Hate or Love

The Perfect Family

Victor rushed to the open door of his sister's bedroom, but he stopped abruptly after taking the view in, making Estelle stop right behind him.

There was this small smile on his face while he kept looking forward, and it took her a second to understand why he wasn't running inside after waiting in agony for what felt like infinite hours to find out how Evelyn and her babies were.

Arthmael was in knelt besides the bed, one of the babies in his arms and the other one in Evelyn's, who looked weak, her eyes barely opened, but the emotions written all over their faces as they held each other and their children made tears almost spring in Estelle's eyes, especially after the kiss Arthmael left in his wife's forehead and the sweet words he was whispering in her ear.

It was just so beautiful to be expressed in words.

"They're..." Victor started saying, looking at them with an admirable look in his face.

"So in love," she finished the sentence for him.

Before Victor was able to say anything, he noticed the way Evelyn slightly, weakly turned her head at him and gave him a small smile. "Victor," she whispered, extending her free hand as if she could reach him, signing him to go to her.

Without thinking twice, Victor walked towards the bed, kneeling on the other side as he too left a kiss in her forehead, looking at the babies, and never once the emotional smile left his lips, nor his eyes.

Estelle leaned on the door-frame observing the view in front of her with a smile happy yet sad at the same time. It was that kind of feeling inside her chest again. That kind of feeling that told her she didn't belong there, no matter how much she wished she did, no matter how much she cared about everyone inside that room.

They looked like the perfect little family. One that if she walked inside, she would ruin with her presence only.

Didn't Estelle always do this, after all? Caused people to walk away from her when she let them in and let herself believe she belonged somewhere?

"Stelle," Arthmael's voice brought her back to reality. "Don't you want to meet your niece and nephew?"

Even if she wanted to, she couldn't say no. And by God, she didn't want to.

She walked to Arthmael firstly, wrapping her arms around him in a warm hug that could express how worried she had been about him as well. What he had gone through the past few hours, Estelle didn't even want to imagine.

"She's so tiny and perfect," Estelle whispered after looking down in his hands and seeing the baby girl for the first time. "Look, her ears are like Evelyn's," she couldn't contain her joy in her voice. "And her black hair too. She's the prettiest hybrid ever."

Arthmael chuckled, his eyes basically shining all the happiness he felt inside. "Alice seems to like her aunt a lot already," he said after watching the way his baby girl giggled after seeing Estelle's joyful face. They had already decided for the names. Alice for the girl, after Arthmael's mother, and Evander for the boy, after Evelyn's and Victor's father. Which was the perfect choice, Estelle could tell how fulfilled it made them.

Estelle's smile only got brighter when Arthmael placed little Alice on her hands. "Her eyes are dark like yours, though," she observed, but Arthmael had already walked to Evelyn, smoothing her hair back while she had already started breastfeeding Evander first.

"Can I hold my niece now?"

The low voice felt like caressed her skin and made goosebumps erupt all over her body. Estelle hadn't realized Victor was that near, and only when she turned at him, she caught look of the unreadable emotions in his face.

"Of course," she answered, feeling her throat a bit dry all of she sudden as she passed the small bundle of joy to him. However, Alice didn't let go of Estelle's index finger she had got a hold of.

Victor chuckled lightly. "Welcome home, Alice," he whispered to her with a small smile in his face, kissing her forehead, and immediately Estelle felt a lump on her throat.

A father was the last thing she had imagined Victor as. Yet, the look suited him. He would be that kind of father to turn the world upside down for his little girl, Estelle could bet her heart on it.

Alice took hold of Victor's index finger with her other tiny hand, giggling as she joined their hands together, making them brush slightly on each other.

And the sudden, more clearer look he had in his face nearly made her knees weaken.

Victor knew what he wanted now. He did and he was done hiding it, even if he had done a weak job at that before, whatsoever. He wanted what his sister and her mate had.

He wanted happily ever after with her.

Estelle immediately made a step away, smiling weakly at him before she walked to Evelyn, giving herself a bit of free space to breathe. Victor could always manage to mess with her head, even when he wasn't talking much. And it wasn't fair at all.

"How are you feeling, Eve?" She asked, sitting down at the edge of the bed, despite clearly seeing how Evelyn was feeling; completely and utterly happy. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

Evelyn shook her head slightly. "Just a bit now, but it's alright. It doesn't matter at all. The only thing that matters is them." Estelle knew, when she said them, she meant Arthmael as well.

She gave her best friend a small smile. "You're so strong. You know that, right?" Estelle already played with Evander small hand as she spoke.

"Believe me, I'm not," Evelyn disagreed. "I was so scared, that I was never going to see him again, and that I was never going to get to raise my babies too." 

Sighing, Estelle couldn't stop herself from admiring her. "Oh, my heart, he's adorable!" She cooed when little Evander made a puff of milk after he seemed to be temporarily contented with how much he had drank.

