Taming the Rogue King

The Last Dinner

Ira

Life was going on well. Things were finally falling into place with a semblance of a routine. She started training with Auntie Yindi, the elder who guided Liam’s pack of rogues.

Her training with the elder was for her to understand the functioning of a pack so that when she was ready she could take on the Luna responsibilities of the pack.

Along with her regular daily training sessions with Auntie Yindi, she also had her weekly sessions with Sarena. During those days, Sarena would come over to their pack lands and they would practice together on top of the roof of Liam’s house.

The roof was still the tabletop of the hill that ended on a cliff. Ira couldn’t believe that just a few months back she had actually jumped from this cliff to save herself.

Now she and Sarena performed rituals in the moonlight and Sarena taught her hymns and chants to channelise her powers through her ring. She was struggling though. As compared to adults it was easier for little children to learn magic.

There were times when in frustration Sarena mentioned that she found it unbelievable that the power of such a powerful witch was dormant, but she did not dwell on it.

The Keeper of the Orb was informed about Ira and her swearing in ceremony for accepting the laws of the Order of the Witches was scheduled to happen on the night of the full flower moon in the coming May. She was worried that the Keeper of the Orb would reject her as her blundering self wasn't able to do even simple magic.

Sarena chuckled at such times, saying that she was reading too much into her abilities and that Ira needed to lighten up. Sarena was confident that with practice Ira would be able to control her magic just like James, Myra and, of course, Sarena. Ira tried to think positively about it, but somewhere at the back of her mind, doubts remained.

Some evenings, Bella and Ira would go over to the Li'l Bushman's Bar located just outside the werewolf territory in Myponga. It was a bar owned by humans and provided them with the necessary freedom. Liam hated these outings of hers but agreed to them because of Bella. She was the one who had clarified that he couldn't jail Ira in their land. So reluctantly, he gave it on the condition that two hybrid bodyguards would accompany them for their safety.

Between these two types of training and her social commitment to Bella, she was pretty much busy the entire time.

Liam too had his pack duties to attend to, which had fallen behind schedule when Ira had disappeared. Plus, he had meetings with the alliance to smoothen out the diplomatic processes for the rogues to become a part of his pack. He also was growing his business and between all of these, he would get very little time with Ira.

They both made sure that every free minute was spent in each other's arms. Ira was waiting eagerly;y for her training to end, so she could officially start assisting in the pack duties.

She would sometimes accompany Liam in his alliance meetings but remained silent and only observed. All of it was very new for her. She was like a sponge, absorbing all the information.

Although they spent a lot of time exploring each other's bodies, Liam hadn’t asked her about marking her yet and she wasn’t sure what her reply would be. Does he have second thoughts about marking me? She sometimes wondered, but whenever she felt she was ready to talk to him about it, her courage failed.

It would be a permanent decision and she wasn’t sure if she had it in her to commit to such a bond.

At times when Liam was busy, and she was free from her training, she would work on his family tree. Finally, the tree was ready and tonight she was going to tell him all about it. Once her commissioned work was over, she was planning to take a few days off and was toying with ideas for the future.

Should I go back to Melbourne, wrap everything up and get my belongings here? Or should I get professional movers and packers to do it? The library job is no more and so there isn’t anything of great importance waiting there! Should I just ask Liam to come with me and plan a trip with him? Should we go meet mom and dad?

She hadn't told them about finding her soulmate yet. And she had been missing them a lot.

Her phone rang as she completed the last note in Liam’s family tree. It was Monike…

Strange! Why is she calling? Is everything alright? Wasn’t she supposed to leave tomorrow? She swiped on the screen and attended the call.

Ira: Hi. How are you doing?

Monike: Have been better. Do you have a minute?

Things between Ira and Monike had also been cordial. Monike wasn’t a people friendly person and stayed out of her hair. Ira was more than happy to stay away from Monike. Whenever their paths crossed, they exchanged cordial greetings. Now that Monike wasn’t going to mate with Liam, she had stopped bossing around the pack members and kept mostly to herself. Sometimes she didn't even visit the dining hall and her attending omega, Kumah, carried her food directly to her living quarters.

Ira felt sad for Kumah. God knows what verbal assault the little omega had to go through. Since she wasn't bothering anyone, the rest of the wolves were also kind of tolerant towards her.

Ira: Depends on what you want.

Monike: I am leaving tomorrow.

Ira: I am aware.

Although she was supposed to leave almost a week back, she had stayed back, pleading that she wanted some more time to gather her strength to meet her father. Ira did not know about her issues with her father and neither was Liam able to tell her anything about it.

Monike: I asked Liam out for dinner, but he refused. Liam is the only reason I ever set foot on this blasted land. I did not bother you guys once he told me about your relationship with him. Don’t you think I deserve one last dinner with my ex?

Ira was speechless, not knowing what to say. It was one of those 'awkward' requests. She felt proud that Liam had refused.

Ira: What can I say Monike? He is his own man. I swear I knew nothing about this invitation.

Monike: (scoffed) I know! Seriously! He was with me before you waltzed into his life. I did not call to fight with you. I just want one last dinner with a person who I almost married. He meant the world to me. So, (she exhaled audibly and took a while to form the next sentence) could you and Liam please come out for dinner with me? It need not be anything fancy. But let's not do it at the dining hall. I hate the looks of sympathy. I just want to have one evening free of those looks. Please consider it a request from a friend who you will never meet again.

Ira: I...

Monike: Please Ira. I have never given you a reason to say no, have I?

Ira thought about it. Monike was right. She had moved away once she knew about Liam and Ira.

Ira: Okay. We will pick you up at seven.

Monike: Thank you.

*****