~Celine~
The ray of the sun found its way into my room through my window, hitting my sleepy face.
“Uhm.” I groaned, turning to my side so I could avoid the intense brightness I could feel under my eyelids.
My eyes slightly opened as I stared at the wall. At first, my vision was blurry, but then I blinked several times until I could get a clearer vision.
Memories of the previous night came running down my memory lane, making me roll my eyes. Kiara made me do what I didn’t want.
It was indeed pleasurable, I enjoyed it. But, if I had my way, he wouldn’t have marked me so soon.
While I thought about it, I recalled we fell asleep cuddling, but now, I couldn’t feel him close to me anymore.
I turned to my right to look at him, only to find out I was alone on the bed. He was nowhere to be found.
“Alpha Kilhan?!” I called, looking at the door to my bathroom, hoping he was going to answer from inside there or come out, but I was wrong.
Everywhere was silent.
“Where the hell is he?” I mumbled, holding onto the bed as I sat up.
I looked around the room again, until my eyes fell on a neatly folded paper on my bedside table. Immediately, I believed it was left by him.
I reached for the paper, opened and began to read the note;
“Good morning, beautiful. I’m sorry you didn’t get to see my face the very minute you woke up. I got an urgent call from home and I had to attend to it. I promise to be back by evening. Please get ready for me. I’ll be bringing you home. See you soon, beautiful.”
A feeble smile lit up my face as I read his cute note. Not only were his words cute, but also his handwriting. He had a bold one like that of a ten-year-old.
Under the note, he wrote his name and drew a very horrible-looking heart-shaped image which made me burst into laughter.
‘He is everything but a horrible artist.’ I thought as I neatly folded the note again and placed it on the bedside table.
I heaved a loud sigh, staring into space as I began to think. ‘I have to accept the fact that I am now officially his mate. Maybe he isn’t as horrible as my father. Maybe he isn’t a bad Alpha. There’s nothing much I can do right now.’
I got off my bed and walked to the mirror. I pushed down the collar of my nightie and blankly stared at my lower neck, where he planted his mark.
It wasn’t painful and it wasn’t like he bit me at all, but its mark was very evident.
“This is so embarrassing,” I muttered, rolling my eyes.
Moving to my closet, I opened it and stared at my things. “Where do I start packing from?”
“Do I need to take these masks and face caps to New York City too? I don’t think I’d pull attention to myself, especially my father’s if I keep a low profile in Alpha Kilhan’s house.” I said to myself as I began to pack my clothes.
Remembering my father again, fear gripped me. The last time I checked, he was aware I was in New York City.
‘What if he knows Alpha Kilhan? I mean, my father isn’t in New York but what if he has connections here and happens to be Alpha Kilhan’s business partner or friend? They are both well-known Alphas!’
Goosebumps grew all over my skin at the thought of this. I was terrified and this made me sit on my bed to think things through once again.
“Do you think if he knew your father, he wouldn’t know you are his daughter? Remember you’re famous in New Orleans too.” Kiara uttered, making me raise my brows in realization.
She was right. If they truly knew each other, he must have mentioned it or even taken me back to my father, but he didn’t.
“That means his intentions are pure, right?” I asked Kiara.
“Of course”
“Tch.” I stood up from the bed in frustration. What was I expecting? Kiara is his biggest fan. Of course, she’d support him.
While I folded my clothes, my gaze fell on my coffee shop uniform and my eyes popped wide open.
Instantly, I recalled what had happened between Alpha Kilhan and Xavier. I completely forgot about him.
“How could I?!” I scolded myself in disbelief, dropping all I was doing and rushing into the bathroom to take a shower.
I needed to see him and apologize for what happened. I knew he probably hated me already, but I still wanted to apologize.
After rushing through everything, I added my finishing touches which were my mask and face cap, and headed out.
Even though Xavier saw my face already, I believed I still had to keep my face hidden from the people of Beacon City.
I’m still the bounty girl even though Alpha Kilhan promised to get rid of the posters.
Getting on my scooter, I rode fast to the coffee shop. Parking my scooter next to the door, I noticed the closed sign on the door.
“That is weird,” I muttered, taking a glance at my wristwatch. “It’s 9 a.m. Mr. Norway should have been here to open up.”
I reached for the keys in my scooter box and put them in the keyhole, only to find out the door was opened already.
“He forgot to switch the sign?” I thought as I walked into the shop.
Immediately, my jaw dropped and my heart sank to my belly when I looked up. The shop was a complete mess!
The tables and chairs were overturned, some had been broken with their pieces all over the floor. It was vandalized.
“Oh, my goddess. Mr. Norway?!” I called out, running to the counter.
The glass window on the counter was terribly damaged and as I slowly walked in terror, my shoes kept crushing the glasses on the floor, making uncomfortable sounds.
“Mr…” before I could call out his name again, I heard a sound from inside his office.
“Mr. Norway!” I ran into his office, only to stop abruptly after seeing him lying on the floor, with a pool of blood around him. He laid lifeless!
“No! No! No!” Tears rolled down my eyes uncontrollably as I gradually moved closer to his body. I covered my mouth with my palm as I broke into more tears.
His face was brutally smashed, and I could hardly recognize him.
The sound I heard came again, causing me to jolt. I looked at the direction of the sound and there was Xavier, sitting and resting his back against his father’s desk.
His chest rose and fell as he struggled to breathe. He was also covered in blood.
“Xavier!!” I yelled in terror, running to where he was.
“Oh my… Xavier, what happened? Who did this?!” I cried, touching his body, trying to find where he was bleeding out from.
“Who the hell did this?!” I yelled, looking at his face again, and he just stared back at me weakly.
He parted his mouth to speak, revealing his blood-stained teeth.
“Why… why, don’t… you… mate.” He stuttered, making it very hard for me to understand what he was saying.
“What are you saying? Listen… we need to get you to the hospital. Stop talking, okay?” I answered, lifting his arm so I could put it around my neck and lift him, but he pushed me off weakly.
“Your mate!” He grunted, and my eyes widened.
“What?! Alpha Kilhan?!”