Leilani.

Ever since learning about the role that a certain ’Good Samaritan’ may play in my life, I became very keen on meeting him one more time.

I wanted— no, scratch that— needed to meet with him one more time and get to know something about him, even though he turns out to be Theon, who I already think he is.

This thought was the only thing plaguing my mind as I slipped out of bed, rubbed my swollen eyes untilI felt ’wide awake’ and dragged my tired body downstairs to the kitchen.

I ran into Kael when I got there, talking to one of the maidservants in a hushed tone. In front of them, a boiling pot of soup bubbled, and just as I stepped in, they stopped talking.

The lady bowed her head while Kael seemed quite uncomfortable...

But I had already heard what they were talking about.. or bits of it because I was sure I definitely heard Kael telling her something along the lines of;

"Make sure she eats a lot today. I have noticed that she has only been working these past few days."

I almost rolled my eyes after hearing him say that, because truth be told, I have heard those exact words for about a million times in just this past week. I almost walked in then but the woman spoke up again, making me halt in my tracks.

"And she takes a lot of coffee too," the woman, Maddie, sighed dramatically, "maybe you should say this to her yourself, Alpha."

For a couple of seconds, he didn’t reply until he finally said; "She doesn’t listen to me, Maddie. I swear to you, that woman has a life of her own!"

And hearing that, I immediately knew that he was referring to me.

Now, looking at both of them acting like kids who have been caught with their hands deep into the cookie jar, I smiled... sincerely and muttered; "Good morning to you both."

The woman was the first to react, she bowed again, and answered; "Good morning, my lady."

They aren’t even making any efforts to hide their discomfort!

I let my eyes roam carelessly over them and then moved away to pour myself a cup of coffee; And while I did that, I could swear that I felt Kael’s eyes drilling literal holes into my skin. The tension in the air was so thick, even the thickness of the soup was an understatement, and just when I had begun to think that he wouldn’t say anything, he finally snapped.

He snickered; "Do you know that too much caffeine is bad for your health?"

"Huh?" I acted like I didn’t understand a word of what he’d just said, making him roll his eyes at me before he said again;

"Do you know that taking too much caffeine is bad for anyone? And we’re werewolves!"

"That is to say, we’re not normal people, meaning that it wouldn’t do shit to us!" I clapped back, not missing the infinitesimal change in his breathing pattern, followed by the way he then squeezed his eyes shut as if unable to believe his ears.

When his eyes found mine a few seconds later, he looked more serious as he snapped; "Would you give chocolate or coffee to a dog?"

I frowned in confusion and annoyance. "Oh, hell no!"

"Then you should know there isn’t much difference between us and dogs. Wolves and dogs belong to the same—"

"Are we talking about dogs now?" I snapped, interrupting him, and heavens, I almost chuckled when his eyes darkened. I could even barely hold in my laughter when he eyed the cup of coffee in my hands then shook his head.

"No. I am just worried about you." He said.

And I knew that. I could see that.

I could see it in the way he and his brothers would care for me and provide for everything I want without making even the slightest fuss. I could see it in the way they’d always come to ’help me into bed’ whenever they discover that I had slept on my work table this past week.

Heck, they were doing a very poor job of hiding it. I nodded.

"I know."

I let my fingers tighten around the cup’s handle as I brought the steaming hot coffee to my lips. My body ached tremendously too because I had spent most of last night working on Jarek’s project with the Valemonts— not Darius this time but the Valemont Valemont. The man who may be my father.

He sighed. "Just promise me that you’ll take some time off. That you would rest, and if possible... agree to go on a vacation when all of this is finally over."

At the sound of those words, I froze. My eyebrows nearly shot into my hairline and I found myself whispering with a smile; "Yes, yes your majesty!"

I saw the small smile tug at the corners of his lips before he finally managed to school his features back to one of indifference and with another nod, he turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me staring at his retreating form with a strange weird feeling churning at the base of my stomach. It felt like warmth and discomfort all at once.

It felt as though I had consumed liquid fire which now burned its way down my throat.

When I turned back to Maddie, she had a strange funny smile on her face which widened when our eyes met.

"You know, ma’am, that everyone can see it right?" She asked softly, snapping me out of my reverie.

I cocked my eyebrows at her again, half expecting her to just continue speaking, but when she didn’t, I asked; "Everyone can see what?"

"That the Alphas care about you so much."

I rolled my eyes and fought my blush from creeping up my cheeks.

"They love you."

And for the first few seconds after she said that, I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. Because come to think of it, what was I supposed to say?

That I loved them too?

No no, I don’t even think that is true.

That I knew?

Or should I say thank you?

The warmth that creeped up my face told me all that I needed to know about my supposed fight against blushing and I drawled; "That’s an odd thing to say."

"It is not—" she began to say but I didn’t wait to hear it.

I wasn’t even curious enough to wait for her to respond before I picked up my once discarded cup of coffee from the countertop and walked out of the kitchen as fast as I could, and lest I forget, she never stopped laughing even as I walked away!

—

Unknown.

As I walked through the familiar halls of the well known Frostclaw.Inc building, I couldn’t help but wonder about a few things.

First, it was Leilani. The girl who I had saved that night under the pouring rain for no just reason. The girl who I had felt more attached to than I have ever felt with anyone, including my twin brother.

I wondered why she had lied to me the other day by telling me that she works in the luxury store just across from here when in truth, she was the key staff of Frostclaw.Inc and the main reason I had decided to return to this city that hurt me the most to spread my wings one more time, despite my promise not to.

I do not know how that information may have sounded to you so I’ll explain it in clear terms: I wanted to buy her off. To steal her right from under Frostclaw’s nose.

At the mention of his name, I also couldn’t help wondering why Alpha Frostclaw claims that she is dead.

Dead.

The same girl who had spent a night in my newly acquired mansion down the street?

I frowned.

"Have you gotten any news yet?" I asked my personal assistant in a small voice as we went up the elevator. "Are there any correlations between the girl who worked here and the one we rescued that day?"

His eyes found mine in that enclosed space and he nodded briskly; "Yes. She is the same person."

The news, even though I already knew somewhere deep down that it was the truth, still hit me with so much force, I leaned against the cold glass. I pressed my head against the hard surface and asked;

"And is she by chance related to Malakai Blackthorne, the vagabond?"

He went quiet one more time, peeked at something on his iPad and nodded. "Yes, she is. She is one of his two daughters. The other, Chalice Blackthorne, is dead."

For a moment, it felt as though I had lost all ability to speak or breath. My heart dropped into somewhere deep inside my stomach and for the first time in four years, began to race erratically in my chest.

"Is anything the matter?" My PA asked but I quickly shook my head.

"No. It’s just... it’s just... I thought she died over ten years ago from a high fever."