Chapter 26 Two Steps Backwards
Xander
"Moon Goddess, you look just like her," my father says to Vanessa.
My body freezes. Who's he referring to?
Who-Who are you talking about?" I hear Vanessa's voice crack a little as she asks.
"Your mother, Ariana," my father confirms.
I hold my breath as soon as he says the name. It can't be...
I turn my head to look at Vanessa more closely. The ginger-red hair, the electric blue eyes, even the fierce personality. How could I have missed it all?
"H-how did you know my mother?" Vanessa presses, confirming my fears.
My father's usually cold, dark eyes seem to soften a little - surprising the hell out of me - as he looks at Vanessa with something akin to...pity.
"I will be seeing you around, Vanessa." Without another word, he signals for me to follow him, and with one last look at her, I leave. Her face with devastation written all over, is the last thing I see before rounding the corner.
My father and I walk in silence for a long time and just when I can't take it anymore, he speaks up.
"You can't marry her." He says, a note of finality engraved in his voice.
The words feel like whiplash and I halt in my movement. "What? Why?" I demand, but I shouldn't have.
He whirls around to face me. "Don't question me, son. I'm doing this for the both of you."
I clench my fingers, the thought of nullifying our contract welling up an unexplainable emotion with me, making my wolf whimper. "Then tell me the reason, father." My words coming out as an almost plea.
His face darkens into a stormy cloud of rage. "She's not meant for our world. It's too dangerous, and she's gone through more than enough in her short life." His expression softens and he straightens up. "I'll reach out to the Alpha of Silver Crest Pack, and set you up with Iliana," he concludes. Without waiting for a response, he storms off.
Iliana? We've been friends for more than a decade and I know she's not even into men!
A low growl rips from my throat as I think of how to break the news to Vanessa. No, the contract stays in place and she remains my bride until I, say so.
I'm sitting behind my desk in my private office, head in hand and thoughts all jumbled together when the door slams open, making me snap my head up to growl at the intruder.
Max struts into the room, a frown on his face as he notices my disheveled state.
"What's got your brooding ass beat, Xanny?" he chirps.
Sometimes I look at him and wonder if he's ever even had a bad day, or he covers it all up with smiles and bad jokes.
But then, my mind goes back to that day I found Max devastated for the first time, it was what catapulted us into friendship. I never want to see that look on him again, so I barely complain, even when he's being a complete nuisance. Like right now.
I roll my eyes at him before recounting the events of the day. It first starts with a whistle, then a snort, before bursting into full-blown laughter. His head is thrown back, hands on his belly as he delights in my predicament.
"I'm glad you find my situation so amusing," I grunt.
Max wipes the stray tears gathering in the corner of his eyes from too much laughter. "Moon Goddess, I can't believe he wants to hitch you up with the ice queen. Can you even imagine the kind of couple you'll make? You're cold, she's cold. Oh my." He wraps his arms around himself, his body shivering slightly as if from a cold.
"Iliana isn't cold. She just isn't... sociable."
That was actually putting it lightly. Iliana may have been my friend for years, but she always has this icy demeanor when it comes to relating with people and it's so bad that she's been nicknamed, the ice queen.
"Yeah, right and I breathe in carbon dioxide." His eyes roll almost to the back of his head.
"So, what's the next plan?" Max asks.
"I'm not so sure, but I'll make sure to give Iliana a heads-up for now."
"Yeap, that's a pretty good idea, before she freezes this whole place with just icy looks and venomous words," Max says with a pout.
For someone who's a social butterfly and has spent most of his life surrounded by people, he has never gotten along with Iliana. As much effort I make to put them alongside each other, they can barely stand each other's presence.
His sudden bout of laughter has my hackles rising and I decide I've had enough of him and proceed to send him away.
For the next few days, I avoid Vanessa at all costs. The devastated look on her face at my father's mention of her mother still haunts me. Ariana and my mother had been close and the contract bringing us together must be fate of sorts.
Once, I saw her coming from a distance she tried talking to me but instead, I don't wait and flee in the other direction.
I know it's a coward move but it's the best for now.
Now again, I watch her from a distance, her soft ginger-red hair dancing softly as the wind picks up. She's overlooking the gardens and seems to be in deep thoughts but the moment her eyes land on me, she runs and I immediately turn around in the direction of my wing.
A few moments later and she's in front of me, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath like she ran a marathon.
How did she even catch up so fast?
"That's a secret I won't tell," she rasps as her breathing starts to return to normal.
She straightens and prowls towards me, her electric blue eyes ablaze with fire and I take a step back. She follows and continues to follow my every backward step until my back hits the wall.
She places a hand on either side of me on the wall, her 5'7 frame enclosing my 6'2 own and she pins me with a deadly gaze as she spits, "What the fuck is wrong with you, Xander?"