CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Uninvited Guest
1201 Words
“What is your plan to fix it?”
Lucille’s words rang through his head much like a church bell. He wasn’t sure if she had processed it all to really grasp the gravity of the situation, or that her words really meant: how are you going to save us? Noah swallowed the lump in his throat and pulled her into him, his arms wrapped about her hips as his one hand cradled her cheek.
“I haven’t any idea yet. But we will figure it out, together.”
Her beautiful, complex hazel eyes twinkled up at him. They looked like the gemstone called tiger’s eye, but with flecks of peridot. As though God had broken apart both gemstones and arranged them together to make a mosaic of beauty and intrigue. “What if we don’t find a solution?” she asked softly.
“That isn’t an option,” Noah replied.
“How isn’t it an option? Some things aren’t fixable.”
He smiled knowingly. “Yes, but at the end of the day, it is you I am tethered to. Two halves of one soul. You’re damned to me, Lucille.”
“Don’t make it sound too romantic,” she taunted.
With smiles on both of their faces, the distance between them lessened as they both went in for a kiss. Life for the fated pair would be complicated and rife with politics and drama, but Noah was certain he would do anything at all to make it work. Nothing in that world or the next could prevent him from forever trying to be with Lucille. The pack, local officials, rival gangs, or the concept of failure itself wouldn’t be enough.
Just before their lips could connect in a blissful kiss, there was a thud at the door. Both of their eyes faltered to the front door, annoyance building in Noah’s chest. He had a feeling who was waiting on the other side of that door and he had no interest in answering it. However, he knew ignoring it would do nothing but draw a crowd. Noah could get away with ignoring someone at his apartment, but they were at the Alpha House. There was a nuance to being the leader, and one was that the Alpha House was much like a castle. The leader resided there, but it also functioned as a public arena.
Denying the knock on the door would surely bring on more people, wondering why Noah wasn’t answering the door since he had been spotted going there. Sighing, he peered to Lucille. “Would you mind going upstairs? My bedroom is the last door on the right side of the hall on the left. You’re welcome to look around in there.”
Her lips parted, as though to debate the issue but after her eyes flashed to the door and she took a deep breath, Lucille nodded and headed up the stairs. Noah waited for her petite form to disappear from view before he moved to the door. When he tossed the door open, he was less than surprised to see Diego Bianchi there with a pissed look in his eye. “What in the hell do you think you are doing?” Diego questioned gruffly.
“Well, just had some pizza and—”
“Don’t play coy with me,” Diego interjected. “I saw you with that other woman.”
“There’s nothing coy about it,” Noah retorted, his face remaining completely flat. “You didn’t let me finish. What I was about to say was that I had pizza and now plan to spend a blissful evening alone with my company.”
Diego shook his head and laughed bitterly as he glared at Noah. “The balls on you. You think you can two time my sister and get away with it?”
“Imelda is already aware. I think it’s only you that has been clueless.”
Diego folded his arms. “So you’ve talked to her about this?”
“Never said that. I said she’s aware.”
He stepped forward, eyes still narrowed. “What are you playing at, Noah? Just because you’re Alpha doesn’t mean—”
“Doesn’t mean what?” Noah snapped. “That I can do whatever I want to do? That I can’t spend time with my fated mate? That I can utilize this house however I see fit? Because it does mean that. And if you have any problem with that, you are welcome to go to the counsel. Or there is always the Pit.”
The Pit was the fighting arena for the wolves. Where disagreements that couldn’t be solved with words went to be sorted through conducted violence. The place that Noah had become the Alpha. Diego’s eyes widened with alarm when he mentioned fated mate, but even more so at the utterance of the Pit. Then, he recovered himself and narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t over. You are promised to Imelda. You will keep that promise.”
“We’ll see about that,” Noah stated flatly. “Anything else I can help you with, Diego?”
“Yeah, go f**k yoursel—”
The word didn’t have time to finish on his lips before Noah’s hand collided with his face in a slap that used enough force to make his own palm sting. Diego stumbled to the side, his own hand cradling his face. When he stood straight, Noah could see from the look on his face that he wanted to strike back. He wanted to fight the Lupo. Noah’s own eyes grew wild at the thought, not minding the sound of a good fight right then. Especially when it meant making an example out of anyone who disrespected him and Luci. “Do it,” Noah told him, threatening. “Go on. Try it.”
Diego only stared before turning and walking away. Stepping back inside, he closed the door and locked it. Noah straightened his shirt and ran a hand over his face to help compose himself. Only, he felt it. Eyes on him. Glancing up hesitantly, he saw Lucille at the banister. From the look on her face, he knew she had witnessed it all. “I thought I told you to wait in my room,” he called up meekly.
“You told me I could, not that I had to.”
“You wouldn’t have listened anyway,” he muttered.
“You’re right,” Luci replied hastily. With his eyes on her, Noah started to climb the stairs. “Do you strike anyone who dares to challenge you?”
“Anyone who needs it,” Noah admitted. “There’s an order that must be preserved in a pack. Some people, like Diego or Emil, don’t listen to reason and have to be physically reminded of it. They are dominated by their aggressive nature rather than a rational mind.”
He was closing in on her then. She was against the railing, her arms folded tightly and her posture slightly slumped. She was trying to appear small in his presence and it made his heart ache when he realized why.
She’s scared of me.
- Writer
