42

Aleena’s POV
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“Why did you apologize to me? And by thinking what all things, you apologized to me?” he asked, walking toward me.
“That’s because I wanted you to know that ‘I’m sorry for what I did to you was wrong’ and ‘I feel bad that I tried to deceive you.”
“A proper apologies have three parts. You have mentioned the first two. What is the third part?” he asked, coming closer toward me. Even though I was a hard time concentrating on his question because of his nakedness, I replied to him.
“‘What can I do to make it right? OR How do I make this better?'”, I replied.
“Don’t you think you miss this part? Because as far as I remember, you ran away from there instead of making things right. Whatever I have known about you, I can say that you’re a strong woman, Lina, who stands and deal instead of running away. And where were you going by leaving your dad’s pack members and your family in this situation?”
Tears started brimming in my eyes hearing him, and before I didn’t realize it, they rolled down from my eyes without my permission until he wiped my tears.
He was calling me ‘LINA, ‘ not Aleena.
“Whether you like it or not, you are not leaving.”, he said with determination. “Your punishment is staying back and making things right instead of running away like a coward.”
“I don’t… I d…don’t know.. w ho…w to m.. ake the…NGS right…t.”, I sobbed. “I ha.. ve n.. eve.. r do…ne the.. s be…fore. Everyone.. one pro.. bably h…ates me no.. w and I don’t thin…k the…at the…y w…ill eve…r tr…ust me aga…in.” I sobbed, recalling the expression on everyone’s faces.
“No one hates you. They’re just disappointed with you, and you will have to earn everyone’s trust.”, he said, wiping my tears again.
“Why…why are you … acting … so sweet with… me? Don’t you … hate me already?”
“Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Returning hate for hate multiples hate, adding deeper darkness devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, and only love can do that.’ The night when I chose you as my chosen mate, I swear to Moon Goddess that I would bring you the right place by hook or by crook. Because if you were stubborn, then I was stubborn too.”
I laughed and cried hearing him while he grinned.
“For a while, I thought that you would treat me like shit or worst like your slave as my punishment.”, I admitted honestly.
“I don’t think I can stoop that low. I mean, what is use to using physical strength on a woman to show their place is not something that my mom has taught me. Also, dad told Daniel and me once, ‘Manhood is all about putting women next to god and treating them right.’ But it also doesn’t mean you will kick me, and I won’t kick you back. I will be the one to kick you, and I will also be the one to apply balm.”, he responded, and I remembered how he threw me from the bed just to teach me a lesson in the suite.
“You said in the trial that you were in the right mind and right sense when you had chosen me as your chosen mate. Was that true? Also, that happened between us …. I mean, the way you were behaving, was a part of your plan?”
“Absolutely. I had asked John and Wade to keep close eyes on her. So, they had already informed me about your conversation with your mother near the parking lot. So, the effect of the love potion had ended then and there. And after that, you already know what happened next. Both reasons which I mentioned to the king were true. I already had a piece of evidence against your mother that call recording. All I have to collect evidence against you. And yes! Everything. Everything that happened was an act to know you better.”
“Everything?”, I asked to reconfirm.
“Everything except my arousal and urge to kiss you on your lips after tasting it once.”, he said bluntly, and I controlled myself from not widening my eyes on his confession. “I was reluctant to kiss you first because I didn’t want to kiss someone like … YOU. Your lips are so kissable that I couldn’t resist myself from wanting it more and more.”
I knew that I had to change the topic before something happened between us.
“And how did you get your hand on that call recording?” I asked the question quickly to divert from that topic and also because I wanted to know that answer for a long.
“That was not that tough when I had your perfume which could hide my scent.”, he responded, shrugging his shoulder. I didn’t need to ask how and when he did that because that didn’t matter anymore. “But I didn’t expect her to tell me about the love potion at our wedding reception.”
“WHAT?” I asked in shock. I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect anything from her, whatever I figured about her.
