Twisting Her Fate
Chapter 146

Sierra can't handle looking at Lani's depressed expression any longer and drags everyone up to dance hoping that that will help. Lani sways as she walks away from the table, leaving a large stack of empty glasses in her wake. She did not realize how much leaning on the table actually helped with her stability. She has never pushed herself to this many drinks in one sitting without her wolf and it has taken a bit more of a toll than she was expecting. Leilani giggles as she walks forward with unsteady steps.

Being drunk to this level is still a new experience for her.

In order to keep her body in good condition, she hasn't been going in excess of anything, so tonight she's really letting loose.

Lani looks at the large vaulted ceiling, staring blankly at the large beams overhead, tuning out the strobing lights and feeling the music through her body.

Connor throws back another drink as his eyes finally wander from directly in front of him as he starts to survey the place. His gaze stopping at a single point on the dance floor. He stops and blinks a few times, he even raises a hand to rub his eyes, making sure he isn't seeing things, that what is in front of him is in fact real, no matter how many times he blinks, no matter how many times he rubs his eyes there is still a goddess with white blonde hair staring up at the ceiling, dancing to her own beat. Connor just watches transfixed. He has no idea what to do. Why is she here? Why isn't she with her lover?

Connor looks at the three girls that Lani is with, frowning slightly. Where are her brothers? Where is her lover?

Lani is too beautiful to be out here without that interference. Connor taps the bar again with his glass and it is filled once more. He continues to drink and just watches Lani. She is still the most beautiful woman that he has ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on. She can still command an entire room.

She is just as perfect as he remembers. He sighs as his rate of drinking actually increases, he hardly even blinks as he watches.

On the dance floor, Lani dances like no one is watching her. She feels eyes on her. Not like she had before, when she could pick out individual sights. Now she just knows, but she is used to that sort of attention, so it doesn't worry at all.

Her head is swimming and the longer she moves, the longer she's freestanding, the more the shots hit her, nausea swirls in her stomach and the full brunt of the alcohol hits her at full force. She cannot ignore the lights any longer, the music is pounding directly into her brain, her head is aching and the vaulted ceiling above her is starting to spin, the mezzanine that overlooks the dancers. Leilani looks but the people have turned into a mess of colors, she is hazy, her eyes unfocused. Lani grabs Aubrey's arm.

"I need to use the bathroom"

"Do you want me to come with?"

"No, no I am fine"

Aubrey frowns slightly, it is hard to force Leilani into things she doesn't want to do, but it is impossible not to worry about her safety, even though Leilani is skilled enough to defeat the other three girls even in her wolfless state. "Are you sure?"

Leilani smiles, hoping she isn't swaying as much as the room feels like it is around her.

"I am fine, I will be back soon"

Leilani manages to hold her words, trying hard to keep the slur out of her voice. She is embarrassed that she can get so drunk, she is so much less than she was before and this is just another reason that cements that fact in her mind. Lani offers Aubrey a smile before walking toward the bathroom, trying to keep a straight line, trying hard not to hit anyone on the way, even though there is only just a blur in front of her. If it wasn't for the faint golden light in front of her, she wouldn't have any chance of reaching the hallway to the toilets.

Now she just feels terrible and misses Connor even more, this whole idea is a complete bust. Why is she such a failure? Large tears roll down her beautiful face.

Connor watches the woman walking through the crowd, the whole world parts for her, just as it should. He throws back his last glass of whiskey as he slams the glass down on the bar, leaving a large stack of cash beside it without even looking at the bartender. He walks in the direction of Lani. Connor sways slightly as he stands, he drank a lot and it is hitting him now, it is hitting him hard. His eyes only focused on the white blonde ponytail that is swinging with her walking motion. The crowd parts for the man. No one is game enough to get in the way of the huge man that is so focused.

Lani finally makes it to the black painted hallway. A green sign is at the end indicating a fire exit. Lani can't even make out the male or female signs on the door of the bathrooms in the state she is in.

Her stomach is flipping and twisting itself in knots, she has no idea what door to enter. The fire door opens and a club employee walks in with the faint scent of tobacco lingering around them. Lani looks at the fire door, breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that it is not alarmed. She stumbles forward, her stomach lurching and she nearly throws up in the middle of the hallway. She somehow makes it to the door, pressing her shoulder against it, trying to steady herself, but the door pushes open, causing her to lose her balance once again. She stumbles down the three stairs to stand on solid ground in the alley below, pressing her hands against the metal railing in front of her, gripping the cold round tube to try and ground herself. She presses her eyes closed just as the heavens open up above her, a single drop lands on her hand and she angles her face up to the sky with her eyes still closed, torrential rain pours down, soaking her completely, the freezing cold water actually coming as a relief, her hazy eyes and unsteady body remain but the nausea that has been threatening to spill her guts all over the bitumen settles.

Connor pushes open the door, stepping out of the fire exit. He looks at Leilani in front of him. She is so close that he feels like he can nearly reach out and touch her, her head tilted to the sky, water pouring off her face, her white blonde hair looks slightly darker in its drenched state, it hangs straight as an arrow toward the ground. Her beautiful royal blue dress clings to her luscious body, the material leaving very little to the imagination. He itches to reach out and touch her, but he keeps his hands down by his side, just watching the rain soaking him through, his skin his so warm that it nearly steams with the temperature difference.

Leilani can feel a scorching set of eyes on her. They nearly warm her ice-cold skin. She angles her head slightly but doesn't open her eyes and look. She is scared that this little moment of calm will be disrupted if she opens her eyes and the world spins around her

once more.

The rain isn't helping to sober Connor up. This is the most intoxicated he has ever felt in his life. He opens his mouth but words won't come out, he has no idea what to say to his love.

Connor walks down the steps one by one and stands behind Lani, only one metre separating the two. Still, he stands in silence, the only sound is two beating hearts, two soft breathes and the sound of rain pounding on the bitumen. Puddles soon start to form around the couples feet.

Connor has no idea what to do now. She knows that it is him by now, yet she makes no move to turn and no move to look at him or say anything.

Leilani's fingers tighten around the tube, the old flaking paint scraping her fingertips, but she doesn't even care, she feels an imposing presence behind her and she unconsciously arches her back toward him.

Connor steps forward, closing the distance between the two. If he was in his right mind he wouldn't do this, no matter how much he loves her, he would never make a move on a taken woman.

But now all he can think of is closure, all he wants to do is say goodbye, he wants to lay it all out, but he doesn't even know how to explain how much their time meant together when obviously it meant so little to her.

He wants to tell her that he is giving up his whole life in devotion to her. There is so much he wants to tell her, but even in this state, he loves her so much and he doesn't want to burden her mind, he wants her to be happy, he doesn't want those stormy blue eyes to look at him with pity, he doesn't want her to say the words and tell him that she isn't worth it, that he should just be with someone else.