Chapter 6

Penelope’s pov

“Come in,” Lucas said, as the door slowly opened with another person coming in.

“Alpha,” the person smiled and gave him a bow. “The elders are here to talk to you about some things. You have a meeting… that meeting that you’ve been pushing about.”

I looked from the strange man at the door to the Alpha, as he nodded.

“I’ll be right down there.”

The man nodded and walked away.

“Who was that?” I asked, as he smiled.

“My beta. I will be back. I need to go and check out this whole deal we’re having in our pack.”

It felt good hearing him talk about his pack like they were all family, but I was sure that this was all a ruse. 

He had to be playing me. I could tell that he was just like the others. Using people to get whatever they wanted. I would not let him win. Never.

I held back my anger and my rage towards my former Alpha as I looked at Lucas. He was different from Dax in a lot of ways… jovial, happy. All of this was just how Dax was in the beginning, before he changed. Dax was nice. He would give me whatever I wanted. But he’s changed now, to the point of beating me even while pregnant and making me lose my baby.

A lot of it brought tears to my eyes, with Lucas cleaning it out with a finger.

“You don’t have to cry,” he smiled. “You are safe. I promise you.”

I wanted to believe him so badly, but when you’ve been beaten down, insulted, abused, spat on… the amount of times I had been abused… you would not believe anyone, not even the Moon Goddess, if she was to appear before us.

Nodded to him so he would just leave. I wanted to rest. I had gone through a lot.

It did feel good staying here where no one was ordering me about. 

Nobody telling me that I’m worth nothing.

Over here, I felt content. I felt okay. I didn’t feel less than. He was treating me with respect. 

The doctors had treated me with respect. I had woken up in a VIP room. 

It felt good for me waking up without feeling like a slave.

Would I give Lucas the chance that he was hoping for? We’d be mates, maybe even second-chance mates, if possible. But would I really give him the chance after all I had endured in the hands of Dax? I had no idea.

“Penelope,” he called my name, and at that moment, I looked up. I couldn’t remember telling him my name. Or did I tell him my name by mistake? I had no idea, but I knew something… little by little, my wolf was forcing me to forget a few things about my past so that he could have new memories with this man. Maybe this was also a side effect of me forgetting that I had told him my name. Or had I? I had no idea.

“I’ll be back,” he said, walking to the door. “I’ll leave some of my guards at the door so that no one will come in. I hope that’s alright with you.”

All I could do was nod as he smiled at me before walking out, closing the door softly behind him.

I felt free. I felt happy. I felt satisfied.

***

Lucas’s pov

I got out of the room to see Callum standing before me.

“You had no right to interfere,” I said, as he bowed.

“My apologies, Alpha, but this could not wait. The Elders… they were really asking for you. Asking if you and the other Alpha were still having the deal.”

I thought about it for a while. This was not the right time to be making deals. I was too scattered. Too all over the place. I needed some time to think.

“How about we do this thing later? I have other things to do. And right now, I don’t want to find myself making rash decisions.”

“Alpha, this deal has been going on for a while,” Callum said. “You need to put an end to it if possible. We have other things to focus on. We can’t keep thinking of what the other Alpha is going to do or when you are going to make up your mind.”

“Callum,” I said, my aura flaring up as the guards by the door shuddered. I looked to the door, then looked to him. “Let’s have this conversation in a more private place,” I said, stressing the word private.

He gave me a small nod as I led the way to the garden of the hospital. 

***

While there, I looked around to see people going about their way… people in wheelchairs, people on crutches. And then I turned to him.

“We can have this meeting some other time. Now is not a good time.”

“Is it because of her?” he asked.

I looked back to see if there was anybody listening. I turned to him.

“Reduce your voice. This is a conversation between us. We don’t want anyone listening to us.”

He nodded.

“Alpha, I know how much you feel about this woman. But we know nothing about her.”

“I know enough,” I said. “She is important to me.”

“How? You’ve barely known her for five minutes and you think she’s important to you? What’s so important about her?”

I wanted to talk to him and tell him of the feelings I was having, but knowing how careful Callum always was, I knew he was going to push down all my thoughts. I wasn’t going to let that happen.

“Callum, how about you go back to the pack and you handle things more calmly… with the elders. Let me handle things over here.”

He closed the distance between us with a dark look.

“Alpha, whatever hold this woman has, tell me. I can send the pack witch here and she will break it.”

“There is no hold.”

“Alpha, you’re behaving weird. There has to be a hold. There has to be something. Does she have anything on you? Blackmail? Whatever it is, trust me, I will handle it.”

“Callum,” I growled, letting my aura flare up again.

I was doing that too much these days and I didn’t know why. Was it because of her? Was it because I had finally gotten who I had been looking for and all I wanted to do was protect her?

I would do all I could to protect her. Anything at all to make sure that she was safe.

I put my hands on Callum’s shoulders as I straightened his collar and brushed the dust away from his jacket… his black jacket, the one he always wore whenever he was leaving the pack. At least he looked safe in it. He looked like a beta.

“How about you go back to the pack and do what I say? I’ll be there soon. I have things to handle here. And if there’s any other thing showing up from the pack, you let me know. But until then, let me handle things from here. Please.”

He could see how desperate I was, that I was leaving no room for arguments. As he gave a small nod.

“Fine, I’ll do whatever you say.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“But this doesn’t make us even, Alpha. I still need to know who that woman is and why you’re here protecting her… why you have guards around her door.”

“I’ll tell you everything soon. Just go.”

He stared at me for a while, hesitating whether to leave me or stay with me. But soon I won, as he gave a small bow and walked away.

I gave a heavy sigh and rubbed my temple. Things were getting more complicated than they should be.