Farewell Party

Chapter 5 part 1

As Alucard's lips hovered just inches away from mine, time seemed to stand still. The air crackled with an electric tension, and I felt my heart pounding in my chest, the sound reverberating in my ears. Conflicting emotions swirled within me, a mixture of curiosity, desire, and a lingering trace of caution.

My instincts urged me to surrender to the moment, to embrace the unknown and explore the connection that seemed to have grown between us. But reason whispered a reminder of our status, not wanting to acknowledge that I was being kissed by him-my mate.

It took an ounce of strength to finally push him away, taking a step back, breaking the spell that had enveloped us. "I-I remember that I have things to do," I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper. Confusion flickered in his eyes, mirroring the whirlwind of emotions within me.

I did not wait for him to respond as I scurried away, frightened by the fact that this was not supposed to happen. My lips still felt that sensation. My mind was trying to forget that night.

I had restless nights that I did not expect, and it almost affected my work. But it was a good thing that avoiding Alucard since that night sufficed the focus and concentration I had been wanting to achieve.

"State your purpose here," I ordered in a cautious tone, observing from the watchtower as I jumped down and landed perfectly on the ground when a few of our pack warriors surrounded an unfamiliar man who had come to a halt in front of the gates of our borders.

He was clad in an attire that seemed like he was a knight, not wearing armor. I could tell already, based on his posture, that he came and served from an esteemed family.

The man bowed with a small smile plastered his lips. "I am Elijah, serving His Royal Highness, Crown Prince Alucard. I came here to fetch my master after receiving a letter from the Moon Oriental pack specifying that he is here. Perhaps, you are Lady Faustina Kerez, the Beta of this pack?" he said, being direct as he looked directly into his eyes.

I nodded at the pack warriors to drop their guards as I stepped forward and made a bow as a sign of respect since he proclaimed that he was serving Alucard.

"Please come this way first to let my Alpha know about your arrival, Sir Elijah."

His unannounced arrival blitzed my heart. The feeling of agitation was fluttering my heart, knowing well that Alucard would be leaving so soon.

I escorted Sir Elijah back to my manor, where Arsenal greeted me and gestured his hand to the greenhouse garden after mind-linking him that an envoy had come to get Alucard.

"His Royal Highness is with Lord Edison, young mistress. They are having some tea," Arsenal said.

Nodding, I glanced at Sir Elijah, eyeing him to see if he was worried about Alucard's welfare. "I wonder what it takes someone from the royal palace to be summoned to fetch the crown prince of our kingdom." I couldn't help blurting out the words I had in my head.

"I would like to apologize for that, Lady Faustina. The royal palace has been busy since the arrival of the emissaries from our neighboring kingdoms. His Majesty, Alpha King Azarius said that His Royal Highness is already taken care of by your pack, so we have to focus on the emissaries first. I thank you for having him in your home, my lady. We would compensate you and your pack for the trouble His Royal Highness caused."

He sounded so apologetic that I felt guilty all of a sudden. The fact he brought some gifts that Alpha Navarro accepted wholeheartedly.

When we arrived in the garden, I spotted Edison laughing while Alucard was playing goofy. He was jumping and changing different expressions to make Edison laugh.

"What the hell..." I was in disbelief at this crown prince, who did not act like a prince at all.

Sir Elijah grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If Grand Alpha King Apollo sees this, I am going to throw myself..." he muttered in distress.

The way he sounded seemed like Alucard was a pain in the ass. I almost laughed at it, but I exhaled, and just before I could grab their attention, Alucard sniffed the air, shifting his gaze to us.

My stomach somersaulted as my wolf was jumping for joy the moment he noticed my presence. It also reminded me of the night he kissed me, which left me bothered for days.

I heaved out this shaky breath with the way he was staring at me with so much intensity that I felt my body enveloped in a warm embrace. "Sir Elijah is here to fetch you, Your Royal Highness." I gestured my hand so his attention would be diverted to Sir Elijah.

It was effective as he lost his words for a moment. "Elijah..." He blinked before he frowned and huffed. "Useless assistant. Took you so long, stupid." He grinned.

Sir Elijah's jaw dropped as he sighed, hearing how I could hear the annoyance let out from his breath. He marched in his way before bowing deeply and looking into his eyes. "Do you have any idea that Alpha King Azarius almost fired me from my job for leaving on your own, Your Royal Highness?!"

