Defiant Sunshine

Withheld Information

Groggily stretching her stiff limbs, Alia mumbled incoherent words. She listened to her bones c***k in utter bliss and gave off a satisfied sigh. Slowly, Alia opened her eyes but couldn't tolerate the amount of light her eyes came in contact with. She swiftly squinted her eyes to avoid it blinding her before trying to adjust them to the light. Alia found herself staring at the ceiling that was similar to the one in the room she had not long ago occupied. Slowly, she moved her eyes along the patterns on the wall before settling her sight on the dressing table a few feet from the bed.

Her eyes caught sight of her toes and everything came crashing back like a broken video machine. It also caused her immerse pain, reeling her to clung onto her throbbing head.

She propped herself up, trying to get off the bed as she clung onto the bedside table. Her attempt only caused her to make a mess of it as she leaned forward, trying to steady herself.

Instead, everything's on the bedside table got swept to the ground, loudly crashing onto the concrete floor. Alia could not steady herself on time as drops of sweat onto her forehead became evident. Weak as she were, she went stumbling onto the floor with a loud thud as some shards from the lampshade cut into her flesh. Her head spun with the intense pain threatening to crush her skull as her vision blurred out. She heard noises coming from her bedroom door before seeing blurry figures stalking towards her. Frightened out of her flesh, Alia moved backward with tears soaking her face.

“No, no, no, no, no…” she mumbled, watching the figure rapidly approach her. The moment she felt something touch her, she screamed.

“No! Don't touch me!” with her strength dwindling, the figure got a hold of her as she tried fighting it off with her last bit of strength. Alia could feel the energy within herself being used up quicker than usual. Paranoia sank deep within every part of her bones when she couldn't fight any longer. Her hands now restrained she cried helplessly, begging to be set free.

“ Please! I'm begging you…don… don't kill me-e!” she pleaded helplessly as snort trickled out her nose, mixing with her fountain of unrestrained tears. It was as if her brain had shut itself off from anything and everything, leaving her feeling exposed and vulnerable. Alia had already started pleading with the moon goddess to spare her life, though a little lonely she still wanted to live a little longer. She was a muscle away from giving in when it hit her. The familiar scent hit her so hard, she hiccupped upon quietening down.

Marvelling in the embrace she didn’t remember feeling around her. She looked up, starring at the familiar yet unfocussed face a few inches away from her.

“Br- Br-Bran…Brandon?” she whispered, hope and relief washing over her as she heard that melodic sound as he hummed with confirmation. Wasting no time, Alia threw herself into him as she let his comforting scent envelope her.

She ravelled in the feeling before slowly drifting into the dark abyss. Standing right in the middle of Alia’s room Was a tear stricken Elena. She had both her hands on her chest as she watched Alia freak out before finally settling down. All she wanted was to check on the poor girl when Brandon stopped her. They had been having a mother son stand off for a few minutes when they heard something shatter inside Alia’s room.

They wasted no time in rushing into the room, All alert. Only to find Alia in a state of pure heartbreak. She looked like a mess.

Elena watched as Brandon calmed Alia down. Indicating that she had fallen asleep. Her haggard breathing was now even Indicating that she had fallen asleep. Attempting to take a step forward, Brendan raised his head at the speed of lightning and gave Elena a sharp glare. It was a warning to Elena not to take another step forward. Her own son’s warning. Pierced through her heart. It was heart-breaking to be kept at arm's reach by her own son, but she didn’t move further. Elena watched her son stand upright, with Alia in his embrace as he walked out with her.

Elena, worried about Alia, followed closely behind them, only to be stopped by the guards at the entrance of Brandon’s room.

“Apologies Luna, Alpha orders.” Elena had yet to protest when one of the guards beat her to it. Looking at the one speaking, she knew that he was only doing his job and held her tongue. She stared at the door for a while before Heading to her chambers.

Slowly, Brandon lay Alia onto his bed and tugged her in. He watched her snuggle her face further into the pillow while squirming for a more comfortable position. Settling down on it she sighed in satisfaction. Brandon stood there, watching her actions with a faint smile on his face. He was amused by how cute she was acting, fighting the urge to imprison her lips with his.

Snapping out if. Brandon ran his palm across his face with annoyance. He wasn't too pleased with his current behaviour. Gritting his teeth, he walked out leaving some instructions to the two guards stationed at his bedroom door.

He headed towards the elevator after briefing them trying by all means to avoid his parents especially his mother.

“How long do you plan to avoid me?” Hearing the sudden yet familiar voice of his mother, Brandon halted in his steps. He slightly tilted his head up, closed his eyes and sighed.

“How long do you think I could've planned to?” he rasped. There was a tired undertone to his already deep voice Elena detected. “Long enough to make us forget about it" she responded.

Elena could see how tired her son was causing her motherly instinct to kick in. But she wasn't going to give in to them just yet. She had to get to the bottom of all this. The small pieces of information Brandon had been feeding them felt like a ruse than what she had earlier found out.

‘Is this really necessary?’

With a sigh, Brandon opened his eyes and looked at his mother who had been leaning on one of the pillars. Looking at her mother's arms crossed over her chest, he knew she wasn't backing down. Elena had been meaning to head downstairs earlier on knowing the nature of her son when it came to communicating. But it seemed the goddess was on her side. She paused her steps upon hearing Brandon's voice in the hallway. Elena knew her son well enough, prompting her to wait for him on he stairway. Looking at his fatigued figure that was trying to avoid her – She knew that there were habits that would never change.

Pushing herself off the pillar , she slowly walked towards Brandon. “Your office wouldn't be too shabby for a little chat now, would it?” Giving him a slight smile with a once over pat on the shoulder, she walked past him. Picking up her pace a little, she headed into the elevator.

“c'mon pup, time's too precious to be wasting it standing out here”. She glanced at him, a warning look fleetingly crossing Elena's eyes before a beautiful smile bloomed on her face. Seeing all the red flags, Brandon knew not to be smart with her. Heading to his office for “a chat" was his only way out. No amount of excuses would be able to get him out of this one.

Walking into his study, Brandon went straight to his office chair and sank into it with exhaustion. He looked at his mother who was now sitting opposite him with a nerve wrecking calm demeanour. He didn't like it when he couldn't read her face. Every expression would have given him something to work on. He'd know how to choose his words but his mother knew how to mask them very well. Perhaps that's where he got his ability from.

Brandon leaned back into his chair while still maintaining the staring contest him and his mother were in. At some point, Elena shifted her accusatory gaze from her son towards something behind him that has caught her attention. It was the first thing her eyes landed on when she walked into Brandon's office.

“I don’t remember that being there…” her gaze shifted back to lock onto his.