Chapter 33


    Chapter Thirty-Three (AUTHOR NOTE: Just a reminder that single quotes’ are things only said in Aria’s


    head when they appear like speech.)


    ‘Stop them,’ my mind hissed at me as I watched the childrenugh and jump all over Aleric. He had


    scooped a few up and was ying happily with them. They ran around him, tugging at his clothes while


    he pretended to be a scary monster. Every time he would roar, they would all squeal and run a few steps


    away, having the time of their life.


    “He is a murderer,’ my mind reminded me. ‘He is dangerous. Don’t let him touch them.’ But the scene in


    front of me was baffling, freezing me in ce. I had never seen Aleric around children before and so his


    affectionate behaviour towards them was shocking, to say the least. Would he have been like this in the


    past had he been given a child of his own? …If my body had been capable of such a thing?


    As the thoughts urging me to protect the children continued to hound at me, I did my best to push them


    away. I had to remind myself that a sixteen year old Aleric was not yet the man he would be one day. He


    didn’t have blood on his hands… yet. Myra could sense I was suddenly extremely ufortable at his


    arrival and gently touched m y hand. She probably didn’t understand but it was nice of her to try and


    comfort me regardless.


    Finally, Aleric looked up towards the tree and saw us sitting there. I flinched as his eyes caught my own,


    hoping more than anything he would leave. 1 But, to my dismay, he immediately put down the kid that


    was thrown over his shoulder and started to walk to where we were. My heart started to race but I told


    myself I was more mentally prepared this time. I wouldn‘t let the trial ground memories haunt me like the


    last time.


    I took several deep breaths, calming my mind, but with every step he made towards us, the more I began


    to doubt my ability to handle it. Would I actually be able to keep it together this time? It had been so


    many months now since I’d seen him… so many months since I had died. Would the memories still be as


    fresh?


    But standing in front of me, I realised just how weak and insignificant I still was. As he towered over my


    small frame, I knew that, even with all of the training I‘d done over thest few months, it would still not


    even be remotely good enough to defend myself against him.


    “Ariadne, Myra,” he greeted. His voice made my stomach drop and I instantly felt sick and weak. My


    name on his lips felt more like a curse.


    Myra and I were both already on our feet by this point and we bowed our heads in respect upon his


    greeting.


    “Alpha heir,” Myra said, weing him. “We are honoured to receive you at our event today. Thank you


    foring.” I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth to return his greeting, my head pounding at the


    internal conflict happening within. I was sure he had noticed my silence though. He had to have. Aleric


    smiled. “It is a pleasure to be here and to finally meet you, Myra. My father extends his regards for the


    invitation and wishes to thank you for your family’s continued hard work at the facility.”


    I couldn’t bring myself to look at his face, choosing to keep my eyes cast down. It was taking all of my


    concentration just to not visibly shake from just being so close to him.


    “Thank you, Alpha heir.” Myra bowed again quickly.


    “However, unfortunately, it seems I will need to find youter to talk further. I have some matters to


    discuss with Ariadne right now. But I look forward to catching up properly and please let your parents


    know that I have arrived.” My breath stopped mid-exhale from surprise. Why would he need to talk to me


    of all people? I could feel Myra hesitate for a second, but we both knew there was nothing she could do


    to help me here. With onest final bow, she left, looking back several times with a worried expression.


    Soon, I was suddenly facing the man who still haunted my nightmares.


    Alone.


    And an icy silence hung between us.


    “Are you going to at least talk to me this time?” he asked, finally breaking the quiet. “Or should I call for


    Caius toe back and whisk you away again?”


    It was like his facade of being polite in front of Myra had instantly fallen like a curtain. Now that it was


    only the two of us, he became closer to the Aleric I knew. Unnecessarily cruel, and asionally sarcastic


    to the point of trying to put me down.


    I grabbed at my wrist to stop it from trembling. I needed to be stronger than this. I needed to b e able to


    least speak to him. He sighed in mild frustration, his tone suddenly changing. “Look… I‘m sorry. I didn‘t


    ask to talk with you so I could start an argument.”


    I could see him cross his arms together and shuffle on his feet. It was as if he were ufortable with


    how to say whatever it was he needed to say.


    “The truth is,” he continued, “my father informed me of what happened with Myra and the Jade Moon


    pack. I realise now that I need to apologise for how I acted after you met with the council. So… I am


    sorry, Ariadne. You had been badly injured and it was no way for me to have spoken to you.” This caught


    me off guard. Aleric was… apologising to me? For something he had said? I couldn’t ever recall a


    moment in our past he’d done such a thing.


    “But, all of that aside… I’m here to request that you have tea with me.” My eyes then snapped t o his


    face, wide in disbelief.


    Why would he, of all people, want to willingly have tea with me? I didn’t have to wait long for my answer


    though.


    “Or rather, my father suggested that we have tea together,” he rified. “There are still a few hours


    before the main event for the fundraiser and he’s asked if you could lend me some of your time.”


    I needed to speak, to say something. Anything. “Um,” I feebly said, before clearing my throat. “I‘m sure


    you have far more important things that require your attention today, Alpha heir. I would hate to keep you


    from those.” His green eyes narrowed at me and I instantly looked back down again. “Sorry if I didn’t


    make it clear enough before,” he said, “but this wasn’t really a.. suggestion.. from my father. He’s actually


    insisted on this.” I then understood the meaning behind his words. This wasn’t an innocent request. This


    had been an order from his father. We were both now bound to abide by the Alpha’s wish. And so, that’s


    how I suddenly found myself sitting for some tea… opposite the man who murdered me.