"Heh?" Alucard's smile grew wider. "If brother did it, you should not be in front of me, fetching me here, right?"

"It does not matter! He threatened me! He told me to have you go back to the royal palace by hook or by crook!"

Arsenal and I exchanged glances from the frustration in Sir Elijah's tone. It looked like that Alucard was a big headache to everyone, even if he was the crown prince.

I signaled Arsenal that he should get Edison, who was smiling and enjoying what he was seeing. He gently pushed Edison's wheelchair as he met me outside the greenhouse garden.

"Does this mean that he is going home, Tina?"

Hearing that nickname he and Samantha created for me had eased me, for I knew that Edison was in his calming state. "Yes. I have spoken to Sir Elijah. They need to leave today."

And my heart wasn't ready for that and so was my wolf. I could feel my chest squeezing, unable to evade these feelings pouring before me.

"It's a shame that he is leaving. I am kind of liking him for you, Tina."

My eyes widened, looking at him in disbelief. "W-What do you mean? Are you... matchmaking me to a lycan prince?" I gulped, feeling nervous that if only Edison knew that Alucard was my mate, I wondered if he would be ecstatic or not.

Edison smiled sheepishly. "Why not? You two looked perfect for each other."

I chuckled awkwardly. "Please... I do not like him, Edison." I diverted to a different topic before he could go further from teasing me. Knowing him, he wouldn't drop it off so easily.

During Edison's time working in the royal palace, he playfully teased me about Lord Malculf Stound, the son of his close colleague. Lord Malculf, who was a few years older than me, possessed striking good looks. He made numerous attempts to court me a few months ago, expressing his desire for us to be engaged. However, I repeatedly turned down his advances, causing him considerable heartache and leaving a lasting impact on him.

He was dejected at that time. Edison even told me that Lord Malcolm was so heartbroken at my rejection, even though he was not my mate.

I did not want to remember that man. He was persistent and annoying, and he was getting on my nerves sometimes. It did not even occur to me to feel guilty for rejecting the proposal he made in the manor.

After that, I was the one who attended to Edison first since he insisted on talking to me more when he noticed that I had been distancing from him lately. I offered a simple explanation, stating that I had been preoccupied with my duties, without delving into the specifics of my role as Beta. I chose not to mention this aspect, as I was aware it might provoke a sensitive reaction from him.

"I will just go and see if His Royal Highness and Sir Elijah have finished their conversation so that I can make the necessary preparations for their departure, alright?" I spoke softly to Edison, who had just taken his medicine and rested in his chamber.

"Jaromir will return here, right?" I nodded. "When?" he asked when I was fixing his blanket to cover him up.

"You know Jaromir never announces his arrival." I chuckled and gently combed his black raven hair, no signs of aging lingering on his face. "He loves surprising us so you can count on him that he will soon return here for at least vacation."

"You're right."

I made my way downstairs after the peaceful discourse with Edison. That was a relief since I did not have to be disheartened again if he ever accused me that I stole the Beta's position again.

I met Alucard, who had just gotten inside the manor. "Are you leaving now?" I asked, my gaze seething in the hallway, not daring myself to look at him. "I am going to tell our servants to prepare-"

"I am going to leave tomorrow morning, not today, Faustina."

"Huh?" I turned my head at him, blinking at what he said. "I beg your pardon?"

Alucard, whose hands were in the pockets of his trousers, sauntered his way in my direction. "Tomorrow morning, not today," he repeated.

I stepped back a little when his presence overwhelmed me. "T-Then where is Sir Elijah? I shall invite him to stay-"

"He is going to stay in the carriage."

I frowned when he kept chiming in without letting me finish what I was about to say. "Don't you have manners? Let someone finish-"

"I already know what you are going to say, so no sweat for me to—"

"I don't care," I chimed in, not letting him finish.

Alucard had a slight surprise registered on his handsome face as his forest-green eyes were glimmering in amusement. "Now, you are talking to me, unlike a few days ago." His hand reached my chin and gently pinched it. "Finally."

"W-What?" I could swear I was as red as a tomato when his face was so close to me. It caught me off guard, so I stepped back and did not notice the carpet yanked in my ankle, causing me to stumble backwards.

