Chapter 9
VIVIENNE’S POV
“He’s a pervert! A pervert, I say!”
Hidden in the corner of an empty hallway. I warily looked around for any signs of Chrysander. I didn’t care if we were mates; he couldn’t just expose his grown–up body to a teenage girl. It had been a while since I ran out of the bedroom, though, and Chrysander might have left already.
To be sure. 171 just wait around here-”
My thoughts trailed off when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I screamed. I felt the presence behind me jump in surprise too. We faced each other’s flabbergasted expressions, then I paused.
“Oh. Jay!” I blurted out, relieved. “Why do you always appear like a ghost?”
“And why do I always find you sneaking around?” he sighed, looking a bit hurt. “I’ve been searching for Chrysander went back to work, but I asked that I say goodbye to you first.
I see. Sorry.” I apologized, then smiled. “So, when will you be coming back?”
“About that… Are you sure you’ll be okay here on your own?
“Oh, I’ll be fine. I told you I can take care of it. Thank you, though.”
you. Ma’am Vivi. Alpha
1 stooped my head low, a little uncertain about what to feel now. After catching Rhea in the act, Jaiden must have started suspecting the rest of the Silvermoon pack; that was why he came with us, in the first place. Holding my breath, I kept quiet while he continued to stare
down at me.
“Ma’am Vivi, do you even remember what the gamma did to you,
Luna?” Jaiden started in all seriousness.
“Yes, but… But I really am okay, Jaiden. It happened before. I think? I managed back then,” I reasoned out.
“It’s just going to get worse! Do you even see that?“
“Please, trust me on this What happened to Rhea, by the way?”
וי
I didn’t tell your mate about earlier, but she’s now on my
on my list of suspects,”
Seeing the disbelief in my eyes, he groaned in frustration. “Ma’am Vivi, this is the least I could do because you won’t let me proceed without proper evidence other than me seeing the whole thing. You can’t just let her get away like that, especially when the most appropriate thing to do to servants who disrespect and wrong their Luna is bo throw them out of the pack.”
“If that’s the case, there might be a lot more who should get thrown out.”
“It’s better to lose followers than the leader’s mate! Where are they?!”
was taken aback when he suddenly turned and started walking away. Immediately, I moved out of the corner and followed him “Jay, I don’t know who they are! I just got here, remember? Besides, I have a feeling they’re just going to ignore me too, I told him, which made him halt in his tracks.
“You just got out of the hospital, and they expect you to tend to your own?” he muttered through gritted teeth, and I could tell that he was fuming at this point.
“S–Sometimes, the maids speak to me about where to get my food and stuff. It’s not like they’re starving n explain, but he was not listening anymore.
me or anything.” I tried to
I was once again startled when Jäiden did something unexpected. He walked back to me and pulled me in his arms, embracing me. I could all but stand still as Jaiden nuzzled my shoulder and took a deep breath.
Too stunned to do anything, I only kept my hands stiffly to my sides.
Vivi,” he
maguin, and I was surprised to hear him say my name without honorifics. “I’m sorry you have to go through this. Why didn’t you ever ask for help? I’ve known you even way before, but I didn’t know at all… I wish I could ask you what happened back then
As he kept hugging me, I found it hard to concentrate. I’ve never been touched by a guy h
JAS
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Chapter 9
moment, I felt like combusting on the spot
Nonetheless. I took in what he said and solemnly responded. “To be honest, I think I’m better off alone. I always was and I probably always would be. It’s just the way things are for me, at least for as long as I recall.”
I settled with leaning against him, too confused by what was going on to return the embrace. Though his gesture was unexpected, I found it comforting, 1 just met him the other day, yet I felt like I have known him since forever.
“Here. I have an idea, Jaiden added all of a sudden. “Say, what if 1 send a request to be your official bodyguard? That way, I can watch over you better, and this case will be solved in no time. Besides, you’re supposed to have an actual bodyguard with you.
