~Celine~
Moaning softly, my heavy eyes parted. I turned to my right side, trying to find another comfortable posture before diving into the slumberland.
After readjusting myself, I closed my eyes to sleep again, but then I just couldn’t anymore. In frustration, I finally opened my eyes.
My gaze fell on my phone on the bedside table and I reached for it. Unlocking it, I saw I got a message from Xavier already.
‘I bet he’s so mad at me right now.’
“Hey, Celine. I’m sorry but we can’t meet today anymore. Something came up. I’ll let you know when next we’ll meet.”
“Hold on…” I muttered, rereading his text to be sure I saw what I saw correctly.
“Celine?” My eyes popped wide open. “How does he know I am Celine?”
In fear and terror, I began to calculate and evaluate deeply as I tried to figure out how he got to know my name.
‘I have never mentioned anything about my real identity to him. All he knew was that I was the same girl on the bounty poster, and those posters didn’t even have my name.’
At this realization, my heart began to thump aggressively against my chest. I became flummoxed and hastily got out of bed.
Pacing in front of my bed, I began to think deeper. “How could he have found out my real name? Is this why he wanted to see me? Did my father catch up with him?”
The last question made me even more terrified. ‘What else could it be?! My father must have caught up with him and that is why Xavier wanted to see me!’
It all made sense and at the same time, sent chills down my spine. I couldn’t help but imagine what would have happened if I had not been stopped by Alpha Kilhan and had gone.
I would have been back to my father’s house and probably married to Alpha Marcus by now. I shook my head in extreme disbelief and disappointment.
“I thought I could trust Xavier but I was wrong,” I said to Kiara, slamming into the bed weakly.
“I think the only person you can trust now is your mate, Kilhan,” Kiara answered, and I nodded in agreement.
And just when I thought I had a friend, my father had to ruin it again!
While I sat on my bed and reminisced on what I had learned about Xavier, there was a knock on my door, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Come in,” I uttered, and the door opened almost immediately, revealing Alpha Kilhan.
“Hey, baby. How are you feeling now?” He asked as he walked up to me. He squatted in front of me and placed his hand on my forehead.
“I think I feel so much better now,” I answered, forcing out a smile.
“I’m glad you do. I was worried about you.” He uttered, kissing my forehead before standing. “C’mon now, baby. Dinner is ready.”
He stretched his hand to me and I took it. I rested my body weight on him as I stood up. He chuckled and held onto me, making sure I didn’t fall back.
We made our way out of the room to the dining area where everyone was seated already. There were two chairs next to each other that were empty. I could guess it was for us.
After we settled down, we started dishing out the food. I looked at Betty who sat next to Drex and I noticed she had a dull look.
I furrowed my brows as I stared at her closely. She wasn’t looking as good and enthusiastic as she’s always been and this surprised me.
I leaned closer to Alpha Kilhan as he served my food. “What’s up with Betty?” I whispered in his ear.
“What?” He raised his head to look at her and noticed she wasn’t herself. She didn’t even bother looking at us.
“I don’t know. Just ignore her.” He answered with a feeble smile.
I nodded reluctantly, turning my head to look at her again. I knew I was supposed to be happy that she wasn’t bothering me anymore, but I couldn’t help but feel curious.
As we started eating, I slowly drifted my attention from Betty to the pressing issue on my mind, and that was Xavier finding out about my real name.
I zoned out several times, imagining the worst thing that could happen if the truth was eventually revealed.
Dinner ended after a few minutes and Kilhan and I headed to his room. While we were holding hands, my phone began to ring.
I stopped walking and checked my phone screen to see it was a private number calling. I creased my brows as I stared at the contact suspiciously.
“You should pick that in front of Kilhan,” Kiara said to me.
I heaved a sigh and turned to look at Alpha Kilhan who was staring at me and my phone simultaneously.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, and I shook my head, letting out a smile.
“I’ll get this. You should go ahead.” I uttered, and he nodded, showing he was cool with it. He let go of me and walked away. I kept my eyes on him as I answered the phone.
“Who is this?” She asked in a quiet tone, heading to her room.
