CHAPTER 30

JULIAN'S POV.
"Yes." She finally answered me.
I bent my lips to her mouth and stole another kiss from her before I let go of her from my hold completely. I stood up from my sitting position and went over to where my drawers were. I sat down on one of the ones in the middle and rested my hands on either of the drawers by the side. By the time I would look back at Olivia, she had one of her fingers on her lips.
"Did you enjoy the kiss that much?" I asked her.
She looked at me with a surprised look and she blushed.
"Why do you like blushing around me so much? Do I make you uncomfortable?" I asked her.
When she blushed again, I nearly cursed out loud.
"Do I?" I asked with uncertainty this time.
When she shook her head on the negative, I relaxed my tense posture. When she looked at me and our eyes locked, she blushed again and she looked down. I shook my head and wondered why she always acted shy around me. Or perhaps she wasn't shy, she was merely afraid of showing her true emotions.
This could only mean one thing; she had been abused before. I don't know why it kept occurring to me that she had been a victim of unjust treatments before but the thought wouldn't stop coming on. Maybe it was because she had exhibited the traits of an abused personality before me repeatedly.
"Do you want to play a game with me?" I asked her when I saw that even the silence was beginning to make her uncomfortable even more than the speech did.
"Game?"
"Yes. It's a game called twenty questions. Out of the twenty questions, we each get to ask ten questions. The peck of the game is the fact that we can't lie about the answers we give. Is that okay with you?" I told her everything about the game.
She tsked at me and I looked at her in shock, only to see that her eyes were laughing at me.
"Isn't that some kind of children's game?" She asked me only a few seconds later, a smile curving her mouth upward.
I decided to flow with her joke, "yeah, it's for children but don't you want to get to know me? I asked with a pretend anger.
"I do." She told me.
"So?" I asked, not willing to give her an easy way out.
"Let's play the game." She answered.
"Okay. Here goes nothing,'' I told her with a smile.
I left where I was and returned to the bed, by her side.
"First question. What's your favorite food?" I asked her.
"I love meat. As long as it is meat, I won't get tired of eating it."
"Who is your best friend? If you have any?" I asked the next question.
"Clara."
I was surprised to have heard that answer. I guessed that when I asked her, I had expected to say that she didn't have anyone.
"Where is she now? Your friend I meant?" I asked her and waited for the answer. All I know is that wherever she said that her friend was, I would look for her and bring her over to my pack so that she would always have company when she needed one.
"She's back in my pack." She told me with a nonchalant voice.
I knew that she had answered that way so that I would think that she was unaffected by the distance between her and her friend but I could see in her posture that she misses her friend. I shrugged and let it go for now.
"Are you a good cook?" I asked her instead.
She looked at me with doubt and I smiled. I love food, hence the question.
"I'm a very good cook, dear Alpha. So, rest assured that you wouldn't starve to death under my car." She finally answered, teasing me.
"You can't blame a man who loves food for asking that kind of question," I said in my defense.
"Aye, aye, aye, captain," Olivia said with a laugh.
Time for the serious questions. I told myself.
"What kind of guys do you like?" I asked her.
She seemed lost in thought a little before she answered me.
"As long as the guy does not mistreat me and he truly cares about me, I'm good." She finally said.
As long as the man does not mistreat her? Does she care about treatment more than the man's looks? I asked myself. That had to mean something and I was afraid that the something it meant was what I had been thinking about.
Somebody, somewhere, and at some point in her life, had treated her rudely.
If I ever get my hands on the man, I would murder him. When I saw her shift away from me a little, I took a deep breath to calm my anger down. I smiled at her to make her feel relaxed with me again.
"Do you have feelings for Leo?" I asked next.
"No!" She screamed the answer out. When I looked at her questioningly, she smiled and shrugged at me. "Next question?" She asked me.
"Olivia, why do you want to give me a chance?" I asked her.
I had been thinking about that singular question and I realized how much I wanted to hear the answer to that question. I knew the mating bond didn't give us much of an option but it could still be possible that she was beginning to care about me the way I do about her also.
"Because you've done nothing but treat me right." She told me and clicked her tongue.
"Fair enough," I told her. Even though I was a little disappointed by the answer, I didn't let it show in my facial expression.
"What pack are you from?" I asked her and I saw how uncomfortable she was immediately I asked the question.
"I don't remember." She answered, her eyes twitching.
