LIONEL
I found it funny to see that she was already sound asleep, right on the bed. She was folded to one corner of the bed, almost like she knew it wasn’t like home where I could make for myself a bed on the bare floor. We both had to use the bed and she had reserved an island of space for me to occupy without being anywhere close.Not a bad idea.I made my way to the bed as I dried my body. I made myself comfortable in a pair of briefs and slid into the mattress. Like Regina, I ensured I kept to my extreme corner such that just enough space lay between us. That way, it made it easier to be convinced I was sleeping alone.The night went by as quickly as it would have when there wasn’t enough time to rest after so long of bad sleeping patterns. What had woken me up was the ring of my cellphone.Grandpa.I figured I hadn’t called the previous night. As I picked up the call now, I noticed Regina was not in the room. She had prLIONEL“What pair?” I tried to peer into the darkness, using the beams of light handing around the beach. Your wife and her new friend. I spotted them just then. Regina and the man from the cafeteria. They were both standing by the water, looking out into the ocean. The man seemed to be saying something as he pointed out to the horizon while Regina laughed. “Excuse me, who’s this dude?” I asked in irritation. Once again, he had suddenly popped up, making Regina all cheerful. I would have asked the same thing. Lucius replied. He’s making it easier for her to simply forget us and move on. I paused. “Wasn’t that the plan? Have Regina and I go out separate ways and never have to feel like the other person existed?“ I thought. And do you plan to make it all so easy? Lucius asked. That’s not how it works, Lionel, and you know about it. Now, when I first set eyes on her, I knew who she was. I knew she
REGINAIt clicked. I definitely wanted to see the mountains. “Are you alone? You could use a tour guide.”I chuckled, wanting to answer the “are you alone” part first but not sure of what I was supposed to say exactly. It was just then that I spotted Lionel as he walked into the cafeteria and in that split second of laying my eyes on him, I looked away, knowing our eyes met. Who cared? He wasn’t even there for me. I looked back at the young man and smiled. “Of course, I could use a tour guide.” I replied. He chuckled. “Then it’s probably time to do the formalities. I’m Ray.” He stretched out a hand. “Regina!” I received the handshake, wondering the last time I ever told someone my name. I realized just then how few the friends I had were. In fact, if it wasn’t Gwen, there was no one else.Ray went on with other jokes about how he had been spending his time in Asia, because clearly, he wasn’t even from the c
REGINARay was so busy talking and chatting happily that he did not notice me being calm in the bus.After spotting Lionel in the bus, I made my way to the seat at the front part, just where our tour guide was positioned, giving broken-down details of the ride. I knew by the time the tour began and I and Ray were discussing, it would be difficult to pick out our conversation. Plus, there were other people in the bus—an old man and his wife and two chit-chatty friends—that were already talking non-stop from the moment we stepped into the bus. There were other touring instructions given and then the bus began its way into the forest with the tour guide already giving her talks, all friendly and joyful.“For a researcher like me, I found this totally fun. You may not find it fun because this isn’t exactly the tourist attraction here in the Maldives, but it is stacked with details of things that you definitely don’t want to miss out on.” Ray was sayi
LIONELThis was going to be fun.I hadn’t even started talking with the young man and he was already like I assumed he was - weak, trembling human. “What do you want? I could yell.” He already seemed panicked even before my job started. “Can I know your name?” I asked. “Why would you want to know my name?”I paused. Then snickered. Then asked again. “Can I know your name?”“Ray.” He replied. I scoffed. Dull name. “Ray, you’ve been making some wrong friends lately.”“I’m a tourist. I’ve made a lot of friends lately.” He replied. “Oh, but there’s one in particular.” I shot back. “And something tells me you already know who I’m talking about.” He paused, then gasped. “This is about Regina.”“That’s smart of you!”“What do you want with Regina?”“Not much, I promise. Stay the fuck away from her.” I went straight to the point. “I don’t understand.
