Alora and I make our way to the breakfast table almost awkwardly and I can feel her shaking beside me. My ears twitch at every shudder that goes through her.Almost instinctively I reach for her hand, and I am glad when she takes it.Despite the relative calmness of the surroundings when I stepped in, I realise there’s actually a number of things going on.There’s a large tattooed man in the kitchen at the far end of the large room. That is where all the cooking takes place, I guess Caelum Maximoff likes to watch his food being prepared even if it’s from a distance, AND of course the large tatted man is bald too, he’s probably some celebrity chef.We get to the dining table, and though I can feel Alora’s hesitation, I still drag her with me. We could choose to sit at the far end of the table, away from all of them, but I'd like to know what’s going on here, and who the mystery person is.I take the seat after the free seat closest to Caelum.He sits at the head of the table, while th
“You have a lot of people in your house.”Breakfast went by fast. Alora was silent throughout and Sebastien got up the moment he was done with his. He declared he had some important work to attend to at the bar and left.Kellen took one more look at me, a long cursory look, and he stood, bowing, before bidding us a good day and being escorted out by one of the guards Caleum has lurking around.Alora excused herself shortly after and now, it’s just us.Me and my brother-in-law. Caelum’s response is basically a growl.“I reserve the right to have as many people in my house as I want.”My stubborn as hell, and daft as an ass, brother-in-law.“I’ll admit they’re very interesting characters.”The line of his jaw protrudes.“I like interesting people, Sophia.”I can hear the jab he hopes to throw at me there but I ignore it. I am plenty interesting, he just doesn’t know it yet, and he seems to have all his feathers in a ruffle this morning. Is it because I act like I don't need him while
Caleum’s pov.My heart hammers a strange beat in my chest as I look at Sophia through the dark lens of the car’s windows. They’re all tinted, so they cast her in a muted light, yet she manages to shine despite it.She stands there like she isn’t aware I am the one who has asked her to get changed into that dress like she doesn’t know I am waiting for her right now.We wait each other out, and finally, I relent because I know I've been a jerk.I wind the window down, only to be assaulted by the full force of her. She’s let her hair down.She looks resplendent. This color suits her better.Sophia puts on an affected look. Like she’s just realizing the car which has been waiting for her all this while is mine, and that I am the one who’s in the car.It’s a game, and she’s won this round.I catch a whiff of her scent as she opens the door and gets in, and just to antagonize me further she casts a mildly aggrieved look at me before she looks away, “A proper gentleman would have come out
“If anyone says you looked like a hooker in those pictures, don’t listen to them.” Caelum’s words replay in my mind like a bad track and I fume silently as I stomp my way into the conference. This is all my fault.If I had checked up on where Ulric was headed then I wouldn’t have been caught unawares by this, and I wouldn’t have found myself being told to ignore the fact that I looked like a hooker in some photos,Because that’s what he meant right? That is what he meant.I did look like a hooker in those pictures, I knew it, and he tried to convince me otherwise, yet he just proved me undeniably right by what he said today. I did and he also thinks so/.The hubbub of activity and voices hits me head-on as I burst into the main hall and I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I can’t appear disorientated in front of all these people. If anything, I'm guessing they’re already hoping to catch me at my worst, I can't let that happen.I take a calculated step into the light throng
For the next ten minutes I search idly for Ulric with my eyes while my mind remains with my friends. It’s been some time since we’ve seen each other, but the sparks of our friendship are still relatively fresh.Ariana asks as she sips a drink,“What spurred you into doing something like this, Sophia? I thought you said you’d forever remain loyal to UIric.”The exact memory of me saying this comes back to mind, and as I finish the drink I've been nursing, I get up and smile at both of them.“I’ll round back later and give you guys the full details, Alright? Right now, I have to look for Ulric.”“Didn’t you guys come together?”I shake my head at that and Ariana and Breanne share a look.They’re both married, to loving adoring Alphas, and they know all about me and Ulric.“You looked stunning at the press conference that day Sophia. I almost forgot to mention it.’I smile at Breanne’s comment, and sometimes I think she sounds a bit like Luna Lovegood, just different, in a more mature wa
~Ex mate.~I ignore Otsana’s remark as I make my way down the hall and when she keeps on prodding, her mental glare like an itch down my skin, I agree to it.“Ex Mate.”Ulric is my ex-mate, and his brother is my new mate. Somehow both of them manage to infuriate me, so I don't think the mixup matters much..What the hell even made Ulric think he could speak to me in such a manner?He’s… He’s never done that before.Caleum’s presence is a sharp flare in my mind and I duck into one of the empty rooms on my left. This a hotel of some sort, though it didn’t seem so at first. But of course, a conference for Alphas would be held at a hotel.That makes everything else that comes after the conference all the much easier.Caleum comes barreling in not a second later, eyes calm yet rippling with a current of underlying fury.He doesn’t have a hair out of place. He looks like every aloof cold man would. Aloof, and cold.Yet only I know how many different images he pushed into my head. Images
Caleum’s pov.She gardens when she is sad.I come back from the Conference, already armed with the knowledge that Sophia is here, in my house. And while I expect a war, I do not meet one.Sophia is in plain clothes again. The look on her face is dull. Her movements, though steady, lack that draft of energy she always has. That current that lets me know she is around and about, and that lets me poke at her sometimes,Just aching to see her lose herself, and grant me the triumph of seeing what dwells underneath.Guilt picks at my heart because of my tone when I spoke to her. Because of the words that I said to her. I know who she is. I know what she’s been through, and still, I spoke to her that way, made her feel the way Ulric makes her feel, and yet I say I’m nothing like that oaf.“Trouble in paradise?”Sebastien’s presence beside me registers like a wisp of smoke in my mind but my response is hard and cold.“There is no paradise. How’s the search going?”I see Sebastien shrug fr
Sophia’s pov.Caelum is downstairs when I go down, at the breakfast table, and I take the seat farthest from him.I haven’t seen Alora since the day she looked scared at this same table, and Kellen too.I haven’t seen any of them since yesterday. Only him, and only him.“I’d like us to have a fresh start.”Caleum’s words catch me off guard because they’re cool.They’re calm.They’re said in a tone that makes me feel he knows he’s talking to a being individual of himself and his will, and he’s willing to respect that.“I think we got off on the wrong foot, you and I. I’d like for us to mend that.”Almost on instinct, I track the procession of events that have led to this moment in the field of my mind.The events seem short but I can still remember the pain that came with them. I can still feel the insecurity that wraps itself around me now.I know Caelum is waiting for an answer, so I give him one in the form of a non-commitment nod.“What is your proposal?”I know the words are wrong