Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 255: A shame.

Leilani.

"I do not think that what you propose will be of any help to me, seeing as my brother, Gavin, has already tasked himself with helping me search for antidotes of the Moonveil draught elixir..." I began to say but stopped when he smiled at me, a flicker of amusement crossing his features as he himself crossed his arms over his chest.

Something about that amusement gleaming in his eyes unsettled me and told me everything that I think I ought to know about my situation, which was:

Firstly: that I was deceiving myself, plain and simple! And I couldn’t help but think that maybe... just maybe there was no cure for the Moonveil draught, especially since it is not even a common elixir to begin with.

Or maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe I was just so uninformed, I probably look like a naive brat right now.

I chewed on my bottom lip as I took a quick step backward, but as I moved, I couldn’t help but feel slightly jittery.

Why?

Because he was still watching me in that predator stalking its prey kind of way. He was looking at me so intently, one would think he was waiting for me to have a misstep or something. His swirling purple eyes raked from my head to the tips of my boots, and then he muttered;

"Okay.’’

Just okay? Okay and nothing else?

I breathed out a sigh of relief and turned away, but just as I was about to walk out, his voice had me halting in my tracks again. He said; "If you’re certain that the antidote he’s searching for right now is exactly what you need to get your wolf back, then fine."

I cocked my eyebrows at him as I turned around to face him, my heart hammering against my chest as I muttered; "I hope it is."

"I know it isn’t." He replied, causing my heart to plummet so fast, I almost thought it was impossible. However, before I could respond to that, he dragged in a deep breath and asked; "You’ve never asked me anything about your father. Why?’’

I froze, and goddess, in that moment, it felt as though my tongue had suddenly been glued to the roof of my mouth.

It felt as though I was breathing through my eyes and not my mouth.

My body trembled slightly and a shuddering breath escaped my lips. However, as if noticing my sudden unease, his eyes softened as he continued; "Do you not care to know who he was? Do you not know that the people of his pack now think that you may be fit to rule them?’’

"And isn’t that the same pack that you intend to rule?’’ I breathed out after a moment but he simply shrugged, his voice low as he answered with a detached;

"With you.’’ He said quickly– a little too quickly.

At his words, I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze and the emotions– or lack thereof– that I found there had my breath hitching in my chest.

My first instinct was to shake my head and that was exactly what I did. I whispered; "No."

"No, what?"

"No, I do not wish to rule. However, I do wish to know who my father was before his death but I do not wish to wed you all in the name of resurrecting my dead wolf."

He snickered; "Or lycan."

"Or lycan." I agreed sternly.

Then silence. He didn’t speak another word and neither did I. Instead, I spent the next four minutes and twenty two seconds— I know because I counted— watching the floor, memorising its ugly designs and calming my raging heartbeat.

Just as expected, when I lifted my gaze to meet Darius’ gaze again, I noticed that he was already looking at me in a way that I found nerve-wrecking.

He drawled; "You do not wish to wed me?"

I nodded so fast one would think I didn’t fully hear his question before responding. I murmured; "Yes."

"Why?"

"Does it not sound weird to you?!" I snapped, unable to help the way my voice rose a few notches. "You’re like my brother. You’re the only paternal family I know of, and yet you think marrying me is the way out of this situation?"

"But... you’re not my sister," He hissed lowly, causing me to roll my eyes as I spat;

"Duh, I am your cousin!"

"And people marry their cousins!"

Oh now that was absurd! Completely and utterly ridiculous!

Deciding that I didn’t want to listen to any more of this absurd nonsense, I threw my hands into the air and snapped; "Yes, people may do that but I cannot! I cannot marry you for some stupid sick reasons, most especially for a wolf that is as good as nonexistent!"

"Okay."

Okay again? What the fuck is it with this guy and the word ’okay?’

Just as I was about to ask that, he added; " But you could think about it, you know? I am not asking that we get married quickly, I am just—"

"Darius, no." I snapped, interrupting him.

I didn’t miss the way he frowned when I cut him off. And I especially did not miss the way his nostrils flared ever so slightly before he turned and looked away.

When he looked back at me seconds later, he seemed... fine. Not angry. Hell, he’d adorned his usual look of indifference back on.

He nodded; "Also, you seem to be getting something wrong. I never told you that your father was dead."

And heaven help me. As soon as I heard that, it felt as though a heavy boulder had just settled at the base of my stomach, making me nauseous. I frowned; "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what you hear."

But I didn’t believe him. Heavens, how could I? How could I even stand here listening to... to this?

"And if he’s not dead, how are you on the throne?"

"He’s deposed. No one knows for sure or has any idea where he is. All I know is that a couple of years ago, he disappeared without a trace... and from what I was told, he did it because he wanted to. Because he was tired of the burdensome responsibility of being Alpha and head of the dark knights." He explained, and truth be told, I didn’t know how to respond to that.

I didn’t know whether to cry or to laugh. Whether to believe the things I was hearing. Goddess, I didn’t know if I could speak right now without feeling the tears stinging at the corners of my eyes.

So I settled with dropping my gaze and wrapping my arms around my shaky body. My voice was soft and barely above a whisper when I looked up at him; I asked; "When did this happen?"

"Several years ago, love," he replied coldly, "but please do not ask me why he did it. I’ve always asked myself that and could never ever think of the right answer."

I shuddered.

And God, I do not know why I was this shaken over a man that I never knew about. I do not know why my mood felt as though it had plummeted for a man who up until seconds ago, I thought was dead.

Pushing these thoughts away, I sighed. "Okay," and when it began to seem as though, he doesn’t have anything else to say to me, I found myself bowing slightly as I muttered;

"I’d love to take my leave now."

"Okay."

"We may talk about all of these later."

"No problem."

I then turned and began to walk away, but just as I approached the door, his voice cut through the quiet air. He said;

"Think about my proposal, Leilani." It didn’t sound like a plea, it was an order.

I frowned. "No."

"No, really think about it. Do not jump into refusing me because you might end up changing your mind later on... and that will be a shame."