“Oh, I… I don’t know..” I stammered out. “I really don’t want to trouble you any further. You still have your pack to attend to. But thank you for worrying about me. That is more than I could ask for.
“You’re not troubling me
“Maybe not now, but you’ll see later on
“Well, you do seem like the troublemaker, what with you sneaking around all the time.”
He let out a chuckle, and I was starting to notice how I liked his laugh.
had. Even though he kept reassuring me, I could not continue involving
Still, I could not possibly bother him any more than 1 already had. Ev him in my problems.
“Come on, Vivi. I want to do this,” he insisted, pulling away from our embrace to grab my hands next. “Just think of it as another part of my job.”
I could still refuse and give excuses. But I knew that Jaiden meant what he said, and I found his offer to be quite nice. I would now have an ally with him around.
With that in mind, I finally told him, “Okay”
“Awesome,” he replied coolly, a smile on his face.
This was probably the closest thing I had ever had to a pack, and I honestly could not find it in myself to complain
Not even a whole day passed in the Silvermoon’s estate, and yet, I was reminded once again how I was the unfavored Luna.
The maids and manservants weren’t openly hostile or cruel to her. I was not being treated like a slave either. The way these betas and gammas showed their disfavor was different from those in dramas.
They avoided me like I was some plague.
“So, then, what am I supposed to do now?” I asked no one in particular as I lay flat down on my bed, arms sprawled out on both sides “Jay left, and I have no one else to talk to.”
Home didn’t feel like home at all, and it was the people in it that made her feel so. I was already convinced that my relationship with Chrysander had always been a one–way thing. Just from the interior layout of our bedroom alone, I could point that out right away.
The bedroom was very spacious, its cordovan wall adorned with intricate details and organtients, and with cream as the main color palette of the furniture and fixtures. There was a balcony that offered a picturesque scenery of the back garden, a huge bathroom with an indoor pool and its cascading water feature, and other luxurious stuff
As well as two large beds, each for both of us even though we’re supposed to be married.
We may be sharing one room, but we slept on different beds. Mine was placed near the balcony, whereas his was far out on the opposite side.
“Anyway, it’s n
no good just lying around here all day. I might even start living the life of a cat with a plan. For now, let’s tour the house.”
t at this rate,” I mused out loud, coming up
g me any mind, my house
1 bounced off of the bed and started to make my way outside of the room again. Since no one there was paying Tour set off peacefully. All the servants I passed by ignored me, not even pausing to greet or ask how she had been. “Oh, what’s this?”:
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Chapter 9
Moments later, I stumbled upon a long, narrow hallway that led to another section of the building. As I strolled down the path, my head kept turning at every point of the wall that I walked by,
It was a corridor full of huge pictures of people–the portraits of the pack…
I could tell so since it’s made up of formal takes. Everyone in the pictures was wearing proper attire, posing in front of the camera with either a smile or a serious face.
“A family portrait, huh? How lovely,” I thought out loud, peering at each frame with awe and wonder, “I wonder where ours is”
Tpaused.
As soon as I caught sight of the last portrait, I felt my breath get caught. In this picture, I was able to spot my husband, the Silvermoon Alpha, in just a second. He was sitting on the center of a long couch, surrounded by the other members of the pack.
Each one of them was very good–looking. The photo itself was captured perfectly.
However, I didn’t find myself anywhere in the pack’s portrait
“Oh, I see.” I looked down. “Should have expected that already.”
With a downcast smile. I slowly turned away. I couldn’t help but feel a painful sting inside me. I won’t deny that I had kept my hopes up and was ecstatic to see it. After all, my parents neglected me when I was younger, and I’d never seen my pack that much.
I should’ve learned by now, though–that everything about this place, family, and life of mine was only perfect–looking on the outside,
that is
I shouldn’t expect too much. I shouldn’t yearn for more.
Otherwise, I would only end up feeling hurt all over again, feeling as unwanted as ever.
田
