Chapter 11
Rhysand:
The last thing I remember was seeing Evelynne’s panicked expression when she saw her mother’s frail body.
Any gentle man out there might have stopped to help, but thing is- I’m not one, and I had no reason to help her.
A more serious pressing issue was in my palms and that was my grandfather’s nagging calls, I really hope he was okay.
I feared answering his call only because of the risk of bumping into another car on my way there, so I ignored his call–and then he texted me.
My eyes flicked down to my phone which was sitting on the passenger’s seat, abandoned and ignored.
Releasing a furious breath, I brushed my fingers through my hair. Unfortunately for me, one of my grandfather’s men attended the ceremony and saw everything that happened, and then further told the whole story to my old man.
An incident that happened close to an hour ago had already reached his ears and I could only imagine what was in his mind right now, enough to make him buzz my phone with texts and calls.
It would take me up to another hour to get to his place, considering this wasn’t our city. I was in another man’s territory – invited to a mating ceremony, which had turned out wrong.
My thoughts drifted back to Evelynne’s last words to me. I wanted to stay back and hear what she had to offer, but I couldn’t.
The longer I stayed to listen, the deeper my anguish and I just had to leave her at that moment before I make a decision bound to bite me back, so rather than staying I gave her my business card.
If she was interested still, then she should come into my territory.
I’m not making a deal with her in another man’s land.
An hour later, I drove my car into the large gates of my grandfather’s mansion, pulling the car to a stop at the garage before stepping out and making my way towards the entrance.
Soon as I stepped into the grand halls of the living room, my grandfather’s loud voice was the first thing that greeted me.
“What have ye been doing ignoring my calls young man?!” my eyes fell on him. His white aging hair was neatly swept to the back, and his face outlined the furiousnes bubbling through his veins.
“I wasn’t ignoring your calls, I was driving.”
“That doesn’t give you the right to leave all my calls unanswered, you could have sent me a text.” He spat out, and I walked into the large living room.
“You taught me to keep my phone away when I’m driving, so how was I suppose to send a text then?” I said as a matter of fact, before settling on a chair, ignoring his furious stares at me.
The room turned silent, and I took it that my words were sinking into him.
My body relaxed on the couch, and I rubbed a palm on my forehead, getting ready for the next line of words that would
come out of his mouth in the next few minutes.
Grandfather released a deep breath, “Are you going to start explaining or do you want me to ask first?”
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Chapter 11
Nothing went through this man without him noticing
“Explaining what?” I feigned ignorance to where his question was heading to, because I was trying to avoid anything that involved the lady I conversed with a while back.
I looked up to meet his burning dark eyes that mirrored mine, along with the deceptive and calculating expression of his – something that seemed to run through the genes of his son, and then to me.
“Who’s that woman?” he finally asked the question that was resting on the tip of his tongue.
“She’s not someone to take important,” I responded just as soon as he asked.
He narrowed his eyes at me and the wrinkles on his face deepened, “So you just grabbed a lady and kissed her in a crowd full of people? Worse, a lady that’s about to get married and mated?”
I furrowed my brows at him, “Perhaps you should phone whoever gave you that information and tell him to make things clear enough for you grandfather. He seemed to have missed an important part while tattletaling me. I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me.” I pointed out, meeting my grandfather’s intense stare which was meant to faze me or make me waver.
“That’s the same thin
“That’s not the same thing. I was a guest, and she pulled me into a kiss, perhaps to make a distraction, I have no idea.” “You had no idea?” he asked, and I stared away from him, pulling my phone out of my pocket when I heard a ding.
“Yes, I had no idea.”
“So, you where not part
of the grand scheme of things?”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Then who is she?” his questions took a sharp dive.
I looked up, “Desmond’s supposed mate who wasn’t interested in him any longer.”
“By Desmond you mean?”
“He is Hogan’s first
don.”
“Hogan?” Grandfather asked again, trying to recall who that name belonged to. “You mean Hogan of the Crystal Moon pack?” he raised a brow at me and I nodded.