REGINAAt first, it felt like a dream, but then it was happening right before my eyes. Something is wrong. I heard Ruby whisper from within me. The driver of the bus had gotten down earlier and was discussing something with the tour guide and the only people in the bus with me were the old man and woman so when the bus started shaking, I immediately knew it was not the driver that was trying to start it or something. In fact, it was looking much like a prank the first time. We need to get down. I heard Ruby again. We need to get down now!The bus groaned just then and slid off the hill; it’s one of it’s rear tires already scraping off the edge until it leaned in, ready to capside down the hill. “Run!” I yelled. There were screams and chaos, and once chaos came, there was nothing but disorganization among everyone. The old man and woman shook with fear as they ran for the entrance of the door, where the driver and tour guide w
REGINA Gwen and I continued on the call. Of course, I could already imagine my father’s reaction if he came to the knowledge that I had almost slipped down a hill. It was over for the entire honeymoon. “Cause you know he’d worry so much, right? He may even want you back instantly.” Gwen asked now just after I warned her about telling my father. “Exactly!” “Then just take advantage of that event and end the goddamned honeymoon, dear.” She mentioned. “Sir Leonard just needs to see that what has happened was terrible and you’d use it as leverage as to why you think you want to call it off. That way, it won’t hurt him at all.” That was a brilliant idea, if, of course, I wanted to leave the Maldives. As a matter of fact, I think my purpose here had just begun. My goals are too close for me to turn back now. Not when Ray could be the answer I’ve been looking for.
LIONEL Regina had not been the only one hurt. The goal of trying to save her from the spinning bus had taken more energy than was required of me to give off at any given point. Plus, even before I passed out, just as the ambulance arrived and injected me with sedatives, I could see the confusion on the people’s faces and the wonder written all over it. I could almost read the questions their minds were asking. Did a man just slow a car right before our eyes by pulling it while sliding? Did he just hop like a beast over the bus and cling to the mountain alongside the woman? Did he just do all these and was still wide awake? To reduce their suspicions and questions, I had to act even more drained than I actually was and then the medics finished up the work. I awoke in something that would have passed for a hospital but it was just some mini-clinic attached to the hotel where I was lodged. I had asked
REGINA I think I was done with Lionel and his antics. He could go to hell for all I cared. Just when I thought Lionel, for the first time in his life, had done something that could be considered human in my life, he turned out to be just a piece of shit, much like I had expected. Why did he have to be the one to save me? Now I was very much indebted to him and he had just stylishly made that clear before me. Things were going to get worse from here. What the hell was I supposed to do now to get myself out of this new burden? As far as I was concerned, it was beginning to look like it would have been better if Lionel had just left me to die in the bus. That was much preferable to having to be indebted to the ruthless alpha, apart from the fact that I was already tied to him. Nothing was making sense. Why did this accident have to take place? I needed to speak to Gwen! I called
LIONEL I was in a world where I was just having a little fun and both women fell dead right before me while I barely escaped an attacker that could clean up a murder scene in seconds. I was in a world where everything was uncertain. What if I just found Regina to be dead? How would I explain it all to Grandpa? How would Grandpa ever forgive me when I wouldn’t even be able to forgive myself? Forgive myself? I gave it a thought. Had I done something wrong? Well, I had been careless with her. I should never have let her out of my sight, no matter how much I despised her. I should have ensured she was always there. Staying in a different room was a bad idea. Now, there was only one way to right all these wrongs. I needed to goddamn move! There was also the detective, though. Nicholas had called the night before and I had never reached out to him again. Perhaps this was also a good time to talk to h
LIONEL “No, Lucius. I think something is beginning to make sense. This cars speaks about healing... restoration of energy... ” Lucius waited, almost like he was beginning to see what I was seeing as well. “Do you remember the night at the wedding, Lucius? The moment when I and Regina were to heal from the blood bonding... We were not healing because our energy core was broken, but then Regina was not healing either.” Are you saying Regina has an issue with her energies as well? “I can’t conclude for sure, but it was most likely that somehow, Regina also had the problem with her energies. You said it yourself that the fact that we were broken did not in any way affect her own healing process, and yet she wasn’t healing fast enough. So what if she had come here…” To find healing? Lucius completed. Oh, dear goddess. I ran my fingers through my hair in realization. It was like an ima
