15

Eliana's POV

I wanted to go to my room, but I decided not to. I knew I was being followed; this was no pregnancy hormones; someone was following me.

And like any curious person would do, I walked past my room, pretending to continue the journey down the hallway. I quickened my pace; my heart raced with every step I took. I was being followed; I was sure of it.

When I got to a corner, I turned and pressed myself against the wall, holding my breath in place. I waited for a while and then began to hear footsteps. I knew I was going to make a sound, so I covered my mouth with my sweaty palms, then prepared myself to attack whoever was stalking me.

My hands were clenched into fists, as if I could use that to scare away the person, but I didn't care; at least it would do something. As the footsteps got closer, I jumped out of the corner and aimed at the person's face.

The punch would have landed on Ace, but he was fast enough to move; thanks to his wolf reflexes.

“Jeez!” Ace exclaimed, holding my hands still.

My eyes widened as he stood in front of me, dropping my hands, a look of confusion etched on his face. “What the hell! What is wrong with you?”

“I am so sorry, so sorry.” I apologised immediately, pulling a strand of hair from my face. “I didn't see you... I thought…”

Ace continued to look at me. His expression changed from confusion to concern as he took in my tensed posture. “You thought what?”

“I thought someone was following me.” I finally told him.

“Someone was following you?” He asked and looked behind him. “You're looking so tense. Are you sure that's all?”

“Yes.” I said with a low voice. I didn't want to tell him before, but he had this gentle personality that I couldn't overlook.

“Well, that's impossible. There's no bad person here. I assure you, you're safe here. This is the safest place in this pack.”

He didn't believe me, I thought. I was sure someone was following, and it wasn't Ace; it was someone else, but Ace wouldn't understand. “I know what I felt; I was sure someone was behind me. I smelt something.”

Ace came closer and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Your hormones, Eliana; there's no one around who would hurt you. I can assure you that.”

I nodded as he finished talking, but my mind wasn't at ease. My instincts were screaming at me, warningme not to take his words seriously. But then he was the oldest in the mansion, more like the absolute commander of all affairs. I believed him at that point.

"Come on, now. Let's get out of this hallway and find somewhere more comfortable to talk, shall we? You can tell me more about what happened."

“Yes.” I replied, feeling a little silly for overreacting. I had been letting my imagination run wild; that was just it. There was no one behind me. There were no bad people in this mansion.

As we walked, Ace kept his hand on the small of my back; his touch was warm and reassuring. “Careful there,” Ace said as we reached the stairs.

He followed me to my room and stood at the door. He smiled at me before he spoke. “I guess you're safe here. You can lock the door if you want. I'll ensure the maid sends your lunch and dinner. Stay safe.” He had said and turned to leave.

I hadn't wanted him to go, so I stood up and went to the door, holding his shirt before he even had the chance to touch the doorknob.

I was still scared. I believed him, but who knows? I had to be extra prepared. “I don't want to be alone. I'm scared.” I had told him silently.

“I assure you there's nothing.”

I shook my head stubbornly. “Please stay with me. I just need company.”

Ace's expression softened, and he agreed. "All right, I'll stay with you."

I smiled, and I gave him a chair in the room. He sent for the maids, and they brought snacks and drinks. To keep my company, Ace began telling me a story from his childhood days.

“My brothers and I shared everything together growing up. When I meant everything, I meant EVERYTHING possible. But all that changed when my dad got us this toy, a little fire truck. It was from the werewolf world, so it was our treasure. My dad got it on one of his rare visits to the werewolf world.”

I was intrigued by the story, and I gave it my total attention.

“That toy made us fight.” Ace said, “We couldn't share it no matter what our parents said. We wanted one each, and as much as my father tried, that toy was the last edition, so we just had to share.”

“Your parents must have been so frustrated.” I piped in.

“Say that again. It was total chaos. They even hid it so we wouldn't bite off our heads, but Cade found it and kept it for himself until Rhett found it with him. And that day, we fought so hard we bled.”

“Oww, what did your parents do?”

Ace laughed, reliving the day. “My mom burnt it.”

I laughed too. “Wow, that seemed like the only way out.” I chuckled, imagining the three mischievous boys wrestling over the toy – little Cade, Rhett, and Ace. I couldn't even picture them as little boys.

Ace grinned, not done with his amusing stories. “That's not the last, my lady. There was this great 'Who Can Eat the Most Pancakes' contest in school. The proper school for young wolves is called ‘Den of Learning'. So, we got into the contest; it was my idea; to cut the long story short, it ended with syrup everywhere and a stomach ache that lasted for days."

I giggled, feeling my fear slowly dissipate. “That's crazy.”

"And then there was the time we tried to 'reorganise' Mum's kitchen cabinets by dumping everything on the floor. We thought it was the most brilliant idea, but Mum didn't quite agree. The council then would look at us and tell us none of us could ever become an Alpha. It was chaos.”

“It is chaos.” I laughed.

“Tell me, you lived among werewolfs all your childhood days; tell me about it.” Ace said.

I hesitated before speaking. I wouldn't have told him anything, but I did because he had opened up to me too. I felt safe with him.

“I was always the shy one in class.” I started. I realised my voice was low, but I continued anyway. “The other kids picked on me mercilessly. They'd call me names and push me around. I hated going to school; it was torture. Trust me, you don't want to go through that.”

Ace held my hand, his expression soft and understanding. “I'm so sorry about that, Eliana. No one deserves to go through that, and I hope those bullies get what they deserve.”

I smiled weakly. "It was tough, but I learnt to deal with it. I shoved it off with work. I have been working very hard since I was a child.”

“I like your personality.” Ace said. “You're a powerful woman.”

“Thank you.”

We continued to talk until the darkness outside seemed to overshadow us. We talked about everything in general – school days, families, favourite foods, and places to go. It was on another level with Ace. I felt safe with him, more like I'd known him all my life.

And we had dinner in my room and continued to talk. It was funny how I seemed to bond well with him. By the time it was 9 PM, I found myself dozing and gave in to the inevitable sleep.

The next morning, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for a new day. When I looked at the floor, I was shocked.

He was there; Ace. He was sleeping peacefully on the floor. He had kept his words till the end; he said he would keep my company, and he did just that. I smiled. His thoughtfulness touched my heart as I looked at him.

“I should wake him up.” I told myself and stood up from the bed. Just then, a knock sounded, and I called out. “Come in.”

It was Cade. He saw his brother on the floor, and his eyes widened. He had thought something bad had happened to him. “He's fine. He's just sleeping.” I said it nonchalantly.

Cade went to wake Ace up immediately. “Wake up!”

“What is it, dude?” Ace asked with a sleeplaced voice.

“Rhett didn't come home yesterday. He just took off in the morning, and he didn't return.”

“What?” Ace's eyes were wide open, his senses at alert as he heard that. “Where did he go?”

“I don't know, and that's why I'm concerned.” Cade explained.

Ace got up immediately, “get some guards, let's go find our brother!”

They didn't even wait for me to say anything else before they ran out. I just prayed Rhett was okay.