“Yes, that Hogan. His son is an acquaintance of mine, and I got invited to his mating ceremony,” I explained to my old man before standing up from the couch, crossing the back of his master couch and heading towards the bar counter on the other side of the large living room.
“So you kissed an aquaintance’s mate?” where are your manners, boy.”
Jesus. “I didn’t kiss his mate. His mate kissed me. Huge difference.”
“But you reciprocated didn’t you?” And I’ll do it again if I got the chance, a voice mocked in my head and I closed my eyes, trying to ignore it.
Grandfather pointed out and I turned silent as I reached for the whiskey, pouring it in a clean glass cup. Soon as it touched my lips, I downed every last drop, before shutting my eyes and dropping the cup to the counter.
08:23 Mon, 10 Feb S
Chapter 11
“I did.”
“So you want the woman?”
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“I don’t, grandfather.” I really don’t want to have anything to do with Evelynne, cause she scented like trouble, and I hated
trouble.
“You kissed a woman you are not interested in?” Grandfather asked and my gaze landed on him.
“Can you please go straight to the point and tell me what exactly you want to ask?” He glanced to his side and stared at me, mischief danced in his eyes, and he absent mindedly rubbed the stubble on his jaw.
“Are you still going to wait for the goddess to bless you with a mate or are you going to find a woman to settle with,” He asked.
“I’m not interested in any woman, grandfather,” I poured another glass of whiskey to my cup, ready to down it again but my gaze landed on grandfather’s widened eyes, and I realized too late that my words came out like I wasn’t interested in women at all.
Before I could clear the air, his question hit me straight, “What?!” his walking stick slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor, “Are you interested in men?” his eyes widened further and nothing would have prepared me for his next words, “Men like Xavier?”
Soon as his words were out, I chocked on the whiskey burning its way down my throat, “What the hell? Xavier? men? Fuck, no!” a range of terrible coughs followed after and I poured a glass down my throat to push back the unrelentless coughs.
“Better.” Grandfather said, and released a sigh, before turning to look away from me, pressing a hand down his chest as if to calm his heart from the thought of me liking men.
An Alpha of the Black Fur pack being interested in men only would have gone down in history, cause it was a taboo itself in this side of the world.
I settled on the barstool, resting my elbows on the counter as grandfather began to speak again.
“Well then, since you said you have nothing to do with that woman. I do hope you have someone, if you don’t, look for. Cause your position as the Alpha and heir to the company is at stake.” His words felt like a twisted knife engraved into my soul as it sank in.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked to be sure of what he was saying.
For a company I single handedly brought back to life, hearing that my position was at stake wasn’t a pleasing statement. And for a pack I had held up and strong for long, spanning it across territories to prove my worth to whoever was looking, it wasn’t a pleasing thought to hear my position was dwindling also.
“You heard me right, Rhys. The pack members are complaining that you don’t have a mate yet, and you are in your early thirties already. And the shareholders of the company are at a disagreement with you not having a wife that will bare you a child and an heir,” My palms fisted around the glass cup and rage fueled inside me.
“How’s their worries supposed to be my business or yours.” Who the hell do they think they are?
“I wasn’t worried about it till now, boy. But at this point, something needs to be done.” Grandfather released a sigh, before picking his stick from the floor, and getting up from his couch.
He padded his way towards the stairs, before coming to a stop and sparing me a glance, “Your father seems to be the one behind it all.”
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Chapter 11
“You mean your son, he’s not my father!” I declared, burning a glare to him.
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“He is your father, and he is my son, unfortunately. Whichever way you intend to put it.” He let out a strained breath like those words felt bitter in his mouth.
And then he continued, “If you don’t want him having control over the situation, then this is the point you do something, lad.” With that, he turned away and headed towards the stairs, leaving me to my thoughts.
Father my foot.
A wave of rage boiled through my shoulders and I let my head fall to the back in deep thought.
I really needed to do something.
I picked up my phone that laid on the counter, and checked the message I had received minutes back.
My eyes narrowed at the text when I saw it was from an unknown number.
“I’ll meet you tomorrow.”
There was no doubt that it was from Evelynne.
AD
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