TWELVE
1234 Words
“Walk with me.” Kael’s chair dragged against the floor as he stood up and began walking outside.
They were done with their lunch, Harry especially, since he ate from everything while Elara picked at her cake throughout the time. Kael hadn’t touched anything and patiently waited until Zara was done eating.
Zara, Elara and Harry darted their eyes between each other cluelessly before Elara quickly stood up.
“It couldn’t have been you he was talking to.” Elara lowered her eyes and slowly flopped back in her seat. “You didn’t even consider that it must have been Zara; his guest or me, his literal shadow that he must have spoken to, huh? You are ru-”
“That’s enough, Beta Harry,” Zara said with a soft smile as she stood up. “I will go and find out if he was talking to me. Why don’t you show me the way he went, Elara.”
Elara quickly stood up and led her to the back door, down the same path she had walked with Brenda and Kathy that morning.
Just ahead, near the gardens Kael stood with his hands in his pocket as he waited for Zara.
Zara touched Elara’s shoulders lightly. “I will take it from here.”
Elara nodded. “Sure.” Just as she made to leave, Zara called her, causing her to pause. She looked up and saw Kael watching them curiously.
“Would you mind having me over some other time? I think we would make great friends.”
Elara scoffed out lightly, “Friends?” Zara nodded and she laughed.
She’s never had a friend before not to talk more of one who’s reaching towards the friendship first. It would be nice having a friend while stuck in captivity with Kael but she wasn’t dependent on that, after all, Zara was to be Kael’s wife.
“We will see how things go.” She turned around quickly and headed back to the house.
The last time she had trusted someone, her heart got shattered into tiny pieces. She hadn’t even healed from that. If she could find a way out of Kael’s house immediately, she thought, there wouldn’t be a chance for her heart to be broken again.
Kael turned fully to Zara as she came to stand in front of him.
“Alpha Kael,” she greeted with a curt nod.
Kael sucked in a sharp breath. “I don’t want you.” He blurted as he exhaled.
Zara’s head snapped back. Her brows shot up to her forehead as she searched Kael’s face. “Excuse you?”
“I know your Father must have told you some things and possibly, Benjamin and Harry Theron but the truth is I do not want you. Not you specifically. Anyone. I do not want a wife or a chosen mate. I want to be left alone, that is why I am telling you this beforehand so you wouldn’t complain of my attitude towards you in the days to come.”
Zara remained silent as she watched Kael, her eyes widened in shock. After some moments, she forced a spittle down her throat as she nodded. “And there I was killing myself trying to devise the easiest method to send you back to the moon goddess.”
Kael staggered back. “What?” She was the second lady threatening to kill him in nearly twenty-four hours.
Zara waved him off. “I was only joking.” She crossed her arms under her breasts.
“I was married young, at eighteen. Some of the girls were happy to have found their mates then but I wasn’t. I wanted to go to school or learn a skill or do anything that would make me my own person but because I had found my mate, my parents -especially my father- wouldn’t let me, so I got married. But unfortunately and fortunately, he passed two years ago.”
Kael corked his head to the side. “You had a hand?”
“Killian was my husband but he was also my friend, he was a kind man. What happened to him was unfortunate, I am hurt that he passed and would miss him everyday but the only reason I am able to achieve all I have within this time is because I am no longer tied to him and I really do not want to be tied to anyone else, especially to the lpha of this pack.”
A smile crept up Kael’s face. “Why? You think I’m not good enough, I’m not within your standards?”
“Ha ha,” Zara mocked with a roll of her eyes. “Being the Luna of this pack is a great responsibility I am not ready and willing to bear. As I said before, I don’t want to be tied to anyone, at least not now.
I have a skill I was learning abroad and I would like to go back and complete it, be fully trained in it and maybe, start up my own practice one day.”
“And what may that be?”
Zara eyed Kael curiously. “Nothing you should concern yourself about for now. Just know that one day, you will need my help and you will remember this very moment then will you know the skill I’m learning.”
Kael nodded.
“Now that we are on the same page about this marriage thing, can I go home and tell my Father that I rejected you?”
Kael threw his head back and cackled loudly, it was the most ridiculous thing he had heard in a while. “Nobody rejects Alpha Kael.”
Zara raised a brow, “need I introduce myself again? Zara Fitzgerald, and I reject you, Alpha Kael Croft.”
He nodded once. “I’m glad we are on the same page, Ms. Fitzgerald.”
“Please, it’s Zara. Fitzgerald makes me sound as old as my Father. What now?”
“Go to the car and wait for me, I will drive you home myself. But before you go Ms. Fitz- Zara. Before you go, Zara, what did you mean when you told Elara that you perceived some rose scent?”
Zara’s brows furrowed as she shook her head slightly. “I did?”
“Yes. At the dining table you asked her if she bathed with a jasmine or rose scented soap.”
“Huh? Must have been thinking out loud. I don’t remember having that conversation with Elara.” She turned on her heels and left.
Kael kept his hands in his pocket as he watched Zara walk away.
She had said that, he was certain. He wasn’t imagining it. If Zara was denying asking Elara that question, it meant she was lying to him. That could only mean one thing.
Immediately, he dug out his phone and dialed a number.
Away from the garden up in Kael’s room.
Kael’s hearty laughter reached Elara’s ears. Quickly but quietly, she rushed to the curtain and peaked through a corner.
Her eyes ran between Zara who was smiling up at Kael, and Kael who was saying something with his own bigger smile.
Elara looked away before the ache in her chest could grow.
So this was his future Luna. And she had almost believed they could be friends.
- Writer
