Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 251: Lost.

Kael.

For a couple of days now, since Gavin’s engagement party to be precise, sleep has completely eluded me.

And that in other words simply means that for the past forty-eight hours or more, I haven’t slept a wink.

Why?

Why else? Because of Leilani, of course!

I couldn’t close my eyes without seeing her face— smiling, but not at me; I couldn’t inhale deeply without breathing in her sweet flowery scent that felt like a blend of vanilla, blueberries and a hint of something else... something wild that sets my blood on fire.

However, what I hated wasn’t the fact that she haunted my dreams. It was the fact that I wanted her like a crazed man wants salvation... but unfortunately, I could never have her.

Not now. Not ever.

I could never get her to smile at me the way she smiles at Frostclaw. I could never get her to dance with me like she had danced with Zevran.

Goddess, there were a lot of things I wanted to do to her... and a lot of places I wanted to go with her. But I could never experience those.

And that was why it hurt.

These thoughts made me ball my hands into tight fists as I glared straight at the television. But could I make any sense of what I was watching?

Hell no!

It was that bad.

"If you continue to frown at the TV like that, then the protagonist would die even before the antagonist gets to him." A voice suddenly said from behind me and I didn’t even need to check to know that it was none other than Zevran.

I also didn’t need to look at him to know that he was just as troubled as I was— probably for the same reason as I was.

I sighed. "I do not even understand anything about the movie because I haven’t really been watching it."

"I don’t either..." he cut in and when I turned to steal a glance at him, he beamed a smile at me and continued; "...and that’s because I’ve been forced to watch you instead of it."

Silence.

That was what settled between us as I let his words wash over me. But for some reason, even at this moment, it wasn’t his words that I thought about. He wasn’t even the least thought flying through my head.

What I was thinking about was what I would have to do to make Leilani watch a movie with me. I couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take to have her comfortable around us to that extent...

Just as I thought these things, Zevran’s voice seeped into my mind. He drawled; "What is the matter? Is it Leilani?"

’Yeah right!’ I thought inwardly but didn’t dare say that out loud.

However, when he repeated the question, thinking that I didn’t hear him the first time, my breath hitched. And maybe that was the dead giveaway because then he smiled and shook his head at me, his lips curling upward as he continued; "Overthinking wouldn’t change anything."

"And who talked about changing anything?" I bit back, hating the way I sounded too sharp.

"You don’t want to change the way she perceives us? You don’t want to change the relationship between us and her?"

Even though those were the exact things I wanted spelt out— Gosh, I needed them just as much as I needed oxygen— I couldn’t help but shake my head. I snorted; "It is too late."

"It isn’t!" Zevran argued, managing to rile me up even further.

I snapped; "It is!"

He snapped his lips shut.

"Do you think it’ll be easy to simply abaracadabra our way into washing away ten years of inhumane treatment out of our history? Do you think because she allowed you to rest your hand on her waist during the dance that day— mind you, I wished it was me— that she’s simply forgiven you for torturing her senseless? Did you not see her reaction when she first thought that we would let Chalice go Scot free after everything?"

"And what does that have to do with anything?!" Zevran yelled, but as soon as he did, it seemed as though the realization suddenly dawned on him as he clamped his lips together and drew in a sharp breath.

"It has to do with everything!" I answered anyway, even after knowing that he already knows what I mean. "It means that she isn’t willing to let anyone go unpunished. Be it Chalice, her parents, you, Caelum or me!"

He sighed.

However, just as he was about to respond, a bodyguard rushed into the room. His eyes darted from my face to Zevran’s before he quickly dropped his gaze and greeted;

"Good day Alphas."

"Speak!" I commanded him coldly, ignoring the way he flinched slightly before regaining his composure.

"The council of elders have requested your presence in the throne room." He announced, bowing his head, "...and they demand to see you now."

As soon as I heard those words, my mood instantly plummeted even lower than it was seconds ago. The frown on my face deepened too because I needed no soothsayer to know what they intended to talk about at the so-called meeting.

Chalice.

However, what bothered me the most wasn’t the fact that all her evil doings had been brought to light, it was the effects that it would have on us. On our reputation and the company.

I also wondered what they had to say about our sudden marriage annulment, and knowing that all of these were the reasons they’d called for this meeting put me on edge.

I turned to Zevran. "Mind link Caelum."

"I have already done that." He answered quickly. And after dismissing the bodyguard, he turned to me again, and this time, I saw the real fear on his face. The panic. The confusion.

He asked; "What do you think they’re here for?"

Usually, this was the part where I should’ve tried to sugarcoat my words a little but I was too irritated to do that. I didn’t even think I was in the mood to beat around the bush, so I shrugged and said;

"About Chalice of course."

"Caelum is there already..." he responded, then after a pause, added; "...and so is Micah. I don’t think they’re here to only talk about Chalice."