26

Helena was so looking forward to the activities in her subject that she couldn’t wait to choose a weapon for herself that would be suitable for her advantage. Meanwhile, Louis has been a consistent visitor at her pad just to eat and have a casual talk with her. She has no idea whether Louis isn’t as busy as she thinks or if her friends are really right about him.

After her class, when she was already on her way out, Bruno suddenly flashed in front of her the next day.

“Helena…” he called with a smile.

“Bruno.” She smiled back.

“I heard from the girls that class B will have some activities on the field, which means it’s going to be tough for the beginners. It will now involve weapons.”

She nodded. “Yup. I’m quite excited to know what weapon I am flexible with.”

“Hmm. If you don’t mind, you can come with me, and I’ll show you something. Don’t worry, it’s still in the camp, and I will walk you back to your pad.” He raised his hand like a promise.

She suddenly thought of Louis, but she was now thinking that he might not come over since he had visited twice now. Maybe that day would be an exception. So she agreed to come with him.

Bruno brought him to the barn, where some of the weapons were stored for some reason. Her eyes widened when she saw different kinds of bows for archery, and there were other weapons that were familiar to her as well since they were already tackled.

“These are the weapons we sometimes used during training. There are times that we would hunt in our human form; that’s why we keep these kinds of weapons,” Bruno explained.

Helena touched some of those amusingly. She looked at Bruno, who nodded at her and let her hold it in her hands. It felt heavy and complicated to use. She could already imagine how hard it would be for her to carry it.

“Do you want to try it in the woods? We could practice,” Bruno offered.

“Really?”

Bruno smiled and nodded. Of course, Helena would love it. She didn’t waste time learning it and let Bruno teach her some of the weapons. Bruno taught her how to hold it properly, to just know the basics so she would not have a hard time once their activities about weapons would start.

He was standing beside her, his hands guiding her hands on how to hold it properly as it leveled on her chest, her vision aligned on the target, which was in front of her, while she tried to concentrate.

“Now, let go,” Bruno said.

She let go of the bow until it flew straight. But yes, she really needed more practice because it didn’t even target anything at all and just fell on the ground in the snow.

Bruno chuckled a little while Helena sighed heavily and shook her head with a smile on her lips too.

“That’s okay. You can’t really learn it in just one try, you know,” he said. “Now do it again…”

She nodded and did it for the second time, but just like what happened earlier, it just happened. Bruno pursed his lips, trying to make her see that he was not judging her and urging her to do it again, but all of her attempts to even fire a shot were useless. She couldn’t even target anything.

“I’m going to practice over and over, and I’ll show you I will master it so soon,” Helena bragged when she caught Bruno holding back his laugh.

“Looking forward to it, Miss Asher…” he chuckled.

Helena rolled her eyes and smiled until she noticed that it was almost getting dark, so she let Bruno walk her back to her pad while they were still laughing about the topic, when Helena could not even target anything.

“Wait until I master it. I will put an apple on top of your head, and I will target it,” she challenged proudly, which made Bruno raise his hands.

“Hold on. I think that would kill me,” he mumbled, which made Helena leer at him, wanting to kick him, but he ran a bit while laughing. She glared at Bruno and laughed as well until her smile slowly vanished when she saw Louis waiting outside her pad.

“Alpha Louis…” Bruno smiled a little. “Oh, Helena got late because… I taught her how to use bows and arrows. She made a lot of mistakes, though,” he chuckled.

But Louis didn’t even give the same reaction, which is why it became awkward. Helena cleared her throat and looked at Bruno.

“Thank you for today, Bruno,” she said.

Bruno smiled and nodded. He looked at Louis, who wasn’t saying anything, just weighing the atmosphere; he already took it as a sign to get going. Louis opened the door, which made Helena walk inside as she could feel a heavy atmosphere suddenly looming between them.

“I… didn’t know you would come over,” she pointed out.

“I told you I would visit often,” he said, dragging the chair for her to the table where food was placed.

Helena swallowed hard, and for some reason, she felt guilty that she didn’t come home immediately.

“I will heat them for a while,” Louis said.

Helena watched him do it. The silence while he was heating the food made her feel bad for some reason. It went cold because he waited too long.

“I thought you wouldn’t come over; that’s why I accepted Bruno’s invite to… see some weapons for my future activity on my other subject,” she explained.

She doesn’t even know why she is doing it, but there was an urge in her that she needed to at least tell him what happened and the reason why she went home late.

Louis didn’t say anything, as he put all of his attention on what he was doing while Helena was now having a hard time explaining more. She was trying to think of an excuse that he would buy, or would at least make him consider her for being late, but she tried to dig deeper, and the more she tried to find answers, the more she realized that she was on the wrong.

“I…I’m sorry,” she uttered the words she needed to say after a long pause.

Louis froze a bit and didn’t expect her to apologize for it, so he glanced at her.

“Why are you apologizing?” he asked.

“Because I am wrong and I made you wait. I just got carried away when Bruno taught me how to use those weapons since it would be part of our activity, and I wanted some background at least.”

Louis felt her desperation to learn from her subjects, and there is nothing wrong with it.

“No. Maybe it’s my fault too since I didn’t tell you I would visit today,” he clarified.

Helena calmed down a bit. It was the reason why she thought it was okay to come with Bruno because Louis might not show up. Not that she is expecting it, but she is really not putting too much meaning on what he does and creating things that would give her false hopes.

“If…you said you would visit me during what time, I will…make sure I will come home immediately so you won’t wait that long,” Helena answered.

Louis’ face lightened. He liked the idea of it so much that he nodded and licked his lips, his expression calming down compared to earlier.

“Alright, I will give you a phone so we can communicate, and you will know if I come here,” he insisted.

Helena smiled and nodded. She doesn’t know that things with assuring you would be that big a deal to her and would melt her down. Louis placed the food back on the table. Somehow, Helena’s nervousness went down now that Louis seemed fine already.

“Are you comfortable with Bruno?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“I could spare some time so I could teach you some things too.”

Helena couldn’t believe it; her eyes widened. Of course, it is a big thing since Louis is the head of a big pack, and he is considered one of the strongest and most powerful alphas existing. It was like a privilege given to her that she should not waste. It was even better than taking her classes.

“I would love to…” she answered excitedly, her voice raised a bit.

Louis blinked that even Helena had realized she got too excited. She cleared her throat and blinked twice as well, which made Louis chuckle a little.

“Yeah, I will teach you.” He smiled and started putting food on her plate.

Her lips parted. She felt like she would explode because of how overwhelming everything is. She just saw Louis laugh for the first time, and he was putting food on his plate too. It was so rare to see him acting like that since she’s used to his intimidating aura.

She stared at him for a long time since there was a smile left on his lips, and it felt like she would not see it every day, so she wanted to get that opportunity to appreciate it.

He looks gentler when he smiles. His air calmed down, and he seemed like a comfortable person to be with because of how his eyes would sparkle as well when he smiled. I cannot believe I have seen this side of him. He is really something else…and one of a kind…