REGINA It was so dark anyone could have stumbled and fallen but I could easily glide through thanks to my night vision. “Ray, come this way. Hold my hand and let’s go together.” I could hear Ray’s discomfort, stumbling over the rocky grounds as he tried to keep up. I held his arm now and continued through the cave. I could still spot the wolf ahead, gliding through gracefully, checking every now and then to see if we were still following. Then suddenly, the wolf vanished from sight. I was still so busy running as fast as I could that I didn’t even notice that the wolf was already out of sight. When I took notice, however, I came to a stop. Ray stopped beside me, holding his knees as he coughed uncontrollably. Neither of us said a word because we were too busy struggling with our breaths. But I was also too busy trying to find the wolf. I couldn’t see anything. Even with my night vision, this felt darker th
LIONEL They would only find their casualties and of course, they should be wiser next time. I heard them from inside and then they were out in the dark again, by the shores of the beach with their guns poised as they scouted the dark, searching for something that may point towards me. Then they started advancing towards the forest, splitting up. The next instinct in my mind now was to play their game, of course. All I needed to do was follow them into the forest—my domain and territory—and there I would kill them one after the other. But then I remembered the casualties in my room. Not only were two men dead—two men whose colleagues had taken their bodies out just before me and most definitely cleared out the evidence of them ever being there. There were also the two ladies I was just having a good time with lying death in my room, both shot in the head. Why was it that anytime I decided to have a little bi
LIONEL What harm could be in a little moment of sex, just a little time to enjoy myself and forgetting the shit of a wife I married? That was what I was experiencing now. I was Lionel Williams. I had my way with whatever I wanted. Imagine having two girls go head over heels to have this moment with me, and yet, there was a wife I had who dared to leave me sight and go out fucking another man. Fuck you, Regina! The good thing is there was something to put all that anger on now. As I cursed at Regina, I squeezed Lydia’s boobs and spanked Jemma’s butts. Both women were already sliding out of their dresses, both stark naked as they moaned and panted, struggling for who could kiss me first. I was still in my clothes even though Lydia’s hand slipped underneath my shirt and rubbed my breasts till it hardened. Jemma was faster. She instantly slid her palm over the bulge of my pants, struggling to grab my crotch as
REGINA After a good while, all we found was nothing but large mountains, a couple of trees sticking out around cooler areas and endless piles of dusty stones. “We can’t be sure we’re making any headway.” Ray stated now beneath one of the shades we found with trees around. “Neither can we be sure we’re safe, right?” I mentioned. Ray gave me an inquisitive glance. “You feel it could be dangerous finding the Mountain Men?” I shrugged. “Well, we can’t exactly tell what is going on yet, can we?” “So what is your plan B? What would happen if we found these Mountain Men and we couldn’t seem to find our way back?” “Lionel would definitely come to look for us.” I replied. Ray seemed panicked. “Look, I need us to get this straight. You said Lionel would not be here to find us.” “Yes, that’s if, of course, I make it back in a day plus and not more than that
REGINA “Such is life. I need help here, Ray, and from your knowledge, only you can help me in this desperate time.” I convinced him further. He nodded now, apparently more energized and ready for the trip. “Alright, are we going to walk there or take a vehicle?” “I don’t want us drawing attention. It’s a tourist center so eyes could be on us. I think we should walk the way.” Ray made a face but shrugged nevertheless. “Alright, we move then.” He replied. I headed for the door slowly and hesitated when I felt his arm on my shoulder. “Regina, are you sure about this?” He asked. I smiled. “Believe me, no sane person wants to embark on this journey. If it wasn’t that important, I wouldn’t be doing this.” He nodded. “Then let’s do what had to be done.’ I left the room, happy to have met someone as helpful and supportive as Ray. As we made our way out of the room, I locke
REGINA “Don’t worry, Ray. There’s nothing you should worry about.” “Regina, your husband was a werewolf and you didn’t even, at least, warn me that he was something of such, not to talk about even telling me about this. In all, I should have just stayed away from you!” “To hell with that, Ray!” I shot back. “Whatever Lionel is cannot stop me from living my life the way I want!” He shook his head. “Regina… Regina… You’re not listening. Your so-called husband could have killed me. That easy, Regina!” “He wouldn’t hurt you. He could threaten you but he wouldn’t hurt you.” “What is wrong with you? I mean, you sound so sure of something so abnormal.” I shrugged. “What can I say? He’s my husband.” Ray suddenly paused and I could see a new curiosity on his face. It was like he had read another new discovery in my words. “Regina… if you could marry the werewolf. Are you al
REGINA I was alive, I was safe, and I was just wondering whether Lionel was even thinking about me. It began with the night of the accident when the car had slid down the hill and Lionel had come just in time to rescue me. That same night, I had struck a new deal with him and saved myself from having to be blackmailed each time I set my eyes upon him—I was not going to bother Grandpa with news of the accident and he was not going to ever bring it up as me being indebted to him. It had gone perfectly well with him in his room, and at this point, all I wanted to do was return to my room and allow myself to fall deeply asleep. It was just after I had a shower that I got a knock. The first idea I had was that Lionel was back again with something to rule out my little threat against him. On the contrary, it was my good new friend. It was Ray. “Hey, Ray.” I made to shake him as I extended my hand to him. He shrugg