Chapter 49 49
Third Person POV
"Alright then, shall we?" Draven asked as he offered up his hands to Adrian; he looked a bit confused and flustered, "What for?" He asked, a bit startled.
"You don't plan on spending the night here, do you?" Draven raised a brow as he questioned Adrian. Adrian looked around at the room he was admitted in and shook his head calmly.
"I don't think I'll manage through this night," he replied. "I thought so," Draven replied. "The servants will take better care of you, much better than Sara would." He finished.
Adrian struggled for a bit, but he got to his feet; he looked much better already, thanks to the medicine that Sara had given him. "We still have to talk, you know," Adrian said suddenly, making Draven turn back towards him.
He slowly nodded his head and turned back towards the door. "And we shall do so on the way to the mansion."
"We are uncle and nephew, are we not? Surely we can come to a common ground between the both of us," Draven said calmly, not meaning to agitate his nephew or demean him.
Adrian, with a level of certainty, managed to pull himself up and carry himself out of the room. He walked up the basement, using the walls and beans as support.
"Going already? Is he going to be fine?" Sara asked as they both came upstairs. She looked at him and how raggedy he appeared, then she looked at his uncle, his domineering presence never leaving him.
"Yes, we'll be going now; if we need your help regarding him, you'll be called upon." Draven said with a level of assurance that made her feel Adrian was going to be okay.
Soon uncle and nephew stepped out of the house on the road, slowly heading back to the mansion. "So let's talk. What do you really intend to do with Hazel?" Adrian asked.
"I'm sure you know I still love her deeply, regardless of how I may have treated her in the past." He finished.
"But does she live with you though? Have you thought about her feelings in any of this?" Draven returned the question back to her. Adrian looked thoughtful for a bit, realizing he had only been thinking about himself and not how Hazel felt.
"But rest assured, the reason why I married her is because I truly need her; she's as important to me as she is to the pack," Draven said calmly.
"Don't overestimate her worth to make it seem like I don't deserve her," Adrian replied, feeling a bit slighted. Draven turned to him with a serious face.
"What makes you think that I would overestimate her worth?" he replied to his nephew . But the look on Adrian's eyes made Draven know that Adrian didn't believe a word he said about Hazel saving him and the pack.
"Tell me how she's so important then; don't I deserve to know that much?" Adrian asked curiously; he really wanted to know what made her so special that it would lead to his uncle almost killing or maiming him for life.
"It's not time," Draven replied sharply. He looked at his nephew regretfully, wishing he could have told him all these things, but now it's too risky to tell him; he needed more time to let him mature first while he handled the other matters.
"What do you mean it's not time, uncle?" Adrian paused in shock while they walked back to the mansion. "I'm a man, uncle, a fully grown man, and you still think I don't deserve to know; tell me, is it Hazel?”
“Did she say you shouldn't tell me?" He asked, looking frustrated. "Calm yourself; it's not her." Draven looked at Adrian, not in an intimidating way, but with a certain softness, one that Adrian hadn't seen in his uncle since the days his mother was alive.
Adrian simply nodded, accepting his uncle's decision; he knew nothing would make his uncle speak if he didn't want to.
"So what do we do now?" Adrian asked cautiously; he didn't know what to expect anymore; he didn't want to give up on his feelings with Hazel, but at the same time he also didn't want to argue with his uncle about it.
He felt deeply conflicted and alone; he felt at his pocket, realizing that he didn't have a phone anywhere; it had much gotten lost or broken after what happened to him.
"We live as we always have; there's nothing else to it." Draven said indignantly, "Or is there something you'd like us to do instead?" He asked but got no answers from Adrian.
"I don't think I'll be able to live with the both of you together. I'm sorry, but I can't stand it." Adrian forced himself to say, Draven looked at him a bit surprised, but he had expected it from his nephew .
"And what can you do about it?" He asked slowly.
"The woman doesn't want you back, while I hold no grudge towards you. I understand your frustration, but it's not going to change anything that has happened."
"So you're telling me to watch and do nothing, and even if I could do something, it wouldn't be worth it in the end because she doesn't want me back?" Adrian asked.
"Precisely so, you catch on quickly." Draven responded; he looked at his nephew for a few heartbeats; he saw the uncertainty in Adrian’s eyes; he looked away and knew that his nephew hadn't given up on Hazel.
That was the messed up thing about love; it kept you hooked like it were a drug, and you couldn't get over addiction. They soon got to the mansion, and standing in front of the mansion was Thalia, whom she hadn't seen.
The two of them at first until they came much closer. Adrian waved at her with a smile on his face; her face widened in shock as she saw the state he was in.
She ran over to him as fast as she could. "What happened to you? Did you get run over by a truck?" She asked in a panicked state, "No doubt that would have done that much damage to you."
"Perhaps a fight?" The questions just kept flowing from her lips, not giving Adrian the chance to explain himself.
"But even if you got into a fight, there aren't many people that could beat you up to this state unless," she turned and looked at Draven, just noticing him.
"Alpha Draven," she bowed her head slightly as she greeted him. He simply nodded at her and left the both of them to talk. He ventured into the mansion; he hadn't expected Thalia to come here so quickly.
He felt she had already met with Hazel; instinctively, he knew things weren't going to go very well. As soon as he stepped into the mansion, he was met with her angry face glaring directly at him.
He tried looking away, but her eyes followed him around as he walked into the mansion towards the stairs. She stood. and began following him; he climbed the stairs silently until he got into his room; he left the door open so she could come in and talk.
"Alright, what's the problem?" He asked her.
"What's not the problem? Why is she of all people here, huh?" She said in an aloud voice, frustrated by the sudden presence of Thalia.
"Did you invite her here?" She asked, glaring at him. Draven simply shook his head; he had too much on his mind to deal with the ramblings between two women.
"Then why is she here? She's after me; I just know she is," she said in a frustrated voice. "What are you going to do about it?" She asked Draven.
He sighed inwardly, "We'll see later today what she came for, probably at dinner, so can you go and rest for a bit till it's time?" He asked her as gently as he could; she looked at him for a moment, then quietly nodded her head.
She left his room still fuming in anger. Draven closed his door and took off his clothes. He took a cold, quick shower, washing off all the sweat and dirt he had gotten on himself since today.
He came out of the bathroom, patted himself dry, and had a well-deserved sleep. After a few hours, a knock on the door woke him up, a servant came to tell him that dinner had been served at the dining table.
He realized it was his first time in a long time that he would be eating with others. He walked down the stairs after dressing up and was met with all three of them seated at different parts of the table.
Draven took the seat at the head while Hazel took the seat on his right, and Adrian, still bandaged, took the seat on his left with Thalia sitting close to Adrian.
The food was laid out bare before all of them to eat, carefully dishes to each of their palettes. Draven was about to eat, but he noticed the tension in the air before Adrian spoke.
"Uncle, I would like to say something before we start eating." Adrian said, Draven didn't like where this was going, but he couldn't do anything to stop it.
"I want Thalia to stay here with us for the time being; she'll be completely under my care," Adrian said with a smile when Thalia clung to his arm.
Draven didn't even dare look at Hazel as he swallowed the food in his mouth.