    It was a bit of a surreal experience. Thest time we had sat together, as just the two of us for a meal,


    was not long after our rise to Alpha and Luna... Though, back then, he had stared daggers at me the


    entire time and left after twenty minutes to go see Thea. A small area in the adjacent garden had been


    set up specifically to enable us to have a private gathering. The outdoor table and chairs had already


    been a part of the decor, however, some attendants had gone out of their way to make the area look


    more ‘suitable’.


    Flowers had been picked and arranged in a vase on the table, and a trolley next to this showed off a


    large array of tea and snacks that had been prepared. Surrounding us was also a mixture o f colourful


    flowers and fauna growing in the garden, all perfectly maintained. It really would have been beautiful, if it


    weren’t for thepany I would be keeping. But after several minutes had passed, still neither of us had


    spoken a single word to each other.


    I knew what this setup was, of course. Alpha Tytus was forcing Aleric and I to spend time together so


    we’d hopefully ‘y nice‘ and be close. This was probably some weird version of a surprise date in


    the hopes I’d concede to bing Aleric’s Luna one day. Tytus probably assumed, and correctly so,


    that I would decline to a real meetup, and so chose to force us to participate during a time we would both


    already be dressed up and nearby. I wondered how many more of these ‘dates’ I was going to have to


    endure before he finally respected my choice not to be with his son.


    Aleric then cleared his throat, bringing my attention back to him. “So, my father wanted me to thank you


    for your rmendation over handling the Jade Moon pack,” he started, breaking the silence finally. “It


    turned out to be sessful in the end. He said your actions during the fight and your solutions for


    handling the aftermath were


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    hanter Thirty Threpemendable.”


    I nodded. “Thank you, Alpha heir.”


    Silence again. All I could think about was the seconds as they slowly ticked by. I wanted nothing more


    than t o run far, far away from here.


    “Is the food not to your liking?” he asked, noticing my te. “You’ve barely touched anything.


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    I looked down at the small piece of cake that sat in front of me with only two tiny bites taken out of it. The


    entire time we’d been sitting together, I had been so nervous that I’d barely been able to eat or drink from


    the spread provided. I wouldn‘t have been able to even tell him the vour of anything I’d consumed so


    far; I hadn’t been able to taste a single thing from the stress of being in this situation. “The food is


    delicious,” I lied, having no idea. “Thank you, Alpha heir.” It was clear his father had ordered him to talk


    nicely to me. They both probably realised they needed me on their side and Tytus would have known


    how his son’s usual behaviours would have been perceived by me. Aleric wasn’t exactly known for his


    patience. But, if I was honest, the forced attempt at trying to talk politely to me was by far one of the most


    unnerving experiences I’d ever had. Never had I received any courtesy from Aleric before and so this


    new persona of his was unpredictable to me. I found Aleric far less frightening when I could tell exactly


    what he may do next. Abruptly, he then sighed and brought his hand up so fast my body couldn’t help but


    react. I flinched at his sudden movement. He frowned at me for a second, but continued to brush the hair


    out of his face, finding my reaction strange. The teacup in my hand had almostpletely spilled all over


    myself in my fright. “Are you sick?” he asked. He could see how much my hands were trembling now.


    “N-no,” I stuttered out, cursing internally at my body for betraying how I felt. “Thank you for your concern,


    Alpha heir.”


    “Ariadne, I can see you’re shaking,” he said. He stood up and went to reach for me. “Here just put this


    down for a–.”


    I didn’t hear whatever he was about to say though because I recoiled so quick from him that the te in


    front of me smashed against the trolley, falling to the ground in pieces. My arm had swept across the


    table so fast that there hadn’t been any time to stop it from falling. I turned and stared up at him in a


    panic, petrified of what he would do to me for my show of carelessness. I wanted to apologise, to beg


    him to forgive me, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Nothing would pass my lips as a coherent sentence.


    “Ariadne,” he said in an annoyed tone. And then he reached towards me again and I turned my face to


    the side, shutting my eyes as tightly as they would go to anticipate whatever he was about to do to me.


    …But nothing ever came. It felt like an eternity waiting before I finally heard him sigh again. I carefully


    opened my eyes to look at him, but not fast enough to anger him further. He was rubbing his face in


    frustration, clearly irritated over everything I‘d just done. “Okay, I tried,” I thought I heard him whisper


    under his breath. He looked back up at me, forcing a smile on his face, and stood up. A chill went down


    my spine at seeing that familiar smile. I knew it so well; the kind that said h e was hiding his true emotion


    from me.


    “Thank you for your time today, Ariadne,” he said, going back to being overly polite. “It was a n absolute


    pleasure. I hope we can do this again some time.”


    It was all a lie and we both knew it. He was following formality to not incur the wrath of his father when he


    returned home.


    He waited several seconds for me to reply, but I couldn‘t bring myself to speak. It was only after I


    eventually managed to give him a half bow of my head in acknowledgement that he took it as good


    enough confirmation to take his leave.


    I sat staring into space for a long time after he left, unsure how to process everything that had just


    happened. I felt just like the broken te thatid shattered next to me; both of us having no idea how


    we became like this, but both feeling like only minutes ago everything had been just fine.


    I’d thought I was ready, that I was stronger now. But I was wrong. It was clear that Aleric was still so very


    much in control of me.


    And there was only one way I was going to be able to change it. There was no other option. I needed to


    be untouchable.