Arranged To The Alpha
Chapter 27

Natalia:

I frowned in confusion at the heavy feeling that suddenly settled in my chest.

My heart ached and for a second, it felt like it was being squeezed. My hands shook as I tried focusing on breathing calmly, my heart racing with each step I took to the meeting room to find my investors waiting for me.

I had to fight back my shocked expression as I couldn’t find Blake anywhere, and seeming to understand my confusion, my secretary, Kylie, shook her head, letting me know that he wasn’t here yet. I sat on my chair, his chair left empty as I waited for the investors to start their representations.

The door to the meeting opened, revealing Blake who smiled when he saw me. His eyes were cold and void of emotion, and I could swear that he let out a breath of relief upon seeing me “sorry for being late, I got caught in a little traffic”

I could tell that he was lying, his eyes spoke what his mouth couldn’t, and seeing as he wasn’t looking at me; I knew that something was wrong. I stood up when he approached me, and smiled as he wrapped his arm around me, kissing my temple before he took his seat beside me, waiting for the investors to start their demonstration.

“You okay?” I whispered feeling his odd vibe. It wasn’t like him to just be late, and the heavy feeling that settled in my chest didn’t make me feel any better. The fact that I knew that I could easily know what was happening wasn’t unknown to me, all I needed to do was read his mind, but respecting his own privacy, I didn’t get inside his head.

He simply nodded in response, taking my hand in his and kissing my knuckle. I was about to comment when he looked at the investors and nodded “shall we begin?”

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“Blake, what is going on?” I asked taking his hand in mine, stopping him from leaving the meeting room. The man has been quiet throughout most of the meeting, only speaking when needed, and not to mention the fact that he tried leaving the second all the men left, not even bothering to look at me.

He didn’t answer for a while before he turned to face me, wrapping his arms around me as a sob broke from his lips. I frowned in confusion and wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tightly. My chest felt like fire had been spilled on it as his body raked with each sob he let out.

“I had to kill him, he would have killed me or himself instead” he whispered.

“What?” I asked as I processed what he just said. He didn’t answer for a few seconds before he pulled away, his hands shaking as he extended them between us making my eyes widen. I took his hands in mine and pulled him to sit down, giving him a glass of water to drink.

“I was heading to work earlier…” he gulped as he tried reciting the memory, reliving whatever pain he was in “and Mason came out of his room. He called me, he was drunk…”

I took his hand in mine, squeezing it, assuring him that I was there for him. His hand shook as I held it, Ares whimpered in pain at the loss of his friend and beta. Having to fight back the tears that were threatening to form in my eyes, I stayed quiet as I listened to what happened. The idea of him being forced to kill his best mate was something that I knew not only broke him but must have broken the whole family. As far as I understood, Blake and Mason grew up together, him putting Damon as his beta wasn’t something that he wanted to begin with, but he knew that he couldn’t have Mason as his beta when he was as broken as he was over his mate.

“I killed him, Nat. I was forced to do so, but I killed my best friend” he whispered the last part. I kissed his knuckles before getting up from my chair and wrapping my arms around him, hugging him tightly. I knew that I couldn’t just tell him that things were going to be okay or that he would be getting over what happened; it was something that was going to leave its scar, I knew that. But what I also knew that even the deepest of scars heal, leaving a mark, maybe, but they do heal.

“I don’t know what to do, Natalia” this was the first time that I’ve heard him as broken as he was. Seeming helpless, shattered, and confused. I wiped my tears and pulled way from him, getting down on my knees in front of him. Blake’s eyes were fixed on my own as I placed my hands on his knees.

“I’m not going to tell you that it would be easy, or that you would be able to easily get over it” I said gently “and I’m not saying that it won’t hurt. But I give you my word that whatever it is, whatever method you use to cope with this pain, and whatever you need me to do; I’ll do for you. You won’t be dealing with this pain alone, and no matter how much time it takes; I’ll be helping you mend those scars, yeah?”

Blake didn’t respond to what I said for a while, studying my expression before he got down from the chair, sliding it behind him, and getting on his knees in front of me. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his chest as he hugged me, I hugged him back, gently massaging the back of his neck “I just want you to hold me, can you do that for me for now?”

“I’ll hold you now, and until forever comes, okay? I’m not going to leave you, my love”

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I took a cold bath as I fought to cool my body down.

Having been forced to stay calm throughout the day, I somewhat forgot about my own self until my body started over heating, almost burning my clothes in the process. Thankfully, no one saw or suspected anything as I sped toward the bedroom, stripped out of my clothes, and got inside the cold tub.

The cold water which was filling the tub gradually heated until it was at boiling point forcing me to drain and refill it another three times until my body managed to cool off. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hide this for long. It was only a matter of time before Blake found out, and having mated; I knew that he would most likely get inside my head one day and find out about this. The one thing I was worried about now was how he was feeling after losing his best mate.

Getting out of the tub, I wrapped my towel around my body and stared at my reflection. I would have been lying to myself if I said that my increasing powers couldn’t be seen through my eyes. My eye colors which were now changing from blue to green to red and back to blue were enough to expose me, but I knew that Blake was somewhat used to my changing eye colors by now.

I had to go to the grand element manipulator, my grandfather, for help. But confronting Blake with the fact that he was alive when I think he believed that he was dead, considering that we never mentioned him, wouldn’t be as appropriate at this point. However, I knew the consequences of delaying this anymore than necessary.

Forcing myself to take a deep breath. I needed proper training, and it had to happen fast. Me being self trained wasn’t going to help me, and judging by the fact that my parents never allowed me to expose who or what I was; I knew that grandfather most probably didn’t know about what I was able to do. Hell, I don’t even think mum knew that her husband’s father was an element manipulator.

I walked out of the bathroom and opened my closet, getting myself a pair of shorts and Blake’s shirt only to smile when Blake wrapped his arms around me from the back, hugging me tightly. He kissed my shoulder before turning me around to face him, cupping my cheeks as he did “are you okay?”

Blake smiled at my question and though I knew the answer. I still asked to hear him say the words, clear his mind, talk about it “no, but I’ll be fine with you beside me”

He ran his finger through my hair, tucking a strand behind my ear as he did “thank you for being beside me today. I know that you’re going to tell me that you wouldn’t have left me whether or not I asked for it, but thank you for this”

“You don’t need to thank me, Blake. I’m your wife”

“I know, but judging by everything we’ve been through; I think that you deserve a thank you…” Blake said gently. I wrapped my arms around him before he could say a word and he wrapped his arms back, hugging me just as tightly.

“No matter what I do for you, I do it because I love you. You don’t need to thank me for it, okay? It’s you and me against the world, you’re my Alpha, and I’m your Luna, never forget that, deal?”

Blake smiled as he heard the words leave my mouth, knowing that they were ones of truth. He cupped my cheeks and kissed me, his k**s gentle before he pulled away to look at me, resting his forehead against my own “so, do you want to tell me who your grandfather is? And why you haven’t told me about what you’ve been going through?”