“Yes, when we were busy dancing after the cake cutting ceremony. I got a chance to dance with her. That’s when she told me about your plan to use a love potion on Daniel and how accidentally I became fell into the trap. Not just that, she wanted me to lock you in the dungeon for this crime. I would have literally trusted that old woman only if I wouldn’t have known her true color. And when I asked her the reason behind telling me the truth, then her exact words were, ‘I tried to stop Aleena from doing this, but her obsession over Daniel has increased so much that she is out of my control now. Now, whatever she did with you, on this evidence, you can lock her in the cells and punish her for this mistake because if she wouldn’t be in control now, then she might be harming everyone because of her obsession. You cannot evidence against her behind the attack, but I know that she was the one behind the attack.'”, he finished saying mom’s line before adding his own. “I used to think that you’re the mastermind till then, but after that moment, I realized that you were just her pawn. She didn’t try to approach me again when she realized that I had already sensed her true intention behind the mask of concern.”
I chuckled softly before speaking, “I deserve this, don’t I? I played with everyone’s feelings and broke everyone’s trust. That’s why my own mother did this to me.”
He didn’t answer that question, just wiped my tears. “I didn’t know you cry so much. I wish I would have carried hanky with me.”
“And do you think that I would have taken that? Of course not, the first thing I would have done by that hanky to hide your jewel.”, I snapped at him for making fun of me.
“Is my jewel disturbing you?” he asked, arching his eyebrow.
“No.. Nooo”, I stuttered. I mentally slapped myself for stuttering, and a smirk plastered on his lips. In the next moment, he shifted into his wolf form.
‘I think you won’t get disturbed now.’, He mind linked me with this; he went near the fire and sat beside it. I walked in the opposite direction when he mind linked me again, ‘Thunder wants his mate near him. He missed his mate all these days, and still keeping his mate away from him is not a good idea.’
I sighed before walking toward him because I knew Leia would run into him once I would sleep. I sat on the ground, resting my head on his back. His fur was warm and soft. This was the first time I was touching it. I heard him purring in pleasure when I ran my hand on his fur, lifting his lead; he licked my face twice.
‘I’m glad that you two are getting along.’, Leia said in my mind. ‘Now, all you have to do is to mark Stephen; then even I can talk with my mate without taking control over your body again and again.’
‘It’s not easy, Leia. Humans don’t fall in love with each other that easily.’
‘I don’t know about that part. All I know is that you both will have to try to adjust with one another for your wolves.
“So, you liked that? Do you want me to do more?” I asked, on which he nodded his head. I repeated it for a while until I finally slept because of tiredness.
****
Leia’s POV
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The moment Aleena slept, I took control of her body and hit Thunder with my elbow; realizing my presence, he shifted back into human form, but he was in control. “It hurts, Mate.’, he complained.
‘Why didn’t you tell me that you both already knew about the truth?” I hissed. “Do you even know how scared I was when Stephen acted like he wouldn’t forgive us or might reject us?”
“I’m sorry, but he asked me to shut my mouth about it. And also it was a kind of test for you. To see whether you are loyal to me or not!”
“And then I thought you trusted me?”
“See, I know you have every right to be mad at me, but at that moment, my human was doing everything for my sake. That’s why he wanted to make sure that you’re perfect for me or not? And guess what? You passed the test by telling the truth. And trust me or not, that one truth from you was the reason because of which my human was reading to bring you both out of the mess, no matter what it was going to take. Leia, I know I’m a bit late in confessing this, but I love you, and I really hated to hide that truth from you. But I love my human too. And I’m not someone who will ditch my best friend after the entry of my love in my life.”
“And this is what I love the most about you.”
“This was it? Don’t you love me too?” he asked impatiently.
“Desperate much?” I teased, on which he frowned before lying down on the floor. I joined him, resting my head on Stephen’s chest. “I love you too, Thunder. In fact, I love your human too. He is an amazing human that any wolf can ever get.”
I felt him kissing my hair before speaking, “I couldn’t agree more. I hope our humans get along soon because I can’t wait for longer to finally claim you as mine and mate with you. So, that you two can never think of leaving us ever in your life. I can’t believe that you both ran away, leaving us behind.”
“We didn’t just run away because we thought everyone hated us now. We ran away because something is coming for us.”
“And what is that?”
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#TBC
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