CHAPTER 29

JULIAN'S POV.
I stood at the entrance to my house and sighed. I was tired with everything fiber of my being and all I just wanted was to relax my body and my nerves in readiness for tomorrow's activities. As the Alpha of the Black Shadow pack, I couldn't afford to slack behind my pack members even for a single day.
Would I even have the time to slow down a little?
Every member of my pack, from the youngest to the oldest, all relied on me and my ability to lead the pack safely and wisely. After all, we were all the forsaken werewolves of another pack that had joined together to become one. The other members had trusted me enough to let me lead them after they had heard about what had happemed between my brother and I.
I haven't let them down even oncean and I wasnt about to begin now. No matter how tired and weary I was, I wouod always put the interest of my pack first before I even consider myself. Every decision I made in the past and the ones I wouod be making in the future would be based on what I think will be good for my people.
Now that I have a Luna too, I have to start thinking about her and her safety. I have to make her trust me enough to know that I am worthy of being called her mate. Which is why I have to take to her and make her inderstand the plight i was in and the directions things coukd be shaping into. She needed to know how ugly things could get.
And I know it would definitely get ugly if Leo accidentally found out that the woman he had been looking for all these while was under my care. Much as I hope that he would not come to that realization, I knew that I was an impossible wish. It woukdnt be long before my brother out two and two together. He would realize sooner or later that the woman had goes missing few hours before I left too.
The only reason he wasn't already at my door, knocking and seeking for a war was because I had left few hours after the abduction of Olivia. Instead of rushing back home and arousing my brother's suspicion, I had stayed behind for about theee more hours before I bid him my farewell. I had even made sure that Leo accompanied me to my car and Holden had opened the car door widely, enough to show that no one was been hidden in there.
Devilish, I know but a man has to do what he has to do and that was exactly the preventive measure I had taken to clear myself from the suspicion.
"Alpha."
I heard one of my pack members greeted me and I looked up to smile at him.
"Do you need me to open the door for you?" The man asked out of courtesy.
"No, I'm fine. Please, be your way," I said to him in reply.
"Alright, Alpha." He responded with a bow before he went in his way.
When he was gone, I stared at the door in furry like it was responsible for all the misery I felt in the world. During the meeting, my omega had asked me to return Leo's woman back to him but I knew that I could never bring myself to do such w thing. How would I give my mate away to someone I knew was not just a bad man but also someone who can kill a man without blinking his eyes?
I needed to see my mate. If all these were going to work out fine, we needed to talk about it and know all the dancers it entrails first, then I could find the possible solution to it. We would also find another counter measures just in the case the first plan failed. That way, she would be prepared for anything that happened.
But more than tackling my brother's impending trouble, I badly needed to know if she was ever going to give us a chance. It was true that she hadn't rejected me outrightly yet but neither had she given me positive hope about what would be between us. For all I know, she could be planning to elope behind me all these while and I want the one who didn't have even the slightest clue to that.
Moreover, she hadn't been straightforward with me the last time I had asked her about her pack and her family. That single conversation made me have my reservation about where her heart truly lied; which was with either my brother or mother male from her pack. If the man was from her pack, it would explain why she had withheld the name of her pack from me sknce she knew that would find out about it all on just a single day.
Then, thee was the case with my wolf. The animal was sriously getting out of control in my head. At every little chance it got, all he kept whispering into my head was to claim our mate. If I wasn't patient enough, I could mostly claim her if the urge came on even stronger. So, I needed to know what her stand was before I did something the both of us would regret for the rest of our lives.
"Julian?"
I heard a tiny voice call my name and I looked at the owner of the voice only to see Olivia staring at me like my thought had cajouoed her to life and brought her to where I was. Maybe it had but I would have preferred if it had waited until I had rested a little.
Ours. Claim her. My wolf screamed in my head.
Shut up! I cokmanded it and it kept shushed immediately.
"Julian, are you okay?" She asked me.
I smiled at her to cover up how tired I felt, "I'm fine, Olivia," I answered her with the smile still on my face.
"I want to see you, Julian. Do you mind if we talk now?" She asked in uncertainty.
