Chapter 138: Caleb
I watched as Grace walked away. She turned to look back at us several times but never stopped. My heart pounded like crazy in my chest. She had said that she wouldn’t tell Rhys about what had happened earlier, but could she really keep something like that from him? All I knew is that there wasn’t time to be sure… My bag was packed just in case, but there was no way Rhys would let me go this time. He would kill me for hurting his mate… Would Sawyer take care of Sammy for me? Would Alana help me escape? Do I take Sammy with me? It isn’t safe here… But out there… who knows what it’s like out there. It’s dangerous as hell and no place for a child. Is there any place that’s good for a child now?
No. She would have to stay here for now. My brother wouldn’t take his anger out on an innocent. I was fairly sure about that.
“How may I help you, Alpha Prince?” Alana asked nervously, bringing me back to the present.
“You know, you can drop the title, Alana,” I said as gently as I could. “I don’t believe I’ve earned it back.”
She looked at me like I had grown two heads, and maybe I had. I was not the same idiot who had wandered these halls not that long ago. I had been as selfish prick back then. I didn’t care about anything or anyone. But I have a daughter now. I’ve lost my mate. I have broken and rebuilt myself in ways that I never dreamed to be possible. Now, I just had to prove it.
“Seriously,” I told her, cupping her cheek in my hand even though I had no right to ever touch her again. “It’s just Caleb to you… It has always been just Caleb to you.”
Her sharp intake of breath made me scan her face, wondering if I was misjudging everything.
“Can we go talk in my room?” I asked her when she didn’t say anything.
“Why can’t we talk here?” She questioned with a little frown that made my heart pound.
“Because there are little ears around here,” I told her and gestured toward the part of the hallway that opened up into the living area where Sammy’s dark hair stuck out from behind the wall, and her best friend, Jack’s, giggle could be heard from somewhere nearby.
“Fine.” She agreed, and I ran my hand down her face, her neck, her arm, to her hand which I engulfed into mine.
“That was unnecessary.” She said, not looking at me as I pulled her along past all the kids who were lounging around the family room.
I smirked. Alana was still my Alana even after all this time, and I appreciated that.
“You know, it’s improper for me to be in here with you if I’m not cleaning…” She said as I closed my door.
“And who’s going to tell?” I asked.
“I’m just saying…” She mumbled.
“Are you worried I’m going to get you in trouble?” I questioned.
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” She said boldly, looking up to look me in the eye.
I looked away, the guilt eating my soul a little bit. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t always treat you the best.”
She raised her brows at me. I could tell she didn’t accept my apology, but to her I was still the Alpha Prince. She wouldn’t outright challenge me. Not anymore. Not like she used to.
“You feel it too, don’t you?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Feel what?” She frowned, looking at me like I had lost my mind.
If she didn’t feel it starting, then I didn’t want to tell her yet… Fate wasn’t going to grant me a second-chance mate so easily, but I had no doubt that if it did, Alana would be it for me. The way I felt about her grew every day. There were no tingles yet, but I knew there would be if I gave it more time. I couldn’t explain it, but she consumed my thoughts, my heart, my everything. But I had just lost my mate who I had treated terribly. I knew the moon goddess didn’t forget those things that easily. Even if I had been a good mate in the end.
“Never mind,” I said as I sat down on my bed, and ran a hand tiredly through my hair. “How are you feeling?” I asked remembering how out of it she had looked when she and Grace had walked onto the Alpha floor.
“I’m okay.” She assured me as she sat down in the chair in the corner, feeling too far away from me. “I just I was scared for Grace with everything that’s been going on lately… You didn’t see her face when Maizie mentioned Luna Ava. It was like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest… But I don’t think that’s why you called me in here and needed it to be a private conversation.”
I took a deep breath. She was right, and straight to the point as always, it was my turn to be the same. “Look, I need your help, Alana.”
She straightened up and gave me a hard look.
“I won’t help you commit treason.” She said with a certainty that made my gut-clench.
“I- I don’t think it’s treason,” I said softly, and her face softened slightly.
“You don’t think?”
“No.” I answered. “I just need you to help me escape before Rhys finds out what I did to Grace earlier, and he kills me for it.”
Alana closed her eyes, taking in my request.
“Grace said she wouldn’t tell.” Alana said finally. “I don’t think she’d betray you like that… From what Maizie’s told me, she’s been advocating for you.”
“Until I shoved her into a wall.” I muttered in frustration.
“Caleb.” Alana saying my name did something to my heart. How often I had longed to hear her call for me again and it was even better than I had imagined it.
I looked up at her expectantly, and she met my eyes, staring straight into my soul. Whatever she was looking for, she found because she stood up with a confidence, and said the words, “Come with me.”
And in that moment, I swore, I would follow her anywhere.
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