Hunter loved the way she had leaned in his palm and now her face was buried in it. She was such a petite and lovely girl that his heart squeezed. He wondered if her wolf came back. He was dying to tell her that he was her mate, but if he told her now, he was sure that River would run away at the mention of the word ‘mate’. She had undergone a rejection and he wanted to give her time to recuperate. “And what about you, River?” he asked. “I want you to have a bright future. I want you to grow and develop in a way you want to. What is it that you want, River?”
River was stunned. The Alpha of the Dark Moon pack had been so sweet with her that it was hard to believe. She really wanted her wolf to come out and explain what was happening. She smiled at him.
“While I know I am nothing but a breeder, Alpha Hunter, I was wondering if I can specialize in interior decoration?” Then she looked at him as if searching for an answer in his eyes. When he frowned, she knew that she had stretched her limit and her eyes dropped to her lap. She chided herself for pushing her limits with a man who had done so much for her. Who would have thought that he would have brought Hector to her only so that she could reject him?
Hunter curled his thumb and forefinger beneath her chin and forced her to look at him. In a very serious voice he said, “First, don’t treat yourself as a breeder, okay? I don’t like it when you say that word. And second, if you want to get into interior designing, who am I to stop you? But how will you go about it?
Because we don’t have that kind of a college inside the Veil. You will have to go to the human world.”
Though he would never stop her from what she wanted to achieve, the thought of living away from her, gnawed at his heart.
River wanted to kiss the man on his lips. Why was he so good? And she didn’t want to leave him at all.
Goddess, what was happening to her? “Oh no!” River countered him. “I am not going to go anywhere I have searched for an online course. But it will cost a lot of money!”
Hunter grinned. “Then you may join it from today!”
River couldn’t help smiling because his happiness was so infectious. And she couldn’t help leaning near and placing a quick kiss on his lips. Her reaction surprised her but it stunned Hunter. “That won’t do…” he said. He cupped her head at the back and pulled her towards him. He brushed her lips on hers and soon that little caress of his lips turned into a deep kiss. River opened her ****for him, welcoming him to explore her. When he pulled himself away, she let out a reluctant cry.
“Thank you,” she said in a soft voice, unable to take her eyes off his lips.
“For?” he asked huskily, his eyes on her lips and her nape.
“For everything. You are taking so much care-“
He placed his finger on her lips. “I am doing what I want to.”
And River felt that it was impossible to not fall in love with this man. She wondered what would happen to her if he found his mate. That thought was so ***that she shoved it immediately out of her mind.
*I have a confession to make…..” she said.
“Confession?”
She nodded. Lowering her eyes to her lap, she clasped her hands. She had to tell him the truth.
“What is it, River?” he asked, getting impatient and wondering what it was.
She took in a ragged breath. “I had met Ella the day I had come here. I mean not met her, but talked to her.”
Hunter froze. “Ella? You went to the south tower?”
She nodded once, feeling guilty as ***. “I wanted to escape from the Veil and in order to do so, I went to the library and got a map of the castle and Dark Moon pack. I was strolling around the palace when I chanced upon the tower and heard Ella’s voice.”
“Goddess!” Hunter said, shocked. His hand on her loosened its grip.
“Ella misguided me. She said- she said-” River was too embarrassed to say it but she wanted to be clear with the man who had done so much for her. She wanted a new start desperately. “She said that she was the former breeder of the Lycan King and that after using her, she was thrown in the dungeon. She wanted me to help her escape.” River’s throat burned at the revelation. She stopped herself from crying.
She was sure that Hunter would think of her as a tanol
“She wasn’t a breeder!” Hunter said sharply and got up from the bed. He stabbed his fingers in his hair and walked to look outside the window.
“I know!” River replied. “Faria told me all about her. But Ella said that she was a breeder and since I am also a breeder, I felt bad about her. I have heard tales about how breeders were treated in the Veil. That panicked me a lot. Combined with it, the way Hector treated me-” she paused, unable to speak after that, feeling terrible when the familiar feeling surged through her. “I wanted to run away…” she managed to say it out hoarsely.
Hunter spun and was in front of her, kneeling on the rug. “You wanted to run away?” he asked, his expression that of disbelief, his heart thudding against his ribcage in panic. “You want to get out of the Veil?”
“No!” River shook her head as her tears broke the dam and came out in a rush. “I don’t want to leave.”
She wanted to say, she didn’t want to leave him, but she pressed her lips. “I want to stay here for as long as you will allow me. The thought of leaving is… bad.”
Hunter’s panic ebbed and he threw his arms around her. He hugged her tightly. “Oh River! I don’t want you to leave. Ever. Never. Never. Never.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in the ***of his neck. “Then I will never leave,” she said through her tears. Even if he found his mate, she would continue to stay here.”
Hunter squeezed her tightly. “I don’t care what happened with Ella and you in the past. But I want both of us to bury the past and move ahead together. Promise?”
She giggled. “Promise.”
River registered for her online course and on the third day, Hunter brought her to the west wing of the castle to show her something.
Hunter led her to the garden of the west wing. The warm rays of sun had filled the air. Dewdrops on the grass blades glistened as light fell on them. The beds were full of flowers. Deep pink Azalea lined the narrow, cobbled path on the side that led to a larger space In the garden he showed her a small tree stump that was till the height of her knees and a small table beside it. “Did you make that for me?” she asked, as she looked at him with surprise.
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