Ethan’s P. O. V
“First things first, what do you want to eat?” I asked after we turned off the packhouse area toward the outskirts of town.
Ever since she agreed to get into the car, Claire had only looked out the window, avoiding eye contact with me. For some reason, that made me a bit disappointed.
Yeah, disappointed. A word I never imagined I would use to describe my own feelings.
A word I never thought I would feel for anyone except myself, as I have always been perfection itself, with nothing else measuring up.
“I want an iced coffee with a little caramel, some burgers with different flavors and sauces, and… I really crave pickles.” She answered suddenly after a moment of silence.
Wow, sounds like she’s having cravings. But of course, she would. If she didn’t, she would stay locked in her room, eating everything brought to her.
However, she didn’t do that. Claire often ignored the food and left it untouched outside her door until the servants brought fresh meals again.
It sounded a bit silly, but if you think about it, Claire wasn’t picky about food. She would eat everything even if it didn’t taste good; she wouldn’t complain.
Maybe that’s what the nuns taught her while she stayed with them. And unfortunately, those nuns are now with Christopher Gale at his pack.
“Alright, is there anything else you want to eat?” I asked again, thinking about which restaurant offers burgers with different flavors.
“Why did Lucy ask me to do that kind of work?” she asked with a flat expression, while her gaze was still fixed outside, looking at the view of the forest and hills that stretched along the packhouse.
“What work?”
“Going on business trips and meeting people related to your pack while I am nobody. Is she mocking me or trying to get me in trouble because I lack a higher education background?”
“Just ignore her. I think she’s lost her sanity recently,” I replied.
But I also thought the same. Lucy’s foolish decision was probably just to humiliate Claire and drive her away from the packhouse.
“Wouldn’t it be better if you rejected me?” she asked again.
Reject her? That would be an incredibly easy decision. I could certainly do it because I am always in perfect condition. But what about her?
With her fragile mental state, weak body, and the fact that she’s carrying my baby, could I do that? Absolutely not. I could never do it.
“Why do you want me to reject you so much?” I asked, a question that had always lingered in my mind.
Why does she always want that? Am I not perfect for her? Is my pack’s strength not what she thought it was? Or… has she truly fallen for Chen Lien? Ah, even thinking about it gives me a headache.
“Because wouldn’t it be better to keep Lucy Torrance with you instead of me, a nobody with no background,” she replied. “I’m just a lone she-wolf with no pack, don’t know my parents, and my only family is dead. Unlike her, who comes from an influential pack.” She kept looking out the window as she spoke.
Oh, so that’s her reason… utterly nonsensical.
“So you want to compare yourself, my fated mate, with a woman who isn’t even my second chance mate?”
Hearing me say that, Claire looked shocked. She quickly turned to me with an expression that screamed disbelief.
“Why that face? You don’t believe me?”
“Nonsense! You’ve been engaged for so long; it’s impossible she isn’t one of them. I’m sure you’ve chosen her as your mate, haven’t you?”
“Nope!” I replied, still driving.
But when I saw a burger restaurant, I stopped the car in the parking lot and turned off the engine.
“I never said I accepted Lucy Torrance as my chosen mate. We’re engaged for business reasons, done consciously by both of us. But Lucy’s ambition to become Luna of The Silver Fire Pack made her forget that our engagement was purely business.”
Of course. That’s the real reason I got engaged to Lucy Torrance. Otherwise, I would never agree to such a burdensome deal from the start. Considering Alpha Torrance is the leader of a clan that’s crucial for me to step a little further south, I would never want to do that.
“Will you stay here or choose your own burger?” I invited her.
With a little coaxing, of course, she became quite compliant, eager to get what she wanted.
Inside the fast-food restaurant, there were several types of burgers and sandwiches to choose from. And what made me want to laugh was, she didn’t just pick two burger patties and shrimp, but also a sandwich, avocado toast, a bowl of mac & cheese, and two different drinks.
I wanted to protest with a chuckle. But she’s quite sensitive lately, and I wouldn’t want to ruin my hard-earned effort to melt the ice between us.
After paying for all the food, we returned to the car because she insisted on eating in a comfortable place.
I didn’t know where that would be, but I still agreed to her wish. Even if her requests sounded silly and illogical, I was sure it was part of my baby’s cravings.
Oh, is this what it feels like to be a sensitive wolf?
Thinking back, I’ve never done anything like this before, and it only happened after I sensed something in her body. The worry and protective urge grew in me after knowing she was carrying my baby.
“Hey,” Claire called out before I restarted the car engine, “what about Christopher Gale?”
“What do you want to know?” I asked.
In reality, I knew what Claire desperately wanted to ask. Because consciously or not, it all concerned the truth about herself.
“You told me you’d explain why you knew he intended to kill me after a week, but it’s been over two weeks. Are you going to keep silent and not explain anything to me?”