Chapter 48 Walk in the Park
ADRIANA
I’d just finished tucking Leo into bed when the door opened and Elijah walked in.
“Hey, he just fell asleep. Apparently three rounds of chasing the criminal around can do that to you.”
We both laughed and he walked over to kiss Leo on the head. He turned to me.
“Would you like to go somewhere with me?”
My eyebrows raised.
“And where would that be?”
It was quite sunny out and I didn’t know if I wanted to be in the sun.
“I want to go for a walk and I would like you to come with me. I realized you’ve been here almost four months and you still haven’t seen the pack so I would like to do the honors of taking you around and showing you everything.”
By the time he was done talking, I was smiling and the thought of not wanting to go out in the sun had flown out of my head. I hurried to my room to change. I’d been wearing just a shirt and shorts since I was in the house.
After changing, I came back out to see him standing by the door, waiting for me.
“Are you ready?”
I nodded in excitement. It wasn’t like I was bored or eager to see around the pack but just getting to spend time with Elijah was what I enjoyed.
He held my hand as we walked out of the house, several maids saw us and I suddenly felt shy. I wish it were Hannah who saw us. Oh, the smile that would be on my face.
We didn’t go with the car because we wanted to be able to cover every inch of the pack.
The first thing I noticed was that people loved Elijah. I had thought he was going to be very strict and uptight, but that was only when it came to work and important things. He was very friendly and people greeted him with smiles and he picked children up and played with them while we walked.
Unlike my father, who never smiled at any of his subjects. He thought that ruling with an iron fist was what was best but it wasn’t. It just made people inside and outside the house hate him more.
There were stalls selling all kinds of things from bracelets to sweets to accessories. It was so nice to see things like this because back home, they operated a different type of government. The only things that could be sold for money were statues of my father and sorts of witchcraft items. I never really understood it but with my recent knowledge of my father’s involvement with the Antil Cult, I knew what that was all about.
“Do you want anything?” Elijah asked me when we stopped in front of a stall that sold customized bracelets.
I looked through everything and finally decided to get one with my name.
“Get one for Leo too. Since he couldn’t join us, he should at least have a souvenir from today.”
Elijah opened his mouth to tell the man my order but he stopped and just stared at me. Even the man looked confused.
“What’s the matter?”
He didn’t respond. The smile on his face only grew bigger.
“Elijah, what is it? Are you okay?”
He ended up giving me a low chuckle.
“Nothing, you’re so beautiful.”
The butterflies that erupted in my stomach had to number in the millions. I tried to stop my cheeks from getting red but it wasn’t possible.
While the man was getting the bracelets done, I looked around and saw an ice cream truck.
Seeing it brought back memories of my happiest moment with my mom.
I remember being unhappy that day because my stupid father had taken my toy away from me and given it to my sister. She took me out that day to relieve me from the madness going on in that household.
“You can get anything you want, baby and I’ll pay for it.”
“Anything?”
She smiled and nodded.
“Anything.”
I had ordered almost all the flavors in the truck that day and we had ended up going on a mother-daughter date but it was cut short because I had a stomach ache from too much ice cream. Also, my brain froze but my mother never knew that.
Tears welled in my eyes thinking about her and I didn’t realize the man was speaking to me until Elijah touched me and brought me back to reality.
When he saw the tears in my eyes, he pulled me closer and hid me from the man.
“Are you okay?”
I gave him a sad smile.
“Yes, yes I’m fine. I’m okay.”
I quickly wiped the tears away from my eyes and collected the bracelets from the man, thanking him. Elijah helped me put mine on. It was beautiful.
“Thank you, Elijah. It looks beautiful.”
“Are you sure you’re fine? We could go back home if you’re not ready for this, you don’t have to be out here.”
I waved him away.
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know I want to be here. Come on, let’s go check out the ice cream stall.”
I could still feel his eyes on me as I dragged him to the stall. I ordered every single flavor I’d ordered that day and I cried again while eating it but this time around, Elijah didn’t ask me if anything was wrong.
After that, we moved further into the pack until we got to a statue.
“Who is this?” I asked before I looked down at the sign in front of the statue.
“The Greatest Leader, Alpha, Father. Alpha Elijah Lambert.”
I turned to Elijah whose eyes were fixed on the statue’s face. He was barely moving and I didn’t want to disturb him.
“He was my father,” he blurted out.
I wondered what their relationship was like. Because I know my relationship with my father was already in the gutter.
We went home after walking around a bit more. It was getting close to evening and dinner would soon be ready. Also, I wanted to be there when Leo woke up.
I walked back up the stairs with Elijah, telling him how I knew Leo would like this bracelet, my eyes caught another pair in the hallway, staring back at me with as much venom as possible.