Chapter 68 Moonstone Ring
After the scream, Alicia rubbed her eyes and reached out to touch the natural-looking blond hair of the man who seemed to be sleeping. He furrowed his brows, confirming to her that the man with closed eyes was alive.
Who was this blond man? Why did he look somewhat like her bad-tempered and suspicious mate?
The man with blond hair opened his eyes, revealing a pair of irises purer than the azure sky. Alicia took in a breath of lavender-scented air, hardly believing that this blond man was Damian.
"If you thought your high-pitched scream could penetrate bulletproof glass and help you escape or intentionally make me go deaf, then you'll never succeed," he said in a deep, slightly husky voice, with mean words, and the air was heavy with the scent of lavender. Any of these factors would have been enough for Alicia to confirm that this blond man was her mate.
"Damian? Your hair, your eyes... why?" Alicia asked in astonishment.
"I only took off my contact lenses and changed my hair color back. It's not worth waking me up with a loud scream," Damian replied. He sat up, the blanket slipping off him, revealing his muscular, tanned upper body.
"Your original eye color... it wasn't deep blue?" Alicia asked, a somewhat obvious question slipping from her lips as she looked into his clear blue eyes.
Damian turned his head and, for some reason, his lips curled into a mischievous smile, like a child preparing a prank. He leaned closer to her, asking in a low voice, "Do you want to get closer and take a careful look?"
Listening to his seductive, deep voice, for a moment, Alicia forgot about everything that had happened between them the night before. She nodded as if enchanted.
"Then give it a try," Damian chuckled softly and approached, stopping just a few centimeters away from her, making it easy for her to scrutinize his eyes.
Perhaps it was because he hadn't had enough rest lately, but Alicia noticed some red veins in the whites of his eyes. However, this didn't detract from the natural allure of his pure blue irises. It was the most beautiful shade of blue she had ever seen, purer than the sky after rain, purer than blue hydrangeas.
"If I had known your eye color was close to sky blue when designing the courtyard for your villa, I should have replaced the deep blue catmint with sky blue hydrangeas or sky blue lobelias. There should have been more sky-blue pebbles on the cobblestone path leading to your stargazing spot," Alicia murmured her thoughts unintentionally.
After hearing her words, Damian's eyes widened slightly. He couldn't help but kiss her and then smiled, saying, "Well, the villa will be yours in the future. You can remodel it however you like, as long as you hand over the Moonstone Ring to me when we return to Los Angeles."
The words "Moonstone Ring" triggered a memory in Alicia's mind, reminding her of what had happened between her and Damian last night. She immediately became more alert, preventing Damian from peeking into her thoughts. Then, she pulled aside the curtain covering the window. The road signs by the highway indicated that they were about to arrive in Los Angeles.
A shopping bag was tossed in front of Alicia, containing a set of women's underwear, a short-sleeved top, yoga pants, and a pair of running shoes.
Alicia looked up, meeting Damian's handsome but expressionless face. She couldn't read his thoughts and didn't understand why he had seemed fine a minute ago but now appeared to be in a bad mood. Perhaps, mentioning the "Moonstone Ring" had reminded Damian, just like her, of the unpleasant events from last night.
"Change into these! I bought them at a sports store in the morning. We'll arrive in Los Angeles in about an hour. When we get there, take me to get the ring, or tell me where the ring is," Damian said.
Alicia nodded and took the shopping bag to the bathroom. She turned on the showerhead and adjusted the water flow to its maximum, hoping that the noise of the shower would disturb Damian, making it impossible for him to monitor on her thoughts.
She needed a plan to prevent Damian from getting the Moonstone Ring that Martin had entrusted to her. She couldn't just hand it over to him. No, she must not do that.
Martin had emphasized the importance of that ring. If Damian got hold of it, he would surely use it as a pretext to attack and force half-packs from the Wilton Family to submit to him, turning them into subordinate packs of the Moon Halo Pack. Once he succeeded, she feared that Golden Moon Pack would be Damian's first target.
She didn't have a phone, and she, to some extent, became a captive in this RV. So, she couldn't contact Alpha Ellis to alert him to the current situation, let alone Grandpa, who was far away in Europe.
For now, her only option was to delay and find a way to contact Mae, informing her of the ring's location. As long as Mae handed the ring over to Alpha Ellis, Damian's aggressive plans, whatever they might be, wouldn't succeed.
So, the most crucial thing right now was to get Damian to take her to the medical center where Mae was interning.
After making her decision, Alicia turned off the shower, dried herself with a towel, and changed into the new clothes Damian had given her. She was somewhat surprised to find that everything – the clothes, underwear, and bra – was her size. Alicia let out a bitter smile; when Damian wasn't going crazy, he was actually a considerate lover.
After the shower, she still looked tired in the mirror, as if she were ill. Alicia tried to force a smile, but she couldn't manage it. She patted her cheeks, hoping to raise her spirits and stay calm in front of Damian. The first step in lying was to maintain a steady heartbeat and breath.
"Do you know that my husband, Tobias, is ill?" Alicia asked Damian as she came out of the bathroom after changing.
"Why bring him up?" Damian raised an eyebrow.
"Because... I've hidden the Moonstone Ring in my husband Tobias's hospital room," Alicia said, smiling at Damian.
"What?"