I was tempted to shake her until she answered me honestly since I knew that she had just lied. What was it about her pack that she was trying to hide from me? What exactly didn't she want me to find out about her?
"Olivia," I called her in a warning tone.
"I'm not lying. I have a memory problem that makes me forget some things involuntary." She answered a little bit forcefully.
While I wanted to drag the topic with her and let her know that I knew that she was lying, I decided to let it go. What she didn't realize was the fact that the more she lies about her origin, the more curious I am to find out where she was from. Besides, lying to me wouldn't do anything since we were mates. If I truly wanted to find out where she came from, all I needed to do was to ask her wolf. Because of the mating bonds, her wolf would never be able to lie to my wolf nor would mine be able to lie to hers either.
Hey, big wolfie. Are you there? I contacted my wolf.
Is it finally time to claim our mate? He asked me immediately.
No. I need you to contact her wolf and find out what pack she was from. I told him.
On it! My wolf replied excitedly.
For a minute, my wolf didn't give me any feedback. I got tired of waiting and called out to him.
Wolf?
I can't communicate with her wolf. No matter how loud I call, I can't connect with her. The only thing I have been able to do is to feel her. He informed me.
Wow! I thought to myself and looked at her.
"Why can't I communicate with your wolf?" I asked her.
"Did you try to?" She asked me back.
I nodded in response, "I tried to but the only thing I could do was feel her presence. I couldn't connect with her though. Why was that?" I asked her.
OLIVIA'S POV.
The moment my mate asked me why he couldn't communicate with my wolf, my heart had already flown away from its rightful position. I deliberated in my heart if I should tell him the truth or not. A mind kept reminding me that he could reject me as his mate now if I was honest with him.
Who would want a mate that couldn't contact her wolf as his Luna?
It was not just as a mate but I was also going to be a Luna which meant that half of the fate of the pack would be resting on my two tiny shoulders and I needed my wolf to achieve that purpose. But I remembered that we had promised to be honest with each other. Besides, it was something he needed to know about and then he could decide if he wanted the relationship to continue. But if I lied to him now and he found out later by himself, he might not take it in good stride with me.
"I don't know." I finally answered with a shrug. "It has always been like that ever since I grew up for the age when I should be able to communicate with my wolf. Everyone who had tried to, including me, had failed." I explained to him.
He held my hands in silent support and I was grateful for that.
"Time for your questions." He informed me.
"What about your parents? I don't see them here and I don't think they are with your brother either. Do they have another pack of their own?" I asked out of curiosity.
"My parents are dead, Olivia. The only one remaining of my family line is just my brother and my sister and me." He told me.
"Why is your sister not staying with your brother?" I asked next.
"Because I'm her favorite big brother." He answered arrogantly.
"Okay. I want to know why you and your brother aren't in an agreement," I told him.
"Why do you think we aren't in agreement?" Julian asked me.
"Because your brother had not been here even once to pay you a visit like brothers should. Two, if you guys were in agreement with each other, all you would have needed to do was explain to him that I was your mate and he would have let me go. But you just kidnapped me instead," I tendered my observation to him.
"Smart lady. Well, my brother and I are at war with each other because..."
A loud knock sounded on the door interrupting the get-to-know-you moment we were having.
"Come in." Alpha Julian called.
Someone opened the door and Holder peeked in. He smiled apologetically when he saw the Alpha and I together.
"Sorry to disturb you both but your attention is urgently needed, Alpha." He told Julian.
"I'll be right outside with you in a moment." He told his beta. The man took the hint and went back out. "Do you mind if we continue this later?" He asked with a pleading tone.
"It's okay. The pack needs you, so you should go," I told him honestly.
He took some strands of my hair and played with them for only a few moments before he let go of them. Rather than leaving, he kept staring at me
"Aren't you leaving?" I asked him when he didn't make any attempt to get up.
He got up and began to walk to the door. I thought that he might have forgotten something he needed when I saw him turn back and walked to where I was. I was about to ask him when he leaned down and kissed me. This time, he lingered a little longer.
"Wait here for me, Olivia. I'll just see what needs my attention and rush back to you, okay?" He asked me.
"Okay," I replied to him, a little breathless from the quick kiss that we shared.
He straightened up and smiled at me. As he walked away from me, I felt a lot better and a lot more secure knowing that there was someone who wanted me just the way I am.