advancing the whole thing.

“That is, we wish to skip over the engagement and bring the wedding forward. And if that’s possible, Alyssa will stay here until the ceremony.” He exclaimed.

My heart twitched suddenly with the Alpha’s utterance. As I instinctively shook my body and bent down to hold against my chest, the coffee pot in my hand abruptly dropped onto the floor.

Everyone’s stare instantly shot towards me.

Both Mr. Lang and Xavier frowned and raised from their seats, ready to rush towards me. But they were stopped by a suspicious voice.

“Who’s this girl?” The Alpha asked with a sharp voice and squinted at me with dubiety.