~Alistair~
I thought I heard someone knock on the door, but I was still so deep in sleep, and was enjoying the beautiful dream I was having, so, I just stirred in my sleep and refused to open my eyes.
The knock came again, and this time, I was sure that someone was actually at the door. With a grunt, I opened my eyes, filled with annoyance, and yawned loudly. I decided to roll over a little in order to stretch out my bones that had grown stiff while I slept peacefully all through the night.
To my great dismay, I crashed to the floor, with a loud thud, and yelped in pain.
“Are you okay?” I heard Eliana ask, as she ran from the kitchen and appeared in front of me.
I was wondering what she was doing in my house, but then again, I knew I couldn’t possibly be dreaming or imagining things, since the pain felt so real. It then dawned on me that she had came to my place with Ian yesterday after being sent out by her parents, and I had completely forgotten that I had given up my bed for them, and had slept on the sofa. No wonder I had landed heavily on the floor.
“I’m fine,” I said, and struggled to stand up to my feet.
She came to my aid, and assisted in lifting me up, but I was too lazy and still dizzy, while she was as weak as she looked. We ended up fooling ourselves, and instead of pulling me up, she fell on top of me, with a mild groan.
As she attempted to get off me, she fell back down, landing directly on top of my chest, and hitting her head against my chin, which made me groan in pain.
“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” She said, raising her head, and look at me, apologetically.
I rubbed my chin gently. “It’s okay. I’ll be just fine,” I said.
She looked seriously in pain, and when I saw her head becoming red, I could tell she was trying to hold back the pain that she had received after bumping her head into my chin accidentally.
I heaved a sigh, and rubbed her forehead, while she winced in pain.
“Easy,” I said, rubbing it more, then I placed my hand on her forehead, then slowly, took the pain she felt away from her.
She heaved a deep sigh of relief. “Once again, you’ve saved my life. I guess I am lucky to know a werewolf. Thank you,” She said to me.
I smiled at her, and she returned the smile, with her heart beating faster. Our eyes locked, and we both stared at each other, without saying a word.
“I should get up,” She said, in a low tone.
“No,” I said, quickly stopping her from doing what she had in mind.
“What? Why?” She asked.
“Just stay here. Let’s just stay like this for a little time,” I said to her, pushing her hair to stay at the back of her hair.
Her lips quivered, as she stared deep into my eyes.
“I really liked your long hair,” I said, still touching her hair.
“I... I... know,” She stuttered.
“Please, grow it back. You’re still beautiful, but you looked much more younger and much more like a princess with that long caramel brown hair,” I told her.
“And how do I look now?” She asked, softly.
“You look beautiful, but tough, which doesn’t make sense, because you’re still a sweet and innocent little princess underneath that tough camouflage,” I said, trailing my fingers along her cheek.
“I’m thirty-four, Alistair. I’m not a little princess anymore,” She said.
“You’ll always be my princess,” I told her, with sincerity laced in my voice.
She touched my beard, and ran her hands over it, sending a tingling sensation down my stomach, as my heart melted. She brought her head closer to mine, and I held her by the chin.
When our noses touched each other, her eyes immediately shut close, and so did mine, as my free hand went down to her waist, enjoying the feel of her breasts against my chest.
I had missed her.... I had missed this.
Just then, the door flew open, and our eyes opened abruptly, while Eliana immediately found her stamina and got off me within a twinkling of an eye.
“I’m sorry, Al. Was I interrupting something?” Aunt Salome asked, coming into view, as she saw me staggering to my feet.
“Why did you just barge in?” I asked, irritated that she would even ask such a question.
Of course, she had interrupted something. Eliana and I were finally comfortable with each other, and we were already having a moment, but Aunt Salome just had to ruin everything.
“Well, I’m sorry about that. I had to unlock the door in my own way, since no one was answering and I could sense that people were inside,” She explained.
I had totally and completely forgotten about the knock on the door which had woken me up. “It’s not an issue, Aunt Salome. It’s okay,” I lied, wondering if I was ever going to get the opportunity to have Eliana in my arms again, now that it was possible that my aunt had ruined my one and only chance.
“Isn’t that El? Hey, El, how are you doing?” Aunt Salome asked, beaming happily, as she recognised the lady she probably thought I had just been having fun with.
“I’m fine,” Eliana replied with a shy smile, looking down at her feet.
“You don’t have to be sure. You’re old enough to be having sex with my nephew...”
“We weren’t...”
Aunt Salome interrupted her, not ready to hear what she had to say. “You don’t have to deny it, El. Just make sure you guys have a wedding ceremony first before having baby number two,” She said, wearing a sly smile.
“Aunt, you’ve gotten it all wrong,” I said, noticing the look on Eliana’s face, even though I really didn’t mind if Aunt Salome said silly things like what she had just said.
“Whatever. That is not why I’m here. I came here to discuss a very important matter,” She said, eyeing Eliana, and I immediately got the hint.
“You can tell me anything in the presence of Eliana,” I said.
“No, it’s fine. I wouldn’t like to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Besides, I was mixing ingredients for pancakes in the kitchen,” Eliana said, politely declining the offer to remain here while Aunt Salome said whatever she wanted.
