Adea
By the time we reached the top of the stairs, my heart was in overdrive. It didn’t matter what I knew he said or what I knew wasn’t going to happen. I was nervous, my mind was racing, and my heart was pumping twice as fast. My eyes lingered on the door to my old room as we passed. Shane made his way towards the room Luna Rose had used as her private reading room.
I let out a sigh of relief when he reached for the handle. Walking in after him, I realized this room had also changed. I’d never been allowed in here other than to clean. Back then, the walls had been covered in bookshelves. The shelves had been packed with books from fantasy to dark romance.
The reader in me wished I could have sat in here for hours but couldn’t even touch the books. The only books I was permitted to read had been the ones in the pack library. A fancy hair had been in the middle of the room with one small table to hold a handful of books, tea, and a desk light.
Now, all the bookshelves had been replaced with art. They varied from flowers to rushing rivers to tall pine trees and wooden forests. One stood out the most. It stood in the center of the room. A trail led to a clear blue pool hidden away by the forest I had loved running through. Noting what held my attention, Shane started to speak.
“How?” I started. “When did you?” I asked as I stared at the painting. I couldn’t rip my eyes from it even for a second.
“I collected the others along the way. I had one of them commissioned but that one,” Shane said as he pointed at one of the pool. “That one was done before we went to the Crescent Moon Ball.”
He’s tense at the mention of the Ball because we both know where it was and what happened. From his body language, I can tell it isn’t something he likes to bring up often and I make a mental note of that.
“I was going to use it to ask you to be mine. I had the whole thing planned. I didn’t know what was going to happen when we got there but I’d hoped when we returned… I’d hoped that you would see how serious I was when I…” He trailed off and I knew he was embarrassed.
He was sharing something private, something personal. He was telling me of a time when he had hoped. Of a time when he wanted more with me. Had he had the opportunity to follow through with his plan, it might have swayed the way I thought of him. It might have made it easier for me to eventually accept him.
As the future Alpha, he didn’t have to care about my opinion. He could have just named me his future Luna and I wouldn’t have had a choice. The thought that he was going to try… to try and woe me instead of forcing me like he had been doing, in the beginning, made me think of the possible future we could have had.
“Thank you, Shane. It’s beautiful.”
I was speechless. The painting was lifelike but it wasn’t only that. The colors and different hues made it feel warm and safe. I felt like if I reached out I would actually be able to touch the water.
He doesn’t say anything as he steps to my right. I don’t focus on the intent behind the painting. I don’t think I have it in me to take that on and still follow through with what I have planned for him.
I know all of the terrible things he’s done and this doesn’t excuse that but if I were to let myself dive into the tornado that is Shane, I know it would make this a lot harder than it has to be, or should be. I’m here for a reason and I’ve already committed.
I focus on the feeling coming from it. The painting still demands my attention but from my peripheral vision, I can tell from his side profile that he’s pleased. He likes my reaction to his gift because that’s what it is, it’s a gift.
“Was there another reason we came up here?” I asked. “Other than to see this, of course.”
“Does there need to be another reason?”
“No, no. I was just wondering. I’m more than happy standing here staring at the painting. It’s… it’s wonderful. Whoever the artist is… did an amazing job.”
“Thank you,” Shane said smugly.
“What?” I asked as I turned to him.
“I said thank you.”
Squinting my eyes at him, my brow furrowed as I gave him a look that I was sure was packed with suspicion and confusion. There’s no way he’s saying what I think he’s saying because the Shane I know doesn’t paint.
“Why would you say thank you?”
I wasn’t believing the idea in my head. There’s no way that the big bad wolf did something as soft, as gentle, as expressive as the painting. Especially not that, that image filled with warmth. It didn’t make any sense.
“Because I’m the artist,” Shane said with a shrug.
He said it as if he were talking about the weather or the lint on the floor. I have to stop myself from reeling back at the news as my suspicions are confirmed. I know what he just said but I still can’t believe it.
Shane was not only a painter but painted this image back when he was harassing me Thinking back to the boy I remembered, I couldn’t remember a time when I would have thought there could be anymore when it came to him.
He had been mean to me and had done some terrible things. That’s not even counting the crimes he committed after being exiled. I hated to say it but it made me look at him in a different light.