~ 9

0009

✧･ﾟ: ✧ :･ﾟ✧  Marichuy ✧･ﾟ: ✧ :･ﾟ✧

“You look beautiful,” Derek softly kissed each side of my cheek, before pulling open the car door for me to get in.

“Thank you,” I managed to accompany my words with a faint smile.

There was no doubt I looked beautiful as Luna Margaret picked out my dress. As much as I wanted to hate it, I couldn’t.

Margaret picked a white short dress that opened up after my bust and stopped just before my knee, covered in pink stones arranged in diamond patterns. The dress was without sleeves. The top of the dress had a heart shape at the top that formed a cover for my breasts, but left a little of my cleavage peeping out.

I sat quietly in the vehicle, staring out the window. I could not get over Margeret’s words. Since she was not exactly direct with her request, there was no way for me to tell whether she was asking me to flirt with him or offer him money.

‘What exactly does whatever you must mean?’

I was still pondering when Derek pulled the car over in front of Grand Pack Summit Hall.

The hall looked almost different.

From the outside, there were balloons arranged in tall blocks in front of the hall, and a long red carpet that ran from the door to a few meters away, where a black limousine was parked.

Derek and I were walking into the hall from behind the black vehicle, when we were almost blinded by the lights — flashes from different cameras coming from every angle.

We didn’t see the door open, but we saw Alpha Redford’s head rise above the hood of the vehicle.

The attention he had was mind-blowing.

Everyone was trying to speak to him, or hear him speak, or maybe even touch him.

Derek and I waited for the drama to die down, but it felt like it was taking forever.

Alpha Redford, who I was sure was used to all the attention he was getting, walked on the carpet with his head held high and his shoulders broadened.

He looked almost angelic in his black tux and the fact that I only got the view from the back did not change that.

Our eyes met when he turned around to wave the crowd the minute he got to the entrance of the hall.

Something about his gaze made me weak in the knees.

It was a look that spelt ‘desire’. I did not understand it and I stared right back with my confusion visible in my gaze.

Hungry for attention, Derek walked us on the carpet as soon as Redford got in. We did not get half the attention Redford got. Not even a quarter of it.

I hid my face, not in shame, just struggling to hide the fact that I was laughing terribly at how pathetic Derek’s attempt was.

The event had started when we walked in. Alpha Redford was in front of the crowd with a microphone being held to his lips, but as soon as I walked in, I caught him staring at me and his gaze did not move from me, all through his welcome speech which he kept pretty short.

It was impossible to listen to a single word he said when his eyes were fixed on me like that.

‘Oh, my goodness! He’s walking towards me. Why is he walking towards me?’

My heart was pounding hard against my chest when I noticed him drawing close.

“Alpha Derek,” Redford called and extended a handshake to him.

“Alpha Redford. Lovely party you have here.” If I didn’t know he had a plan, I would have sworn Derek was ‘fan-girling’ Redford.

“I hope Ms. Winters thinks so too.” Redford extended a handshake to me.

“Yes… it’s a lovely party.” I received it gently.

I wasn’t trying to be modest.

I thought Redford was being extra with the decoration outside, but the inside was even three times more. Everything in black and gold aesthetics.

The walls were all covered and the balloon pattern was pristine, and ‘where ever the hell did Redford get gold roses from?’  

I was blown away, but had to act like none of it mattered.

There was more than enough food laid out and the crowd was enormous.

“Remind me again what we’re celebrating?” I probed. I had to.

“Life!” Redford responded. “Sometimes, we are given a second chance in life and we realize just how important it is to do things differently.”

My intestines twisted over one another. I felt the knots they formed.

‘Does he know? How does he know? Who was this man?’

I choked on my saliva.

“Anyway, I decided to host these once every month to bond the members of the different packs across the region.” Redford’s next statement was in a lighter tone, “You know, size out my competition.”

Derek and Redford let out a brief laughter that smelled fake even from a mile away.

“I highly doubt that anyone in the entire region is dumb enough to attempt competing with you,” Derek praised.

“Well, you never can tell.” Redford switched back into a serious tone.

It was almost like he was expecting trouble.

“I’m pretty sure I can. Everyone needs your approval. You singlehanded provide seventy-five percent of the resources that make this region run and I can’t begin to imagine the burden of that.” Derek’s attempt to win Redford over was even more pathetic than his attempt to gain attention on the carpet.

“The expansion… our pack has…” Redford lifted his hand and stopped Derek before he got the chance to say anything else.

“Let Marichuy walk me through the plans for the expansion.”

“What?” Derek and I had the same reaction.

“She is your mate, and she’s involved, right?” Redford queried Derek, who hesitated to reply, because the response Redford wanted to hear was going to be a lie.

“Why not? She’s fully involved.” Derek went with the lie.

“Then I’ll listen to her.” Redford insisted.

‘What is going on?’ I wasn’t the only one panicking, Aria was too.

‘I have no idea.’

The most frustrating part was how blank it was to try to read his mind. I could only hear Derek losing his mind in his thoughts.

Oh, dear! This bitch will ruin everything.

I smiled at Derek.

He wasn’t entirely wrong.

The expansion was one of the things he used to take my inheritance from me. I could never forget that.

After the approval, he talked about how his account needed to reflect stability for him to be able to work with the rest of the Alphas.

I wasn’t that naïve this time, but I was willing to take something important away from him. So, when he said I was going to ruin everything, he was not wrong.

“It will be my singular honor to walk you through the plan,” I said with a broad smile on my face to Redford.

“Great. Let’s go somewhere quiet then.” He held out his hand.

That was not quite what I was expecting. I was scared. I was not sure following him was the right move, but I saw the horror on Derek’s face and it was worth this unsure move.