Chapter 68 EARLY DELIVERY
WILLA’S POV
“Ugh. Who the fuck is it? It’s barely morning,” Gallahan grumbled, holding Calisto a tad bit tighter as if to show how unwilling he was to leave the nest.
“Language,” I chided mildly, giving him a stern glare.
He rolled my eyes at me and retorted, “I will use any language I want-”
“Not in front of our children,” I argued. “Now… Would you mind?”
I gave a pointed glance at Gillian, and Gallahan was quick to take the hint.
Since we had started nesting, we could no longer leave the bed at the same time. And given how he seemed to loathe the idea of letting go of Calisto anytime soon, it fell upon me to see who it was behind the door.
But just as I was about to move Gillian and hand her over to Gallahan, William’s voice resounded from the other side of the door, saying, “I hate to bother you so early in the morning, but I have to give you a few things. One of them is urgent.”
“Just come inside,” I said loudly, settling back comfortably against the headboard with Gillian still cuddled in my arms.
The door swung open, and William stormed in, looking all grumpy and half-asleep in his merlot singlet and loose grey pajama bottoms.
Without much care, he then plopped a large leather duffel bag on the bed and slammed a medium-sized wooden rectangular chest on top of it. Clinking sound of glass came from inside the box, betraying the fact that it contained multiple vials of potions that were likely for the twins.
“Your Highness’s things,” he drawled sarcastically, gesturing at the bag. “Prepared by Miss Banfey herself.”
I tried to keep my face as neutral as possible, hoping my twin brother wouldn’t notice how the mere mention of Miss Banfey left a bitter taste in my mouth.
But he shot me a fleeting look, one that held many things that only I could decipher.
Concern. Upset. Fear. Unsaid questions. Promises of better days.
I gulped down air, looking down at Gillian and pretending to fuss with the ceremonial robe I swathed her in.
“And the box?” Gallahan inquired, sounding mildly annoyed. “I hope you are aware that my things could’ve waited until much later.”
“Oh, trust me. I wouldn’t have bothered pulling myself out of bed for you and your personal things even if your life depended on it.”
Gallahan scowled, a low rumble of a snarl vibrating off of him.
“The box, William?” I piped in hurriedly, afraid that things might just escalate between two boneheaded men, whose egos were much larger than their pricks could ever justify.
“Right…” He turned to me and his entire demeanor changed a full hundred and eighty degrees. While his ire over his interrupted sleep was still quite evident, he regarded me with no ounce of hostility as he said, “These are nourishing potions for the twins. You will need to make them drink a mouthful of it every time they manage to resurface back to consciousness.”
“What if they regain consciousness but remain dazed and disoriented? Will the potions still be safe for them to drink?”
William hummed as he nodded his head twice. “Doesn’t matter if they’re still pretty much dazed. What matters is that they are awake enough to swallow the potion.”
“Okay. Thank you, Will.”
“Anything else?” Gallahan asked waspishly. “Because if there’s nothing else, please do us all a favor and see yourself out.”
“There is something else, you numbskull,” William seethed.
He fished out a deep red envelope from his pocket and dangled it before us to let us see the sealed flap.
My pulse quickened, and my entire body felt cold.
A golden wax that was embossed by the official crest of the Alpha King shimmered at the tip of the envelope’s flap, sealing it completely.
“The oh so great Alpha King,” William drawled sarcastically, “wants this urgent missive to be delivered to his son as soon as possible, and I was the unlucky bastard in the Alfiero Manor chosen to do the bloody task.”
He didn’t bother to properly hand the missive to Gallahan, opting to just recklessly throw it on the bed.
“Now, that is fucking all,” he said with a note of faux sweetness. “I shall take my leave then.”
Without further ado, he marched to the door and made his quick exit with a resounding slam that shook the walls.
“How immature,” Gallahan remarked snidely.
“Hm. Pot calling the kettle black,” I replied, trying to appear unbothered that the Alpha King himself had sent a missive just right after Gallahan found out about the twins.
He must’ve notified his father about their existence via their mind link.
Now that they knew there was a pup who was next in line to Gallahan for the throne, who knew what they could be planning behind my back?
But I tried to swallow down the growing paranoia, rationalizing that it was pointless as it was baseless.
“No,” drawled Gallahan, pulling me out of my musing. “I’m a lot less immature than the person you call a brother. See here, I’m a father now.”
The remark caught me by surprise with how unexpected and ridiculous it was, and I couldn’t help but snort ungracefully.
“Yeah, right. As if fatherhood could make you a great man.”
“No,” Gallahan answered easily. “It inspires me to be one, though.”
The sincerity in his tone had me stupefied for a moment. Words abandoned me, while warmth blanketed me, chasing away the icy fear that had taken a grip on me since the delivery of the missive.
“Uh huh,” I said dumbly after a couple of heartbeats. “You…”
“I?” Gallahan teasingly droned out, bumping his shoulder with mine. But it was done so gently that it made it clear how he had kept the twins in mind, caring not to jostle them needlessly with his playful gesture. “Cat got your tongue?”
I was still unreasonably flustered that my mind was failing to come up with a good retort. So all I ended up saying was a pathetic, “S-shut up and open the damn letter.”
“Language,” he chided with an impish grin on his face. “Not in front of our children!”
I groaned, elbowing his arm lightly. “Please shut up. I mean it. Now do me a favor and open the letter. I’m…”
I hesitated as I dragged my upper teeth on my lower lip.
My hesitation seemed to have piqued Gallahan’s interest. He slightly drew himself away from me just so he could properly look at me with a raised brow. “You’re what? Dying of curiosity?”
“Loathed I am to admit, yes. I am.”
His rakish and disarming grin made a reappearance, and his bluish gray eyes were so bright with life that it nearly knocked the wind out of my sails.
“Alright,” he said softly, the beauty of his smile remaining unwavering.
He slightly shifted Calisto, holding our son firmly with just one arm before he leaned forward and reached out to pick up the envelope.
Then he settled back close beside me, his arm needlessly pressing against mine.
“Here,” he said casually, offering me the missive, which he was holding in between two fingers. “Do the honors.”
“It’s a missive meant for you, though.”
“Sure.” He shrugged. “But it’s not like I would keep its content a secret from you. So you might as well read it for both of us.”
Hesitantly, I accepted the letter.
“Ah, my letter opener is on my desk.”
Gallahan rolled his eyes with a lighthearted snort. “Just rip it open.”
“It’s a letter from the Alpha King!” I shot back, mildly scandalized that he would handle it with no care at all.
“So?”
His nonchalance had me huffing a breath of disbelief. “It could be important.”
“Maybe,” he said slowly with a small nod. “But who cares? Just rip it open. It’s fine as long as the letter itself remains intact.”
“Okay. If you’re sure…”
“Go ahead,” he egged on, gesturing at the envelope in my hand. “I’m also quite curious about what he has to say.”
I wet my lips with my tongue and gingerly tore the envelope’s flap open.
‘Here goes nothing,’ I thought to myself as I took out the missive and unfolded it.