I closed my eyes and opemed them again rapidly. Since she wanted to see me amd I needed to see her too, now would be the good time. So, no mattee how tired I was, I knew that the discussion couldn't wait amy longerm. I grabbed her hand and pulled her along with me, ignoring the spark of electricity that jostled through me the moment I held her. I took us to my room and closed the door begind us.
"Now, ma bella, I'm all ears," I told her and sat down on the bed.
When Olivia didn't say anything at first and she joined me on the bed, I was surprised. My wolf whispered to me to smell how delicious she wasn't how we could claim her now that she was within easy reach.
You've been patient all these years when we haven't found her yet. So, be patient some more. I implored my wolf.
His voice disappeared completely in my head after I uttered those words amd I was grsteful to hom forbhis consideration.
"Julian, I hope that youbdomt mind that I sought you out myself?" She asked me a few seconds later. It was as if she had sense the communication between my wolf amd I and she had just give time to finish the tug if wsr between us.
"Not at all," I assured her. "So, what do you want us to talk about?" I asked her,
"The thing is... I feel like we shouldtalk about about our relationship." She finally said.
I was astomished by what she had said. She wanted to talk about our relationship too?
"What do you mean?" I asked her solemnly. I was trying to see if the thought she had was similar to mine or she just wanted to say something else I sound feel sad over; something that could make regret having the discussion the moment.
"What I was trying to tell you was that I ak ready to fully take you as my mate." She said with a shaky voice that showed that she was nervous of the words she had just said.
"What?!" I screamed and got ip from the need.
Oh, she had the same thought as I did. I punched my fist into nothingness as my face came alive with an original smile. When I saw Olivia looking at me like I was a madman, I managed to tone my happiness down a little. I sat back on the bed with her and held her hand. When she didn't pull away, I knew that she meant every word that had come out of her mouth.
"Are you that happy because I said that I wanted to give us a chance?" She asked me.
I squeezed the hand I held in mine lightly in response. For more than two minutes, no one uttered a word to the other. When I saw her biting her lower lips, I couldn't resist the desire to steal a kiss. Without giving her a clue to what I wanted to do, I mean in closer and connected my lips to hers for only a few seconds before I pulled away.
"I am grateful for this awesome chance you are giving me. To be honest with you, I was beginning to have doubts if we would ever work. I even wanted to come to you concerning this matter too," I explained to her.
"I didn't mean to make you feel like I was rejecting you even before I had the chance to know you." Olivia said to me.
"It certainly felt like that," I teased her and I winked at her to let her know I didn't mean it.
"So, how do you think we should start our relationship?" She asked me.
I thought about the answer to that question very hard. It shouldn't be something one has to worry about. To begin a relationship, one just had to acknowledge the other person like we had done. But their case was a different matter. I knew that as much as Olivia had just acknowledged me and professed that she was giving me a chance, giving us a chance to work, I knew the task ahead was still a huge one.
I still needed to prove myself to her. I needed to let her know that no matter what the circumstances were, I would never forsake her. I knew that she was my mate and the mating bond would never let me leave her in danger even if I wished to but deep within me, I already care about her a whole awful lot. So, even if I wanted to let go of her, I would never be able to do that.
But in everything I do to win her over, whatever the steps I take to prove that I and my love would always remain sincere to her, I still need to tread carefully. The reason why was because I could see that she has a trust issue with everyone she came in contact with. Even though I can't tell why that was so, I knew that I still needed to be careful around my dealings with her to avoid waking up unpleasant memories that could end up making her crawl back into her shell again.
"How about we get vulnerable with each other?" I answered her question with a question.
"Vulnerable?" She asked, looking baffled.
"Yes. What it simply means was that we would always be truthful to each other no matter the circumstances," I explained to her.
"Oh."
"Do you agree?" I asked her.
"Yes."
"Good," I told her. "How about we start now itself?" I asked her with a mischievous grin on my face.
She looked at me suspiciously but I merely raised my brows at her. When she narrowed her eyes at me, I winked at her and she blushed. I raised her head up a little and made sure we were looking at each other eyeball to eyeball.
"Do you agree?" I asked her again. This time, in a somewhat gentle, somewhat desperate tone. As I waited for the answer she would give me, I prayed in my heart to the moon goddess that she would say yes.