Chapter 58
Chapter 58
“A – Alpha Cahir –“ I'd never seen a man this big look this terrified before. A sturdy, heavy-built man walked towards us with a stooped gait and his hands clasped behind him. Sweat soaked the collar of his shirt and he looked everywhere except at Cahir who he was addressing. "You are?" My mate asked in a gravel voice that had the man taking a step back.
"I'm Alpha Matthew, the manager of the hotel. It's a pleasure to meet you." He held out his shaky, sweat-soaked hands to Cahir who looked at the hand for a second and then looked back up at the sweating man.
"You're too late.” Cold pricked my skin from his icy tone.
"A – Alpha, excuse our insufficient and lack - lack of foresight. We should have provided the madam with adequate - adequate security. Please - punish me, not - not my poor staff."
"I'll punish you, all right." The man jerked back, raising his head a fraction before hunching over again. "You and everyone in this pack.”
"S - Sir, please -"
"I wasn't born yesterday. Your Alpha always had problems with me but ver expected him to go this far." Did this mean Cahir already knew the people responsible for the attack?
"No - Absolutely not. The pack didn't orchestrate this, sir-some hoodlums have been - they have been circling the island for - for a while now -"
"Save your breath, Matthew. This hotel and all its franchises in Alpha Blood will be closed down effective today. This decision doesn't concern you. Your Alpha is a coward to push you
forward for his mistake." "Sir -" The large man fell on his face and it was a sight. "Please, don't do this. I have a family to feed -" He rolled on the ground and my eyes widened.
"Please, don't do that," I murmured, appalled at the sight of a grown man rolling on the ground. The man perked up and as if realizing I was there for the first time, he flew to his feet and almost ran into me. I jumped back at the same time Cahir moved to stop the man from advancing toward me.
"I just - Luna - You understand - Please!" The man shouted. I couldn't see him from behind Cahir but I could hear the wretchedness in his tone. "You want to attack my mate?" Cahir growled. My fingers trembled from the way he spoke.
"No, not I The Luna understands that -"
“Let's go, Sihana, You don't know have to witness this ugly sight." Cahir took my hand and we proceeded outside where a car awaited us, Sebastian standing at the side.
"Alpha -" He straightened when he saw us emerging from the hotel. I stuck close to Cahir, noticing that not only had the bodies been moved but there wasn't any evidence that anything happened here.
"Go home, Sebastian. You can think of your punishment from home."
"I just want to apologize - to - to the Luna -"
"She would have died." I clutched Cahir's hand tighter. "I entrusted her safety to you but you failed me." His tone went quiet, almost to a murmur. Fear gripped me and I gripped his bicep with my other hand, hanging on to him. I didn't want to see that side of him again. I didn't want to see him angry again. “We will take care of our business when we get to Alpha Blood. Go home."
"Y-Yes, Alpha." The other man bowed his head and trudged back into the hotel with a
shoulder hanging forward as if he carried the weight of the world alone. Cahir and I got into the car and he instructed the driver to take us to the closest mall. The roads were crammed - it looked as if there was a festival going on so we met many people with painted faces dancing and laughing.
I pressed my nose into the window, watching the people dance and laugh. It must be nice to dance with your pack mates and be happy. I'd never had that kind of happiness. I'd never been included in any activities that happened in Silver Moon pack but I'd been involved in cleaning up after they had their fun.
"We'll stop for breakfast before we go for my clothes," Cahir said. I nodded without listening to him.
I wasn't hungry. How could I be hungry after a near-death experience? With all the things I uncovered before this afternoon, the last thing on my mind was food.
"You're fine now." He took my hand as if he knew what I was thinking.
We got to the mall after driving through the festival causing traffic. The mall was quite small but they had all the necessities.
"What would you like?" Cahir asked as I studied the menu seeing nothing on it.
"Anything is fine," I answered still staring at the menu. The visual of blood covering the floor assailed me from nowhere and made bile rise in my throat. "No" I lowered the menu, shaking my head. "I don't - I don't want to eat. I'm not hungry."
"You have had nothing all day," he reminded me.
I hadn't had food today but I had had
enough. The thought of people I didn't know trying to hurt me wasn't something I could just get over in a few hours. Thinking of how long would be plagued by the vision of dead men lying in the pool of their blood after trying to hurt me made my stomach churn. Would I go to sleep every night only to be
disturbed by that
visual? "But I'm not hungry," I answered my mate.
"Okay." He shrugged, putting down his menu. "Let's go."
"N - No." A sense of shame and defeat wormed into my heart. "Just because - You can eat. I'll just have a bottle of water and wait for you."
"You're going to watch me eat without eating anything yourself?" His brows raised and my cheeks flushed. Why did I have to blush so darn often!?
“But aren't you hungry?” I asked instead of replying to his condescending question.
"The idea of you watching while I eat has killed my appetite." Oh.
"I'm sorry." I hung my head.
"That was a joke.” I raised my head to look at his serious face. How could he call that a joke when he looked dead serious? "When I found out you Were gone -" He started then paused to determine if he wanted to tell me more or not. "When I got home and I couldn't catch your scent, my stomach tied itself into a knot. That knot is only just unravelling so I am not hungry yet."
When Aristo said he would be
worried out of his mind, I thought he
was exaggerating. I assumed Cahir would be angry - furious that I
dared to disobey his instruction to stay at home. I didn't expect that he would care about me. In fact, in my naivety, I convinced myself that he didn't care for me as much more than a body to warm his bed, thinking he didn't see me as a mate when in reality he only wanted to protect me.
"Let's get some ice cream for now." I perked up at that suggestion.
"Y-Yeah, let's!" I tried to hide my excitement but I failed. The corners of his lips lifted in a small smile.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
"You like ice cream?" He asked, lacing our fingers as we walked out of the restaurant
without eating. "It's just -" How could I say this without sounding pathetic? "It's just that I haven't had any in well - quite a few years." In truth, I'd had ice cream only twice in my life. The first time, one of my father's maids bought it for my birthday and the next time, I stole it from my father's fridge.
I'd never forget what my father did to me when he caught me stealing from his fridge. He threw out the entire bowl of ice cream after he gave me the beating of my life. I was nine years old when that happened and it was the last time I ever had any ice cream.
Goddess, how did I ever think I could get such a man to love me? Why did I ever crave the affection of someone so wicked? He would rather throw his food away than give it to me, his daughter. I was nobody to my father and it only hurt me that I came to that realization too late.
"One minute." Cahir snatched his hand from mine and took out his wallet. He handed me a card.
“W – Why are you giving me your card?" I asked, taking it with shaky hands.
"I don't want you ever running off again but if you do, I want you to book the best hotel with that card and buy as much ice cream as you want."