However, I did not land on the carpeted floor when a strong arm wrapped around my waist. My heart was racing so fast upon noticing that Alucard was so close to me, his lips were a few inches from mine.

"Caught you," he whispered huskily before his gaze lowered to my lips up to my eyes. "I really loved your cornflower blue eyes, dollface. They are really captivating..."

His spine-chilling words hit the core in between my legs, and my wolf started to purr all of a sudden, making my eyes widen in horror. Alucard's smile had grown wider, but he did not spout any words to tease me or not.

His eyes were full of adoration and... longing. Was that the right emotion I was perceiving?

Alucard carefully helped me to stand up on my own, but it did not escape me when I heard him sniffing my hair, bringing shivers down my spine. I stepped back a little, wanting to run away, but I couldn't find myself to do so.

"Thank you..." I cleared my throat, averting my gaze away from him. "...for the compliment, Alucard."

"You're most welcome."

"So, um... I shall prepare for your farewell party today. Our pack members will be heartbroken that you could have at least told your farewells to them." I tried to meet his gaze, which shuddered me as I cussed inside my head, remembering that I became vulnerable to him, for I wasn't wearing my locket necklace that had incantation to calm my wolf.

This was hard to ignore our connection to each other.

"Actually, that is what I came here for. I wouldn't want a farewell party. I just want a peaceful goodbye tomorrow."

"Oh, I see. I respect your wishes, then."

We were enveloped with silence after that. I felt agitated that his authoritative and formidable presence was making me squirm on my ground. I silently wished Alpha Navarro had summoned me to work since this was the perfect time to leave.

But no mindlink came.

"I should... um... go to the borders." My lips kept up with a smile that could almost fail.

Alucard's gaze lingered on me, a mixture of disappointment and something else I couldn't quite decipher. "Of course, Faustina. Duty calls," he replied, his smile slightly hanging on his lips. 

I nodded, grateful for the excuse to escape the intensity of the moment. "I'll see you later then," I said, trying to sound casual as I turned to leave.

Just as I was about to make my way to the borders, his voice stopped me in my tracks. "Wait, Faustina." 

I hesitated, my heart pounding as I slowly turned to face him again. "Yes?"

Alucard stepped closer, his gaze intense and unwavering. "I know I said I didn't want a farewell party, but... I don't mind if we will do it with just the two of us." His voice held a note of vulnerability, a plea hidden beneath his words.

Surprise washed over me, and I found myself searching his eyes for any hint of deception. But all I saw was sincerity and longing. The air crackled with a renewed tension, and my wolf stirred within me, yearning for a connection that went beyond duty and responsibility.

My mind was flooded with conflicting thoughts and emotions, but in that moment, my heart spoke louder. It yearned for the chance to know Alucard beyond his royal facade, to explore the bond that drew us together.

With a mixture of trepidation and curiosity, I nodded slowly. "Alright, Alucard. Let's have our farewell gathering tonight." Something was poking inside my head if this was the right decision or not. 

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, his eyes shining with gratitude. "Thank you for heeding my request, Faustina. If possible, I would like us to be on the hill where we went a few days ago."

I immediately caught my heart from his statement as that night when he kissed me suddenly crossed my mind. "T-There?" I gulped when he nodded. "W-Why there?" Shit! Calm down, Faustina. You do not need to be startled by it.

But I couldn't help it. Damn it!

"Because it is special to me," Alucard said meaningfully, making my heart become erratic. His gaze pierced into mine, making me uncomfortable on my ground. "I would be happier if we are there," he added.

This time, his tone changed into a husky one that I even had to lick my lips in nervousness. 

I was lost in words, unable to voice out what was inside my head. I was panicking, feeling the sweat smearing my hands. This pushed me to jest at him, but seeing his earnest expression at this moment was enough for me to know that Alucard wouldn't let this go.

"If that is what you wish, then..." My words almost brought me banging my head against the wall. 

What the hell was I saying, and I agreed at his request? This was wrong! 

How his forest-green eyes glinted with glee had made my stomach flutter. "Great! I shall see you later, then?" When he stepped forward, my wolf and I held our breath with his astounding presence. "It's a yes, right?"

I found myself nodding, captivated by his eyes. 

"Good. See you there, dollface."