Chapter 170
RYDEN
“Ry, have you seen Amelia?” Zeph asked. “She did not pick up my call, nor did she see my text.”
“She’s been acting weird this week. I’ve tried everything, but she said she’s okay. Yeah, she looks okay, but too okay, you know what I mean? And I don’t like it, Zeph. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s at the pack house with the mother and the son taking refuge. What do you want from Amelia, anyway?” I saw the hesitation in his eyes at first, but he knew he could trust me with anything. “What is it, Zeph?”
“Dad gave me this.” He grabbed something from the passenger’s seat. “He told me to give it to Amelia, didn’t tell me not to give it to you, so. Here it is.”
I asked as I took the manila envelope he gave, “What is this?”
“I don’t know. It’s sealed. Just give it to her, okay?”
I stared at him for a moment. I was sure his father told him whatever was in the envelope. “Of course. She’ll be here soon. Thanks.”
The moment Zeph left, I called Amelia. She didn’t pick up either. I shook my head in dismay. Something was different with her since last week, and I didn’t know how to get through her. It felt like I didn’t even know my mate anymore.
I had no doubt she loved me, she cared about me, but I felt like she was punishing herself over something. I could feel she was drowning in guilt. Every time she kissed me and hugged me, and we made love, it felt like she was making up for it. It was killing me I couldn’t even help her with her pain.
Despite running every morning, my wolf had been erratic for the last two days until tonight.
The night was peaceful. I always wanted to surprise Amelia with something romantic but our lives lately were crazy and hadn’t been in our favor. So while I had a chance, I spread a blanket in the backyard put some pillows, and placed a basket full of fruits, cheese, and wine. I lay down and waited for her.
Half an hour had passed, and she hadn’t shown up.
RYDEN: Ladybug, can we talk?”
AMELIA: Turn around.
I quickly dropped my phone and turned around. And there she was. She was smiling and shaking her head.
“You’re late.”
“Did I miss a memo or something?” She came, joined me, and cupped my face. “I never thought of you as a romantic alpha, baby.”
“Well, you still don’t know me well.” I pressed my lips against her, and she sighed and kissed me back.
“Tell me something I don’t know about you, handsome.” The way she looked at me, her eyes filled with admiration and devotion, and something else.
I popped the wine bottle, making her giggle. “Probably a lot. I can be ruthless, but I’m also forgiving, and I believe in second chances.”
She cupped my face again and looked me in the eye. “I know that, and I also know that you like black shade, you like shellfish, but not fish, except salmon. You prefer your steak medium rare, red over white wine, you’re not a pastry guy, but one thing you can’t say no to is Beignet. You don’t mind drinking a latte but, a big no to tea. Why do you hate tea?”
I chuckled. “I don’t hate tea, it just tastes like grass, and I’m not a cow or a horse.”
When she bit her bottom lip, I groaned. “Don’t do that.” I gave her a glass of wine.
She took the wine glass and inhaled the scent. “A horse reminds me of something.”
“What does it remind you of, Amelia?” I leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, down to her neck, and whispered, “That how fast a horse is, or its stamina? Or it reminds you of sports cars.”
She giggled again and sipped her wine. “What are we celebrating, my love?”
“Nothing. Since we got married six months ago, I haven’t been a good husband. We were busy chasing goose, and I felt like I neglected you.”
“Okay. Where did that come from?” She stared at me intensely. “As far as I know, we’ve been both busy, and if there’s someone who lacks responsibility over our marriage, it’s me. I’m so sorry if I made you feel that way, and I know it’s my fault.”
“Don’t blame yourself for something we couldn’t have known this would happen. Nothing of this is your fault.”
“Listen.” She paused and went silent for a while like she needed courage for what she was about to say. “I was too focused on ending this chaos, and because you never complained, I took you for granted. I swear, Alpha. I wish this would be over soon. This problem is taking a toll on us, on our lives, but we can’t live in peace as long as there’s a threat like this out there.”
“Then we’ll end this. Maybe we should not wait. Maybe we should just go and attack the SEO.”
“Yeah, but the problem is, the SEO is constantly moving. Zarah can’t figure out the movement, the time, and the places where it stops. It’s like they’re following an ancient calendar, Pleiades, constellation, or something. Nobody knows how and when it shifts. If we only know someone we can trust inside and ask how it works so we can infiltrate the SEO and kill that son of a bitch. Then we burn the entire building down. Does it have a cloaking device or something or it was cloaked with magic?”
When I smiled, she laughed. “See? This is bad for us. While you made an effort for this romantic date under the moonlight, here I am ruining the moment, destroying the romantic mood. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. This is part of our lives now. If you didn’t leave that night, I can complain about it, but no. I’m okay with everything, especially this fire inside me.” I sighed. “But I’m worried about you. What’s going on with you, ladybug?” I pressed a finger against her lips when she was about to talk. “You barely slept at night for a week now. I knew everything you did. I’m a light sleeper, remember? Are you avoiding dreaming?”
“Yeah, but I also missed running through the woods. Now that I don’t have a wolf in me, it feels like I lost a part of me.”
“Fuck.” I was the one who messed it all up, and I never asked her how she felt losing her wolf. Since she looked fine and never talked about it, I thought everything in her life was going on the right path. “I’m so sorry, I never asked how you felt, Amelia. All I did was complain about Lucius. You must feel devastated. When you never showed weakness, I assumed you handled everything very well.”
She smiled tightly as she caressed my cheek with the back of her finger. “It was my choice and my decision. I’d rather lose my wolf than you, and I will always choose you over anything.”
“About what I said last week, I take it back.”
“We talked a lot last week. What specific topic are you taking back exactly?”
“I have a strong feeling you’re avoiding Lucius because of what I said.” I took her hand and pressed it against my lips. “Look, I won’t deny he pisses me off beyond anything, get insecure sometimes, and get jealous when he’s around, but he’s a part of your life, as much as it hurts me to admit it, he was your mate, Amelia.”
“That’s the whole point. He was my mate.” She emphasized the word was. “And I don’t want to divide my attention. Trust me, it’s hard, but I’m getting there. And if I look like I’m grieving, it’s because I am. Ren hasn’t returned my calls or replied to my texts. He left because I let him down. He hates me, and it hurts.”
“No, my love. If you think you’re getting there of forgetting him. You’re wrong. Whatever you’re doing isn’t healthy, and I’m driving myself crazy to figure out how to get into you. Please, you worked hard for the last week, and I don’t like it. You are too focused on something unnecessary, it isn’t you. My love, please, I need my mate back.”
“I’m fine, Ryden.”
“You’re not, Amelia because why did you ask your father for this?” I picked up the Manila envelope under the pillow and gave it to her.
“Did you open this?” She took it from me.
“No. That’s not mine to open, but when it involves your dad’s help, I suppose it has something to do with your past.”