Chapter 76 - Rejected by My Best Friend & Alpha

KILLIAN'S POV

I stared at the bottle in my hand. I could do this. I could do it. One day, we would laugh at this. She wouldn't even be mad, right? Not after a few years of happiness and bliss together. I stared harder at the bottle, willing to answer my questions. To tell me what to do.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I hid the bottle under my pillow quickly before striding to the door and flinging it open. Divinity stood there, looking nervously at the ground. "Hello, Alpha; I came to check on you."

I looked around to see if anyone was in the hall to see her at my door. "Come in, D. You don't have to call me that, ya know."

She smiled at me, slipping inside. "Thanks, Killian. So, how are things going for Vivian? You think she's going to choose you?"

"I don't know," I groaned, heading over to the couch and flinging myself down.

She settled down at the table, where I had left uneaten food, picking at my leftovers. "You can't force what's not there. If she doesn't want you, she doesn't want you."

I leaned forward. "But what if I could?"

She paused her hand halfway to her mouth with a piece of meat. "What do you mean?"

I glanced towards my pillow. "What if I had a way to..awaken a bond between us?"

"You mean a fake mate bond. Like what happened with Caleb."

I shrugged. "In a sense. I mean, she was meant to be my mate. But something got in the way."

She set down the piece of meat. "That's a horrible idea, Killian. And it's not something I can support. Look, I'm your friend—one of your best friends. I've supported some questionable things throughout the years. This one, though? I like Vivian, and this is going too far. Promise me that you're not going to do that."

I sighed. "Fine, fine. I won't do that."

"Where did you even get something like that?"

I looked away, not wanting to respond. "It was just one of the witches."

"It was my mother, wasn't it?"

I didn't meet her eyes. "Maya is just looking out for the pack's best interest."

Divinity shook her head. "She's looking out for the best interest of herself. She thinks that having Vivian in power, she can siphon off more power for herself. It's never been about the pack, Killian."

I nodded thoughtfully. She'd never steered me wrong, and maybe there was something to it. Maybe Maya wasn't as generous as I had always thought. Divinity knew her mother better than I did. "You're right. I'll get rid of the potion."

"Why don't you give it to me, and I'll get rid of it for you?"

"You don't trust me to get rid of it?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I just want to ensure it's discarded properly and doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

"I'll be careful."

She stood, popping a piece of meat into her mouth. "If you say so. I trust you'll do the right thing."

I stood with her. "Thanks for coming by, D. And for talking some sense into me."

She held out her arms, which I stepped into, giving her a big bear hug. We'd been best friends since we were pups, and I'd never be able to thank her enough for being my voice of reason.

I walked her to the door, closing it softly before turning back towards my bed, staring where I hid the vial. She'd forgive me—eventually if she ever found out. Because we'd be happy, I'd make her so happy.

I stormed over to my bed, grabbing the vial. I'd make her so happy.

*****

VIVIAN'S POV

I was finally out of bed and eating with everyone else in the hall. Zeke was by my side, hovering over me. He was getting overbearing and annoying, but I didn't want to offend him, so I stayed silent.

Everyone was glad to see me, and they'd come up to greet me, saying thank you and passing on their gratitude. But their eyes would cast daggers in Zeke's direction, not forgetting his part in what had happened before they'd walked away. Having him by my side filled me with a sense of guilt.

I knew he was under a spell, and he couldn't be blindly punished and blamed for what happened, but it felt like rubbing it in people's faces what happened to them and their loved ones having him here. Looking over at him, cutting at his food, I leaned over. "Zeke, have you thought about returning to Greywood soon?"

"Oh, are you ready to go?"

"This isn't about me. This is about you. I was just thinking. This isn't the place for you. I don't think the pack here really values your presence."

He scoffed. "Value it or not, I'm here. My Beta is handling Greywood while I'm here."

"It's disrespectful to be here when wounds are so open. It would be best if you considered how those here at Blackmoon might feel seeing you.

Zeke set down his utensils. "Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that it's a matter of respect. And I think you should consider it."

He ran his tongue over his lips. "Yeah, I see. I'll consider it. No, it makes sense. I should do something about it. You're right. Yeah. Excuse me. I need to go take care of something."

He pushed his chair out, making screeching sounds on the floor. I reached for him, but he jerked his arm away, standing. I watched as he hurried out. Moments later, Killian stood in the doorway, his eyes searching the crowd until they landed on me.

I smiled, waving him over. He seemed relieved to see me. He sat down, grinning at me. "I'm so happy to see you're up and about. How's it feel to get out of that stuff room?"

I smiled back. "It feels pretty good."

"Where's your bodyguard at?"

I looked back to where Zeke had stormed off. "He's a little upset right now."

"Oh, what about?"

"I kind of suggested that he'd be better off returning to Greywood."

Killian nodded. "He is overstaying his welcome. I haven't kicked him out because I didn't want to upset you. But my pack doesn't want him here."

I cringed. "I'm sorry about that. You should have said something. But no, I completely understand. I'm just trying to get him to see that and encourage him to return to his pack."

He nodded. "I see that you said his pack. Does that mean..."

I held up my hand. "We're not discussing this. That's tomorrow."

"Okay, okay. Well, I came over to discuss something else. I got these two ginger drinks I wanted to share with you."

He held up two glass bottles. They were a dark, murky color, almost like swamp water. "Ginger drinks? Those look repulsive."

"They're supposed to be good. And good for you."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Positive."

I let him hand me mine, staring at the brown liquid. I held it up to my nose. It didn't particularly smell like anything. It just looked gross. "Did you want to cheer?"

"You try it first."

"Why me?"

He shrugged. "I just want to see what you think."

I narrowed my eyes and tilted the drink to my lips, letting the liquid enter my mouth. I chugged. It was earthy and surprisingly citrusy, but I'm unsure if it was ginger. When I drank the last drop, I lowered the bottle, staring at him. "Mmmm. It was pretty good. Not bad, I guess. Better than it looked."

He looked me up and down. "Hm. Okay. I was just curious. That's good. Well, look. I got to go."

"Aren't you going to try your drink?"

"Oh yeah, uh, yeah. No. I gotta go."

He stood, his drink still in his hand. He leaned forward and kissed me on my head before rushing off to the exit. Before he exited, I saw him stop next to a plant by the door and pour his drink entirely into the plant before tossing the bottle into the trash can nearby. Weird.