Chapter 56 No More Lies, Miss
Vanessa
"Hello, you must be Vanessa. I've heard so much about you," a familiar voice greets.
I turn to find a tall, elegant woman walking over to me. Her blonde hair is made into a neat French twist, her royal blue eyes are filled with warmth as she stretches out a hand to me.
"Only good things I hope," I reply, shaking her hand.
She lets out a small laugh. "All the important ones." Then she strokes her chin thoughtfully as she looks me over, I stiffen.
Is there something wrong? The question is on the tip of my tongue but I refrain from asking outright.
"Although, I love your hair so much, it's beautiful," she says genuinely. "I think I just found me an Ariel," she beams.
A slow smile spreads on my face. "Ooh, I think I just found me a Cinderella," I reply wiggling my eyebrows.
We both laugh out loudly, and just like that, relief settles between us, unexpected and welcome.
I had thought meeting Lucinda again would feel different, in a bad way. I was already braced for awkwardness the moment I had gotten seated in one of the garden benches. I expected immediate snide remarks, and scorching glares, but all of that disappeared the moment Lucinda greeted me with a warm smile and genuine kindness in her eyes.
I feel like such an asshole.
Still not able to believe I had been having a long time beef with an already mated woman. But then again, it wasn't like her words and actions were any better than mine.
"Vanessa," she calls softly. "Thank you."
"What for?" I ask, baffled.
"Your presence in Xander's life has brought significant changes - positive changes - and I truly appreciate it."
What kinds of 'positive' changes could I have brought into Xander, asides from being a fucking asshole, that is?
Lucinda huffs. "He's not that bad." Oh did I say that out loud? Oops.
I roll my eyes at her words. "Yeah right. Max also said the same thing."
She gives me a wistful smile. "Xander has been... through a lot since a very young age. What happened to him, isn't my story to tell, but it's a major part of what shaped him into who he is today.
He was bright-eyed, playful, even sometimes mischievous with a great vision for the future...until tragedy struck."
I don't know why, but my chest squeezes to the point of pain as I try to picture a once bright Xander, before life decided to rip his happiness away without warning.
"But now I've seen him again, I see glimpses of the boy I grew up with, and it's all because of you."
What? That's not true. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Maybe he finally decided that the pains of his past won't cause him any further damage, and he's gonna take control of it.
I shake my head. "No, Luce, I don't think the changes you see have anything to do with me," I say, noticing she doesn't even react to the nickname that slips.
"No, Vanessa," she disagrees. "It has everything to do with you and I'd like you to keep it that way. Both of you," she tells me with a smile.
Well, what am I gonna say to that?
"Yes, ma'am," I salute. We both laugh.
"I'm sorry for how I treated you when I got here," she says, her voice sheepish.
I wave it off. "I wasn't exactly the nicest bitch on the block either."
"Still, it was wrong of me to let us get started on the wrong foot," she insists.
Yeah, it was one hell of a wrong foot.
"Yeah," I say. We're slowly amending that.
"Even if my intentions have been pure from the start. I truly apologize."
I scoot closer to her, wrapping her in my arms. "Hey, it's okay," I soothe. "We all make mistakes, and get started on the wrong foot with people - at least I know I have. A lot." She chuckles.
"So yeah, all's forgiven, maybe not forgotten, but that's the point. To learn from our mistakes and make sure to do better."
She sighs, her arms tightening around me. "You should definitely become a motivational speaker. It suits you so well," she teases.
I snort. "Yeah right, I barely have enough motivation to haul my lazy ass out of the bed in the morning." She giggles.
When I pull back, she's grinning at me, and I can't help doing the same.
"So, tell me all about this human mate of yours," I say.
To say I was surprised when Xander told me, is an understatement. It wasn't so much as her mated status, but more of being mated to a human, someone like me. Or like the me I thought I was...
"Drake is such a wonderful person to say the least," she gushes, the glow of love bouncing off her skin, while her eyes shine brighter, reflecting not just her love, but devotion for her human.
"I grew up with this idea that I would likely be mated to an alpha, if not my destined one, maybe one from a very powerful family, if not like ours, maybe close," she continues. "But then I met him, and every other thing flew out of my brain. He was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen."
"But, does he know what you are?" I ask, unsure.
"Definitely, I had told him not long after we met, but luckily, he was already familiar with matters related to our kind and others. So the only reaction I got from him was curiosity."
"Wow, that's so sweet. You're so lucky," I tell her.
She scoffs. "Not when we had it so rough with my family, we had to hide from them for a few months."
My eyes widen in shock. "What? Why?"
"They disapproved of our union, and threatened to disown me if I don't reject the bond. But I refused, I wanted to live my life for me, not them, not for anyone else.
If the moon Goddess had blessed me with Drake, then there's a very good reason for that, and I've never regretted it."
She goes on to tell me everything that has transpired from their meeting to their official mating.
It was all so beautiful and magical, something clenches hard in my chest. It makes me imagine my own situation with Xander and how it would've been if we had also met in a similar, normal way.
But you and Xander aren't soul mates, a small voice nags. Maybe that's why this feels so much harder.
I shrug the feeling off and focus on Lucinda telling her story with stars in her eyes.
"Oh, I have to start getting ready in a few days," she suddenly exclaims.
"Get ready for what?" I ask curiously.
"Home, Vanessa," she replies.
"Oh."
"My role here has been fulfilled."
And fulfilled it was.
For once, everything seems to be going right. And that alone terrifies me.