“Hey, Celine.”
My eyes popped wide open and I felt my heart stop as I heard his voice. I could feel my blood pouring out of my heart rapidly causing me to instantly feel faint.
“Alpha Marcus?”
“You still remember my voice. Isn’t that so sweet of you?” He asked with a chuckle.
I slammed my room door behind me and held onto the wall for support. For some reason, he felt so close to me as I heard him speak. It was like he was right behind him.
“How… how did you get my phone number?” I stuttered.
“Oh please. How I got your phone number should be the least of your worries. I know where you are, Celine. And I want you to know I’m on my way to get you. We are finally going to be together, my mate.”
“I am not your mate!” I yelled, almost forgetting where I was. “I have never been your mate and will never be. I have my mate and so do you, and she’s not me! When will you accept this truth?” I blustered in anger and fear.
If he knew where I was, then no doubt, my father was close too.
“If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t yell at me, Celine. I can decide to put a call across to your father right now and tell him where you are. You know your so-called mate can’t stand your father and me.”
“I don’t care what you do!” I tried to summon courage.
“Are you sure you don’t? Listen to me, Celine. All I want from you is to come to me. Let’s meet up, and your father doesn’t have to know where you are.”
“And you expect me to believe that you are not in touch with him?! I’m never meeting up with you.” I insisted.
“You know I hate lies, Celine. If he had an idea of your whereabouts, I wouldn’t even be on the phone with you. He would come right there to get you, even if he has to kill that Alpha Kilhan. Do you want to put him in danger? You know your father would do anything to get you back.”
I tightened my jaws so hard that I felt my teeth hurt. “I don’t care what he does anymore. Leave me alone. And don’t you dare come for me! Kilhan will protect me with his life.” I answered before I could think.
“Hahahaha.” He broke into laughter. “You sure are so stubborn. I miss that about you. I’ll let you know when we are going to meet, or you can start saying your goodbyes to Kilhan. I’ll destroy him if that’s what it takes to get to you. And I won’t do it alone. Alpha Darius Gomez will be with me.”
Before I could respond, he hung up. My breathing grew intense and sweet began to ooze out of my pores. I wasn’t myself anymore.
My hands began to shiver as I placed my phone on the bed. I began dumbstruck as I tried to think of what next I could do.
I rushed out of my room and headed to Kilhan. Getting to his room, I found him lying on his bed.
“Baby, you’re here.” He opened his arms as I climbed the bed to embrace him. As he cuddled me, my eyes were wide open, still feeling very terrified.
“Are you okay? You are awkwardly silent.” Alpha Kilhan added, raising my head so he could look at my face.
I forced on a smile and nodded. “I’m fine. I was just thinking.”
“About?”
“Us. Why don’t we go on a honeymoon? Let's spend some time away from New York City. Let’s go somewhere far and spend time together. Just the two of us. We get rid of our phones and stay out of contact.”
“Hmm.” He narrowed his gaze at me. “That is really thoughtful of you and sounds so fun! But…” He brushed my hair with his hand. “We can’t leave now.”
“Why?”
“Because I am still very busy with my business here. Remember I’m working on expanding my business. Work has started and I can’t just leave. I need to be here until the work has gotten to a certain level.”
Hearing this, I grew impatient. ‘Why can’t he just say yes and then we leave until Alpha Marcus gives up?!’
“But Drex can take care of that, right? When do I know you’re going to finish with this?” I muttered sadly.
“Yes, he can. But I can’t just let him handle it. He has other things to look after too. We can always go some other time, Baby. We have our lifetime to spend together, we have enough time to go on honeymoons. Not just now, okay?”
Clenching my jaws in acceptance of his rejection, I nodded. “Fine,” I mumbled, burying my head in his chest again.
My heart began to race again as my first plan had failed. ‘What do I do now? I can’t let him come here, and I can’t let him hurt Kilhan and his pack because of me.’
“What do I do Kiara?”
This time, Kiara went silent as she was as confused and scared as I was.
‘Should I just run away again or just give up and go to Alpha Marcus?’