Lahat ng Kabanata ng My Professor, My Enemy, My Mate: Kabanata 151 - Kabanata 159

Chapter 152Duaine's POVI hadn't spoken, the words dangled in the air like wisps of smoke after flames. My chest rose and fell with a deep, full breath as I looked at Lessie, clamping my mouth tight with anger or with needing something from her because of the story about Nathan I had just shared with her. But looking down at her face, I saw that she had already slept it off.She breathed softly, slowly, her weary lids dropping over the tops of her cheeks as her lips eased into a soft smile. The corner of my own mouth twitched up into a little smile.I'd held it in my palm for so long without invoking my parents' names that now, after finally having done so, I felt lighter and also burdened. Lighter, because I'd been carrying it all these years. Heavier, because everything that reminded me of them hurt me.There had been comfort, however, in sharing the story with someone else, Lessie, although she hadn't heard it all that had happened in my life. I looked at her again and leaned forw

Chapter 154Author's POVThe council had just finished up, the elders rising one by one from their benches, their robes rustling as they talked quietly to each other. Their discussions had been long as they had arguments about security, mistrust, and the nagging tension of the killings that still hung over the pack like a dark cloud.Alpha Duaine, in the front row, had ridden it out. His mask-like face was its impassive countenance. His eyes darted over the backs going away, his mind already leaping over the niggling quarrels and into those that weighed upon his mind more immediately. He had heard, answered when he was called upon to, but otherwise lay uninvolved. That was his style, controlled, measured, deliberate.And as he stood to leave, a voice called him.Alpha," Nathan called smoothly, striding ahead before the hall began to clear. His presence, always commanding, had an edge to it that few ignored. "May I have a word with you, in private, please? It concerns the information I

Chapter 156Lessie's POV"Aden," I cut him off harshly, stopping him once more from another frantic bid for escape. My voice was harsher than I'd intended. "You're lying to me."He stilled, the muscles along the line of his shoulders contracting into a hard knot under his skin as if it hurt him that he'd spoken them. He turned to look at me again, reluctantly, his face a cloak of assumed innocence."I am not lying to you, my lady," he answered in reluctant guarded voice.I glared. "You don't think you're going to get under my skin, Aden. I've been looking for you on pack grounds, training grounds, stables, even kitchen staff for two days, and no one's seen you since yesterday. And you think I'm going to believe you've been 'training' the entire time?"His face turned rosy bright. His eyes dropped, his fists unclenching over his ribcage. "I didn't mean"I was breathing hard then urged him again. "I'll only ask you once, Aden. Once. Where were you?"There was a charge between us, thick

Chapter 158Author's POVIt was a chilly and miserably cold night.Outside, the winds whistled softly, shaking the palace room windows, as the heavy shroud of cloud hid the moon. The fire had dwindled to reluctantly orange embers and the wall shadows flickered weakly.Lessie and Duaine were sprawled out on the bed but worlds apart in spirit. She lay on her back, gazing up at the ceiling as if searching for hidden stars. He was curled over beside her, his broad shoulders against the wall, his face toward the opposite end of the room. His breathing was even, but not the kind of man that was sleeping, it was deep, the kind brought on only by big thoughts.She could feel it.Something was gnawing at his mind.For days she had noticed the way his eyes stayed a little too long on nothing in particular, or the way he would scrunch up his lips and pull them in tight as if biting back words. He smiled less, laughed less. And now that their silence burst between them, Lessie's heart ached for