Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I lifted my head when the door opened. As I had expected, it was Beta Lynel again who would attend to me. For some reason, Calgary had me transferred to another room and stopped seeing me. His Beta said he had himself locked up for several days, unable to control his own wolf. Something Calgary has never experienced before.

"Morning," Lynel greeted with a smile.

He was, by far, the nicest member of the Claivan Pack. Whenever Lynel was taking me outside so I could heal faster by connecting to nature, most of their pack members would glare at me as if I had done something terrible to them. I just assumed that it was because I was from Zenios, and all of the packs in Nirvana; Zenios, Claivan, Prudence, and Mayhem, were in conflict because of something Calgary did in the past.

I pulled myself up and followed him. "Your big bad Alpha still locking himself up?" I couldn't help but ask as we walked down the stairs.

"Nope." He looked at me with a slight smile. "He went to Mayhem to get you a customized collar."

My brows furrowed. "Mayhem? I thought... everyone's in conflict right now?"

He smirked. "Not really. Zenios has just been isolated for quite a while."

"What?"

"Right. It's not really my story to tell. Whatever Alpha Lawrence's reasons were for keeping Zenios from getting along with everyone, it's all up to him whether to tell you or not."

I stopped. "Hold on, where is Alpha Lawrence?"

Lynel ran his fingers onto his auburn hair. "Alone in Zenios. He refused to come with us."

"With... you?"

He nodded. "He let his people stay in Mayhem, but he refused to come along. Calgary and I went to him to invite him to stay with us while everyone in your pack is healing, but he refused to leave your pack's cemetery."

My heart felt a different kind of pain because of what he said. He's probably badly hurt, yet here he was, being so stubborn just because he couldn't leave my mom.

I drew in a deep breath. "Can you... take me to him? I promise I won't run. I just want to talk to him, see if I can convince him to come with us."

"Sorry, but I'm not in the right position to decide about that. We can wait for Alpha to return. I'll tell him about your request. For now, let's get your wounds checked."

A simple nod was my only answer. Lynel took me to their pack's doctor who checked my wounds. When she saw that I wasn't healing that fast, she looked at Lynel before she spoke.

"Maybe it's best if you would take off her chains. Without it, she'll heal faster."

"I'll ask Alpha," said Lynel before he took me outside.

As I expected, people of Claivan started throwing me deadly looks again, as if they'd rip my neck once they got a chance.

My eyes roamed around their village until I spotted a little girl peeking at a window. When she saw me, she immediately hid as if I scared her. I felt bad, and I think Lynel noticed my expression.

"That's Calla. Alpha's daughter."

My lips parted in surprise. "Daughter? He has a daughter?"

"Yup. She's seven."

"So where's his Luna?"

Sadness crossed Lynel's rims. "She's... gone." He looked away. "She ran away with her true mate."

"And she left her own daughter for her mate?" I laughed, a disappointed one. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that's fair for the little girl."

"So as to Alpha. He gave his all to her. He literally treated her like a queen, but maybe marriage will never be enough to break a mate bond."

I pushed a few strands of my hair towards the back of my ear. "Was she marked by Calgary?"

"That's the funny thing. Alpha's wolf refused to mark her." Lynel sighed. "You know, I hope the council listened to Calgary when he asked them to destroy the agreement about how an Alpha must select his Luna. It doesn't really benefit the packs at all."

My brows furrowed. "He asked them to do that?"

"Yeah. Calgary was concerned about the other packs, too. But they never listened."

I smirked. "I doubt that? He's a selfish mother--" I gulped. "Sorry."

"It's alright. Sometimes, when no one is watching, I curse him, too."

"Good thing he's not chaining you, huh?"

Lynel grinned. "He can't do that to his older brother, can he?"

My eyes blinked. "You guys are brothers?"

"Uhum. Not really that obvious, huh?"

"Not at all. You guys are very opposite to each other." I pointed to him. "You're the good brother and he's the vicious one no one would ever want to share a bunk bed with."

He laughed at what I said. "Oh, he's nice. He's only ruthless when he needs to be. Trust me on that one."

"Knock it off. I know big brothers often clean their siblings' names. You don't have to. Nothing can change my mind about him anyway. He is on top of my list of my most hated people on Earth."

"Is that so?"

I almost startled when I heard Calgary's voice from behind. Lynel and I turned to face him, and when he saw the shock on my face, his inky brow shot up. "Getting too comfy with my Beta, hmm?"

Lynel pursed his lips together, trying to suppress a grin. When Calgary saw his brother, he heaved a sigh and waved his hand as if getting annoyed at the look on Lynel's face. "Get outta here. I ain't fucking jealous of you."

Lynel burst into laughter before he patted my head. We saw how Calgary clenched his jaw as if he was getting irritated with the way Lynel touched me.

"See you later, Nadine."

I waved my hand at him as he left. When I faced Calgary again, I rolled my eyes at him before I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Should I be flattered that you went all the way to Mayhem yourself just to get me something, hmm?" I teased but Calgary just smirked at me before he dragged me back to his house.

He took me to his couch and commanded me to sit. I rolled my eyes because of his dominance, but when Calgary went on his knee and gently lifted my foot to remove my chain, my heart suddenly felt a different kind of warmth.

I watched how his jaw clenched after he saw the reddened part of my ankle. Why was he very different today? Was that guilt I was seeing in his eyes right now?

He let out a heavy breath then took out the collar he had got in Mayhem. The Alpha of Mayhem was known for being a great blacksmith. Maybe Alpha Quira was the one who made it.

Calgary motioned his hand as if asking me to lean forward so he could put on my collar. I hesitated at first, but when I realized that I had no choice anyway, I slightly bent towards him while I clenched my fists on my lap.

I held my breath when I felt his fingertips against my skin, waking up the foreign sensations I never felt even with Luhence. He pushed my hair to one side, and when he spoke in a gentle manner, his minty breath caressed my now heated cheeks.

"Quira put something that will prevent the silver from burning your skin." He looked me in the eyes after fixing my hair. "But if you don't behave, you'll wear the regular silver chains again. Do you understand?"

For the first time, I felt myself submitting to him. I looked away and nodded my head in response, but when Calgary remained kneeling in front of me, I couldn't help but meet his eyes again.

We stared at each other for a couple moments as if we were letting our wolves reach out to each other, but the door opened and a girl entered to call him.

"Alpha--oh. Am I... interrupting something?" she asked with a hint of annoyance.

Calgary took in a sharp breath then stood up. "Nah. Just making sure the collar would fit. Is everyone ready?" he asked as he faced the woman who glared at me.

"Yes. Shall we?"

Calgary nodded. He then looked over his shoulder before he spoke to me. "You stay here. I'll be back after an hour. Don't even try to leave my house or I'll lock you up and chain you again."

He stormed out with the girl who's obviously into him. When the door shut, I rested my back on the couch and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Looks like I'd rather see his bad side than the version of him that's more gentle.

That, I think, was far more dangerous for my heart...