The Crash II

Theoden's POV  

Staring at the young lady in my arms, I recounted the incidents that led me to this particular moment.  

All I had wanted was to take down all the feelings of loss I battled with. It had been a very long time since I lost something and felt the irreparable damage.  

I nearly killed someone, and I graciously thanked the Goddess that we had both slowed down before the impact. What had I been thinking driving around an estate I knew nothing about!  

I held onto her strongly. When she passed out, something in me panicked, even though I could tell she only passed out due to exhaustion.  

I didn't want an innocent person to die in front of me, and I certainly didn't want to be the unfair cause of someone's death.  

"If you have something you want to say, say it." I told my wolf since he kept scratching the back of my head.  

He usually minded his business whenever I hurt anyone, but not when it came to women—that's where we differed because I couldn't care less.  

"I obviously didn't mean to hit her." I added.  

I lifted the girl and took her out of the road. Normally, I'd have found a way to take her to the hospital but the wound she got from my bike had already healed.  

She was probably a ranked wolf with fast regeneration but I didn't understand why she was feeble enough to faint afterwards. She must've been exhausted.  

After laying her back against the wall, I called my second to come to handle this. I needed the break I had been living in before this.  

"Stay with her. Get a name."  

My forehead creased when my wolf said that. Get a name? I didn't dispute that, and rested on the pillar.  

"Boss?" the call already connected and my second answered. "You haven't seen the house yet? I can send you a G****e map of the exact location."

I didn't need that but I hummed and cut the call.  

This day kept getting even worse shades of unlucky for me. I just had to hit a random girl that my wolf wouldn't let me leave, and my grandfather was at the brink of dying but not before settling something with an old friend.  

Something that had to do with me.  

I didn't know much of this Sir Draven, but he was nice and knowledgeable, and those are traits I avoided in people.  

A message came in and I checked it. It was the G****e map and when I opened it, I saw that I was only a few steps away from the building. I turned to the girl.

That Sir Draven's building would be the only one in this street, so did she come from there? Was she a family member of Sir Draven? I texted my second. "Come now." But before I sent it, I noticed the beige letter on the ground where we collided.  

I knew exactly what it was because my errand boy had left to deliver it this morning to Sir Draven's place. I slowly turned to the girl and stepped back in genuine worry. This was his daughter. Grandfather could kill me. I sighed.

My wolf kept insisting that I stay, but I had a better idea. Since whatever my grandfather wanted with her father had to do with her, then we'd be one step ahead in handling whatever if I took her along.  

Also, I needed to be there for my family and be ready to send my grandfather yonder. I had taken enough breaks. Why did I also feel it'd have been hard to separate from her? It was definitely not guilt because I lost that a long time ago.  

"Do you have anything else you want to say?" I asked my wolf.  

"She has no wolf in her, so I don't know."  

"Don't know what?" I picked her from the ground.  

"The reason I want you to stay. She could be more to us so don't leave her like that."  

I'd have laughed if I had any more funny bones to spare. Did he mean that she could be our mate? He had the best jokes in the best situations.  

"We are in the twenty-first century. Mates don't exist anymore." I couldn't believe I had to remind him of common knowledge. He was truly old-fashioned.  

After placing her safely in front of me, I started my bike and I drove out of the estate. Hopefully, she wouldn't sue me for kidnapping after the accidental attempted murder.  

My phone kept beeping and I knew who it was. Grandfather's nanny. I sped ahead, avoiding accidents as much as I could. I took a taxi when we reached the main road so I wouldn't get pulled over for driving with a ‘lifeless’ person.

"Boss!" my second yelled out when I drove into the condo. I didn't meet his gaze and hurried into the building.  

"Get the girl in the taxi."  

Perhaps leaving while my grandfather was at his dying bed was stupid, maybe too emotional for someone like me who shouldn't care too much.  

My grandfather's nanny smiled when she sighted me and that was enough to say he wasn't dead yet. That old man still awaited the reply of his friend, Draven.  

At the far end of the room, on a dark brown mahogany bed, my grandfather, the third Don of Denzel Family, lay. I sat beside him and held onto his hand. His eyes opened and shifted to me, his lips curled to a smile.  

"How are you feeling?" I asked, even if I didn't want him to be honest.  

"Like a new-born." He lied, or maybe that was how helpless he felt at the moment. I only nodded.  

"I heard you went to check if the letter was delivered as your last errand for me." He spoke slowly. "You didn't have to, I had a bigger job for you. Taking care of the family."  

That was my duty, whether he asked or not, I'd still perform it. "I will not fail you." I paused when my second, Rufus, walked into the room with the unconscious girl. I didn't ask him to bring her in here! The errand boy who had delivered the letter walked in with him.  

My grandfather immediately found strength to turn his head, and it surprised me. He really looked forward to a reply.  

"Yes?"  

The errand boy kept his head low. "I don't know how to announce this, sir, but while searching for the address, I found that they were... dead except for a daughter."  

My fists clenched and he stepped back immediately. He shouldn't be speaking of the dead around my grandfather! Especially when it was his friend.  

I turned to my old man and he was frozen. The nanny checked his pulse and began massaging his head. The errand boy bowed his head, apologising profusely. "I am very sorry, but I was told to keep you informed so..."  

"And their daughter?" my grandfather suddenly asked.  

The second came closer and I raised a brow. How did he know that the girl I brought was the girl? The errand boy added. "She was the one who took the letter, Sir."  

Right, that's how they know. Rufus added. "Their only surviving daughter, Donna-Belle, is alive with a stepmother and two step siblings."  

Donna-Belle? My eyes danced about as I tried to remember the face of that one person who had such a name. I held my head when a face wasn't forthcoming. I could see her face now so why didn't I picture it as the Donna-Belle from my memory?  

"Theoden."  

I leaned towards my grandfather. "Yes?"  

"That girl is Contract 21. Little Donna-Belle."  

The anticipation that had swelled in me deflated. The contract wasn't a goldmine or wealth stashed up somewhere, but about a girl?  

Rufus brought her closer and my grandfather held onto her hand. "Yes, this one? I knew her mother died but I never expected her father to leave her all alone, especially after marrying that wicked woman. Please, protect her. This is the only way to atone for being unable to protect her mother."  

He had to atone for that? It made sense somehow. He had once mentioned how he couldn't protect my parents from rogues and how he had to relive it by not protecting a young lady dear to him. I could piece that Donna-Belle's mother would be that lady.  

Rufus fell on his knees so he could take a better look at the girl. My old man's eyes dilated on seeing her. The corner of his lips expanded to a wide smile. I closed my eyes. It had been thirty years since I saw him smile like that.  

"Contract 21 is the girl, okay?" He repeated slowly. "This is my last errand for you. Take care of the family and little Donna-Belle."  

I wanted to refute, but his eyes suddenly grew cold and his smile faltered. The nanny rushed to him again and the pounding in my heart increased.  

I left the room because I knew what would happen. My grandfather was gone now, and his last errand to me included protecting the daughter of Draven.