Evelyn giggled. "He is."

"He has your eyes," she said, her smile turning a bit sadder all of the sudden. "...And Victor's."

"How was he?" Evelyn questioned, referring to Victor, who was already laughing alongside Arthmael, both keeping their focus in the little girl in their arms who had already stolen their hearts.

"He was... desperate," she admitted. "I couldn't calm him down, I had never even imagined Victor in that condition."

"He has a big heart, you know that, right?" The words caught Estelle by surprise. "He may be arrogant and full of himself sometimes, but he cares deeply."

Honestly, she didn't know how to answer to that. But just seeing the way Victor held baby Alice, something told her Evelyn wasn't far away from the truth at all. "I know he does," she said. "He cares a lot about you, Arthmael and now the twins too."

The smile on Evelyn's face was sympathetic. "We aren't the only people he cares about, Stelle, and you know that." When Estelle didn't answer, she kept going. "I know deep down, you care about him too."

Somehow, Estelle felt she couldn't deny it anymore, "Caring about my mate and doing the right thing for myself and my people are two completely different things, Eve."

"And what is that right thing you are talking about? Leaving him?"

Fortunately, Estelle didn't have to answer the question that kept torturing her inside all these days. Julian had already joined them, asking a million questions a minute, at least until his eyes fell on the baby boy and he melted entirely.

They spent a bit more time there, all talking and laughing, until Victor decided the sun was already up and they should let Evelyn rest and sleep, along with the little twins.

When they were already outside, and wished a good night, or better a good morning to Lady Lillian and Julian too, Victor didn't let her go to her chambers. Instead, he asked her for her company just a little bit longer. They were past the sleeping at this point, and actually it was merely an excuse to have more time with her.

He seemed to grow greedier for her as the time went by, and remembering what they went through, the way she held him and told him a tale as if he was a little kid, Victor realized maybe, just maybe she was going to accept the truth.

That she was falling for him.

Or at least this is what he believed it to be.

"So, what was it you wanted?" Estelle asked. Victor raised his brows in amusement, watching the way she rolled her eyes when he offered her another glass of wine, but she took it anyway. He was lucky to be a elfish creature, there was no way a wolf could tolerate wine that easily.

"Well, our conversation got cut in the middle, didn't it?" He suggested.

"I'm too happy to talk about our sad pasts right now, Victor. And tired too." They were merely excuses, Victor knew it. He just affected her too much to stay alone in the same place with him, drinking wine, and not... kissing, at least.

The way his eyes lingered on her lips for a split second, he made it clear to her what he wanted.

However, she avoided his gaze by averting her eyes away. "They looked happy," she changed the subject.

"Because they are," Victor said, matter-of-factly. Telling her they could be too. If only she allowed them to be.

"They deserve only happiness," Estelle added, thoughtful.

"They do." He furrowed his brows when he saw her chuckling at herself, lost on her thoughts. "Why are you laughing?"

"It's nothing."

"Tell me," he insisted. "I won't leave you alone until you tell me."

By the way she sighed, she had already given up. "I don't think you knew I had had a stupid crush on Arthmael, right?"

Victor froze for a second, his heart falling. "You- you what?"

"Gross, I know." She giggled. "But it was before I knew he was my half-brother, I swear."

"Oh," he was only able to say, confused. But there was already that small thing that had started eating him inside, making him doubt everything now.

"I don't think it was even a crush I had on him," she realized. "I think it was just the fact that he was the only one there for me when I needed him, after my mother left. Even my father wasn't."

Victor could understand that. He could understand Estelle was a kind of woman that needed love in her life, even if she didn't know this herself; no matter what kind of love it was, romantic or platonic.

Yet something made him wish he was there for her instead. Something made him wish he had known her way sooner, under completely different circumstances that had nothing to do with killing her father, and everything to do with her as a person.

With them as mates.

Maybe, Estelle wouldn't hate him then. Just maybe.

"I get it," he said truthfully, despite the feeling of irrational jealousy that seeped inside him. "Kind of."

"Kind of?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. "I was just a teenage girl. As if you and Irene..."

Victor couldn't help it, he grinned. "On the contrary, little wolf, I never had feelings about Irene."

She swallowed, almost feeling the bitterness on her throat. "But you have been... intimate with her?"

He shrugged once, enjoying this a bit too much. "I have," he admitted.

Estelle felt some sort of possessiveness inside all of the sudden, and a kind of anger and betrayal too. When in fact, she knew she had no right to. They were nothing.

So why did it hurt this much?

"Okay." She placed the glass on the dresser, attempting to walk away.

"Okay?" He repeated, amused.

"Yeah, okay." She made herself smile, although it was entirely fake. Yeah, she had no right. No right to be this bitter and absolutely no right to feel like that; like she wanted to strangle him and then kiss him until she took his breath away so he'd never think of another woman but her.

"Little wolf."

"Go get some sleep, Victor. This has been a long night for both of us."