Chapter 222
1550words
Staring at my bedside table, I glared at my phone as it continued to vibrate. It’s Jackson. He kept calling me after I hung up on him, but who cared?
Whether I like it or not, I need to solve this problem and get back to Wakeland soon. My son was waiting for me.
That being said, I need to meet Jackson today, no matter what happens. I needed to talk to him, and I knew that if I answered his call, he’d go on and on about it over the phone rather than rushing here to talk. So, it’s better this way.
Having a human mate wasn’t a trivial matter. Jackson is a Lycan prince, and it would affect many innocent people if he continued to thrive for it. We’re Lycan’s and royalty, it’s a sacrifice we had to suffer.
The sooner he got pulled out of that fantasy he’s starting to get drowned into, the better.
Once the ringing of my phone stopped, I let out a sigh of relief. He finally got tired.
I rested once again and let time pass. Looking out the window, I could already see the sky turning dark and the moon and stars slowly getting vivid.
Standing, I fixed my clothes and went out toward Jackson’s office. After knocking, I didn’t bother to wait for his reply and just opened and entered the door.
He didn’t even look up to see who entered. “I haven’t permitted you yet to–”
“You look exhausted,” I commented as I went straight to the couch and slammed myself comfortably on it.
“Della?” He massaged the bridge of his nose before he set the piles of documents on his table. His hair was in a mess, and there were about five cups of coffee on his table. In short, he looked like a complete mess.
“Uh-huh.” I nodded, giving him a second to settle himself.
After grabbing his phone and sending a quick message, he stood up and sat opposite me. With deep eyes and a serious tone, he asked, “How did you know about Quinne?”
My heart skipped a bit for a second from that aggressiveness in his tone. He tried to hide it, but he miserably failed how I could see his clenching jaw and fisting hands.
Pursing my lips, I retorted, “Tone it down, will you?”
“Do you really think it will be easy to hide this?” I sighed helplessly, and nodded his way. “As long as you continue to find ways to get close to Quinne, you will be seen! Do you really think you protected her perfectly, huh?”
Every word I utter, the more rigid he becomes.
“Fuck!” he cursed, tapping hard on the coffee table between us before slamming his back on the back seat of the couch.
Leaning forward, I let out a deep breath and helplessly unstring his actions, “So, it looks like your handing over all the castle affairs to me wasn’t so coincidental after all.”
He looked up, waiving a little.
“You’re not doing it because I was the heir but because you're using all your energy spending time with your human mate!” I scolded before asking, “How long have you known that Della is your fated mate?”
“Della, it’s not something–”
I scoffed. “You knew since before I left, right? You knew you mated with a mundane three years ago!” Could no longer handle my frustration, I burst, “No wonder you started ignoring Fae then.”
Jackson’s stare at me intensified. Narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth, I saw a flare of fury flash in his eyes. “It’s Fae, isn’t it? She’s the one who told you everything about Quinne.”
“Is that the issue now, Jackson?” I couldn’t believe him. I shook my head in disbelief. “If no one told me, will you ever tell me anything? Will you tell me about Quinne?”
A sense of betrayal surged in me. I might have always been a pain in Jackson’s ass before when I fell in love with Kylian, but I never hid any important details from him – and definitely not for that long!
Jackson swallowed, raising his hand to brush his fingers on his hair as he kept looking around. He’s also subconsciously tapping his right foot on the ground repeatedly. I narrowed my eyes. He’s anxious… or rather, even feeling panic.
I stared and observed him for a little more while. I’m his sister. I grew up with him. Though I left for years, I knew him well enough to see the guilt and panic embedded beneath his eyes despite how hard he tried to hide it.
He probably thinks it's all his fault that he was fated to be a human and why everything was happening, but it’s not. It’s not his fault, but he needed to know how to handle it all right.
I took a deep breath and calmed down. Standing up, I sat beside him and held his hand to take his attention. I looked deep into his eyes and said, “It’s not your fault, okay? No matter what happens, we’re a family. We’ll face it all together.”
The bond and pull between fated mates were far too strong than one could imagine. It’s not something we could simply ignore, not even if we wanted to.
“I didn’t mean to make all this mess,” he whispered.
“Then what? What did planned?” I tried to understand what he was thinking. “Did you plan to keep it a secret forever? But how? You, the Lycan Prince, and even if you forget about that – about our world, how long do you think you can keep it from Quinne?”
He fell silent, leaning his head back on the couch and looking up at the ceiling.
I gave him some time. After a few minutes, he answered, still keeping his eyes away from me.
Pain echoed in his tone. “I don’t know.”
He shrugged. “For the past three years, I can’t help but find ways to see her.”
Shifting his head, he looked at me with longing in his eyes. Smiling softly, he described her, “She had this long, silky, and because of hair. Her smile, her scent, and even the sound of her voice fascinated me. I really can’t distance myself from her, Della.”
I ran his hand on his hair again. “But I’m afraid. I’m afraid of our rules. You know, once those bastards know I have a human mate, Quinne will probably be in danger! So I was left with no choice but to secretly send warriors to track where the members of The Protector are so I can take action before they find Quinne.”
Wow, he’s really thinking this all through.
“So, what happened? Did you find anything with your search?” I asked.
He defeatedly shook his head. “The Protector existed for hundreds of years. Years ago, a Lycan King once fell in love with his human mate and tried to destroy their organization to protect her. But in the end, it’s all futile because not only did he fail, but his mate and children were also killed.”
Jackson looked at me in pain. “Della, he was so devastated that the King chose to commit suicide.”
I trembled and hitched a breath, thinking of the possibility that it could be Jackson next.
“It’s a King already. But he could do nothing to the Protectors. Della, it’s impossible for me to find where The Protector nest.”
It was all too much, and I could feel his pain that I couldn’t even speak for a while.
Looking intently at him, I asked, “Why can’t you just reject Quinne? She doesn’t love you anyway, and according to what I’ve heard, she got a boyfriend.”
Humans were different from us. They would never feel the strong pull mates had in us. He’d only be hurt.
Bitterness spread across his face as he forced a smile and asked, “Do you want me to reject Quinne and choose Fae?”
I froze, stunned by his words. Because it’s true, that’s the only best outcome I could think of. After all, being able to marry Jackson was Fae’s dream since their childhood.
But frankly, with the citation he was in, I’d be fine as long as it’s a werewolf he chose. It would only be better if it’s Fae.
Jackson didn’t wait for me to reply and sneered. “Fae probably told you what to say, right? She must have asked you to persuade me to reject my mate so I could be with her. Is that it?”
Instantly, he started being agitated and assuming the worst out of Fae.
He slammed both of his hands on the table, cursing, “What a stupid and selfish woman!”
He pointed at nowhere in particular and said in contempt, “Fae and Quinne have been in contact! Do you know? Quinne likes Fae so much. She probably never thought Fae would do this behind her back!”
With gloom in his eyes, he stared at me and sputtered in betrayal, “I never thought that the sister I love so much would hurt me– that you’d hurt me for your friend and break me up with my fated me!”
“I never thought you for someone like that, Della,” he uttered, breaking my heart.
