Free Web NovelChapter 179: Dancing Monkey
Milo paused, his throat bobbing wordlessly. All our eyes stared at him, but in the end, he merely got up and left the house.
"Is he going to ruin the plan or our alliance?" Blaise asked, his voice wondering. "He seems awfully reluctant so far."
"He’ll come around." Alpha Burke shrugged. "Milo must learn that kindness should not be given to the unworthy. He was kind and lovely to Alpha Thorton’s daughter for years, even before they found out they were mates. Always saving the reddest apples and the most beautiful flowers for her, and what did that result in?"
"A broken heart?" I guessed.
"A heart cruelly crushed without mercy and a spectacle of public ridicule. My son did not deserve to be treated this way, to be thrown aside without a second thought― especially for a man she doesn’t even see more than twice a year," Alpha Burke elaborated. "Just because he has a gentler soul than most alphas doesn’t mean he is not worthy of love!"
"Well, now you will be able to pay her back with her own coin," Blaise said supportively.
"Yes, we will." Alpha Burke’s eyes gleamed maniacally. "Blaise, let your brother know that he can push for a wedding within this week. I simply cannot wait to witness such a prestigious event."
***
Blaise had delivered the news, and soon every pack in this side of the country knew about the wedding. Hornstead had received the invite. I pulled out the cream-white card from the envelope and raised an eyebrow at the baby pink borders flanked with gold, along with the faint smell of perfume that wafted from the card.
Damon clearly wasn’t involved in this part of the wedding preparations.
Together with our families:
Hornstead is cordially invited to the wedding of
Dahlia Grace Elrod
and
Damon Valentine.
Saturday, the 22nd of August
6PM
Belhurst Cathedral
Thunderstrike Pack
Please respond with the number of guests. Guests not accounted for may not be seated.
"Fancy," Blaise whistled from behind me. "Oh look, they’ve even included a picture! Poor Damon, he looks like they held him at gunpoint. Poor him."
I made a confused noise, and Blaise showed me what he had pulled out from the envelope. It turned out to be a polaroid picture of Damon and Dahlia embracing each other. He was wearing a suit, while Dahlia had on a beautiful white dress, a beaming smile on her face.
Damon didn’t look happy at all, but still, I suddenly felt a vicious swell of jealousy so strong that I wanted to rip the photo to shreds.
Blaise quickly held it away from my reach.
"Harper, this is fake, remember? This wedding isn’t going to go through."
"I know, I know." I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "I just don’t like the fact that things are getting to this point. Damon shouldn’t have to... display himself like this... like he’s some kind of dancing monkey. He looks so miserable in this photo. What else are they making him do?" I lamented. "You said they are already sharing the same room now. I don’t like this at all!"
Blaise could only hug me to comfort me. He had told me whatever Damon updated him with, which was honestly not much. Apparently, Dahlia had taken to sticking to him like glue, leaving him with barely any time to contact Blaise, even in the comfort of his own room.
Unbeknownst to us, Milo was listening to our conversation with a frown on his face.
"Do you want to go back first to check up on him?" Milo asked. Blaise and I exchanged glances. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"That would be preferable," Blaise started. "We shouldn’t leave him to endure this alone. But we would need to borrow a car that cannot be traced back to you. They can’t know we were ever here, or our plan goes up in smoke."
"Maybe we can borrow Elder Olive’s truck," I said. "He lives outside of Hornstead, maybe we can claim that we’re just out staying in the settlements."
"I’ll arrange that," Milo said. He paused and then spoke. "I know Dahlia has done me wrong, but if you can convince Damon to... reject her more kindly, please do. I do not want to inflict my sufferings on others."
"I’ll do my best, but no promises," Blaise said. "You’re a much better man than I am, Milo."
"Perhaps Harper might do a better job of convincing him," Milo said, his eyes darting to mine. I blinked in confusion.
"And why is that?"
"Because you are his fated mate, are you not?" Milo asked unflinchingly.
"How did you even― That’s preposterous―!" I spluttered, my head immediately looking around the house to see if anyone had overheard him, especially his mother.
Thankfully, it seemed like everyone else was out, busy with wedding preparations. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
"I guessed it after observing the both of you," Milo said simply. "Harper, you seemed to care too much for Damon, more than a sister-in-law would. And Blaise, you see nothing wrong with it when even the kindest of men would be jealous. It’s as though your brother is already part of your mate bond."
The both of us stared back at him in stunned silence, while Miles continued to ruminate to himself.
"The Moon Goddess pairs us with the other half of our soul, and there are legends that claim that twins are the same soul split into two bodies. It would then make sense why you would have two mates."
"You’re a very terrifying man with good instincts. Have you ever considered specializing in espionage?" Blaise asked, only half-jokingly. If this was coming from Blaise, it was high praise indeed.
"No, I like dealing with food more," Milo said frankly. "But I can help steal my grandpa’s truck to get you out of here if you like. You won’t be able to leave without my permission, since the land itself responds to our will."
"The land itself does what?" I asked in disbelief. Blaise seemed equally confused.
"Our ancestors have the blood of the fae in them," Milo said. Which explained everything and nothing at the same time. I could tell that Blaise was bursting with questions, yet we had no time to ask for answers.
Not to mention Milo most likely wasn’t going to divulge pack secrets to us mere strangers.
"So, do you wish to leave?"
There was only one decision we could make.
