Chapter 56: Naive

STORM'S P.O.V

I tore my gaze away from the newly appointed beta, swallowing hard as I forced my eyes down.

"The priestesses already informed me of the perfect night to conduct the burning ritual. It will be in a week. After the burning ritual is complete, I hope no one ever comes up with another excuse to have my luna prove herself. I will not bend to the next request. With that, we can call it a day."

I sat there as Marcus was forced out by Anders's guards, and the seer stood up slowly, her chest heaving.

"I will still be a part of the ritual. The priestesses are only there to assist me." Her voice was low, filled with venom. "I could still ruin you if I want to."

Anders gave a small nod. "Let's bet on it."

She looked up to me for a brief second before she turned and walked away. The hall slowly emptied. Anders stayed sitting, along with Beta Micheal, Gamma Israel, and me.

I slowly stood up.

"You should sit," Anders said, his voice low. It was the first time he was directly acknowledging me. I slowly sat back.

"Beta Micheal," Anders said, turning to the man. "This is Storm. She is my luna."

Beta Micheal gave a big smile, then stood up and walked around to give me a low, respectful bow.

"The alpha is very proud to have a luna like you," Beta Micheal said. "I am looking forward to serving the mother of the pack."

I forced a smile, pushing back all the things I so desperately wanted to say. You are my father. You should have been his mother's mate. You gave me the silver wolf. Help me understand this. Help me stop this, I beg of you.

"Seeing how the alpha himself chose you, I am also looking forward to it. "

He smiled brighter, then turned away.

Gamma Israel cleared his throat. "After the burning ritual, I was thinking, maybe we should celebrate the mating of you two. It is normally done after the alpha finds his mate, but the circumstances surrounding you two made it hard. What do you both think?"

"I don't want it," Anders said at the same time as I said, "I think it would be nice."

I looked up, meeting his eyes for the first time. He turned away like looking at me burned him.

"I guess we will leave both of you to talk about it. I will guide the new beta to the penthouse and conduct a smooth... transition."

I barely noticed when Gamma Israel led Beta Micheal out of the hall. The silence descended between Anders and I. He made no move to leave, but knowing Anders, he did not have to seem like he had been planning anything for him to do it.

My eyes darted to the omega behind us. "Would I have ended up like that instead?"

He looked down to his fingers for a long moment, then shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not."

"Anders..."

"Why?" He asked, meeting my eyes again. "Why do you want the mating ceremony to happen? You only have a one year obligation to be here. We shouldn't forget that."

I swallowed hard, my chest heaving hard. "What if..."

"I don't want to hear what ifs, Storm. It is my heart we are talking about."

"We are talking about mine too. And I... I want to do the mating ceremony. Why can't I take thie bond seriously if you are doing so much to protect me and my position desoite knowing that the position will only be mine for a year?"

Anders bit down on his lips. "I pr..."

"Don't tell me about that promise, Anders. You... you may be a man of your word, but no one is ever this deep. You are this hurt because... because you do like me. Right, Anders? You hate that I hit you without asking and judging you because..."

"Because you are the one person I hoped would never judge me?" He met my eyes. "Yes. That is it. Do you realize how naive it is? Look at the woman behind us. I did that without flinching. And yet... yet I was hoping you wouldn't judge me. Tell me how naive you think that is."

I swallowed hard. "Then I must be naive too. I walked into your life carrying nothing but baggage and a scar and demanded everything from you, and hoped you would give it to me. "

Anders looked away. "It is hardly the same."

"It is the same to me. The least you can do, is try one more time for me. Just once more. Let me the reason you are naive. "

He looked down at my outstretched hand, like he was contemplating all the ways that taking it could ruin him. For a long minute, we just sat there, silent, even as guards walked in and cleared up the omega.

Anders gently brought his hand to meet mine. Before I could wrap my hands around his, he pulled it out and cleared his throat, turning away.

I broke into a smile. "Your ears are turning red."

He closed his eyes. "Go home. A car is waiting."

He stood up and walked away, leaving me alone in the hall.

My fingers clenched into a fist, the warmth of his fingers travelling up my arm, my heart beating wildly in my chest, the image of that blush filling my mind.

I brought my hand to my chest and closed my eyes, my heart fluttering dangerously close to enchanted territory. And yet it didn't feel in the least bit terrifying.

Hell, by the time I managed to get out of that seat and walk out to that waiting car. I was excited. Not because everything was perfect, but because now it had potential to be. Because no matter how slow, Anders would trust me again.

I was letting out a dreamy sigh, my heart still beating hard when it happened. A loud crash, as something heavy hit the edge of the car where I was sitting, sending me flying the opposite way. Metal, breaking glass, pain blooming across my body, and slowly, it all turned dark.

The last thing I could see were Anders's blood red eyes, softened with trust for me.