“You don’t have to bother yourself with that. I know cooking is not one of your strong points, and it’s okay. Don’t worry, I’ll prepare something for us when I’m done with discussing with Aunt Salome,” I said.
“I appreciate the offer, but no. I make perfect pancakes, and I bet you’d love them. You can ask Ian,” She said, much to my surprise.
“Yeah, that’s true. How is Ian? Where is he?” Aunt Salome asked.
“He is doing perfectly fine, and he’s still sleeping at the moment,” Eliana replied.
“In that case, I guess you’d have to make sure there’s pancakes for me, because I must see him before I leave,” Aunt Salome said.
“I’ll do just that,” Eliana said, wearing a warm smile, and turned her back, about to leave the living room.
“El,” Aunt Salome called.
Eliana turned back around, swiftly. “Yes?”
“I hope you don’t hold what I did in the past against me, because I regret it and I am truly sorry about everything. I misjudged Alistair, and I regret ever doing that,” Aunt Salome apologised, sincerely.
“It’s okay. I don’t hold it against you,” Eliana said, shooting a small smile in her direction.
“I’d also like to apologise on behalf of Alistair. From what I saw earlier, I can see both of you have settled your differences, but as his blood-related family, I still feel the need to apologise for his misdeeds. I know it’s not going to change what happened six years ago, or take away the pain that his actions must have caused you. I truly am sorry,” Aunt Salome said.
Eliana nodded her head, and seemed like she was about to cry. “It’s not a big deal, Aunt Salome. It’s okay,” She said.
“You called me Aunt,” She said, wearing a broad smile.
“And you called me El,” Eliana said, returning the smile.
“You are now a part of my family, and you have automatically become someone dear to my heart, I see no reason why I shouldn’t call you El,” Aunt Salome said.
Eliana chuckled. “And I see no reason why I shouldn’t call you aunt,” She said.
“You’re absolutely right. I feel unhappy about the name you gave to the newest member of our family though. Why did you have to name him Ian? Now, his name is so short that I can’t even think of any abridged version of his name to call him,” Aunt Salome said, thoughtfully.
Eliana chuckled once again. “I guess you’d have a hard time thinking about that. I have to go now,” She said.
“Okay, dear,” Aunt Salome said, and nodded in approval, as Eliana turned around and went into the kitchen.
“I like her,” She said, as soon as Eliana had disappeared into the kitchen.
“She’s one hell of a likeable person,” I agreed.
“I can’t believe she made me forget about our urgent discussion just by speaking softly and smiling warmly,” Aunt Salome said.
“I guess you should also do more of that, instead of always speaking harshly and frowning,” I said.
“Alistair, our people’s lives are in danger,” Aunt Salome said, in a very serious tone, ignoring my comment.
“I know, and I’m trying to think about we can do,” I said.
“We can no longer think about what we can and what we can’t do. We have to take action,” She said.
“Action?” I inquired.
“Yes, Al. You heard me right. Yesterday, the Clarke's family were found lying dead in their own house,” Aunt Salome said.
“What?” I asked, unable to believe what she had just said.
“The Banshee’s prediction and Kat's prophecy are already coming to light, and if we don’t act fast, we may not be able to stop it,” She said.
I scratched my hair, and began to pace around the living room. “I had promised that none of our blood will be spilled, aunt. I have failed to protect my people,” I said, as guilt tugged at my heart.
“Listen, Al. None of these is your fault, and you shouldn’t be blaming yourself when you did not do anything wrong,” Aunt Salome said.
“I didn’t do anything wrong? Seriously? I failed to protect my own people. The Clarke’s lineage is forever dead, and it is my fault. As the Alpha, I was to ensure that none of my people died, but a whole family had been slaughtered, while I had been eating ice cream at the mall,” I said, feeling terribly annoyed at myself.
Aunt Salome heaved a sigh. “If it makes you feel any better, the lineage of the Clarke’s family isn’t dead. Their little daughter had been playing hide and seek, and had been hiding in the playhouse, when everything happened. She was the one who ran to inform us of what had happened, and she is being well taken care of now,” She informed.
I didn’t know whether to rejoice at the news, or even feel worse than I was already feeling. In one day, a little girl had lost all she held dear to her, and she was going to grow up to be sad and broken, forcing herself to keep on living, with the images of the death of her family members evergreen in her memory.
I heaved a sigh, and sat heavily on the table, placing my head in my hands, as I thought deeply about what I was supposed to do now.
“Alistair,” I heard Eliana call.
I looked up to see her standing by my side, and I wondered what it was that she was doing there.
“Is there any problem?” I asked.
She shook her head, negatively. “No. I shouldn’t have eavesdropped on your conversation, so, I apologise for that. However, I think I may have gotten a likely solution to your problem,” She said.
“And what would you know about our problem?” Aunt Salome retorted.
“Let her speak, aunt. She knows more than you could possibly imagine,” I said, giving Eliana the nod.
Hopefully, she could help us out of our predicament with a solid plan. I knew everyone thought Eliana to be just a clueless person, but I knew she had a lot to offer, and just this once, I prayed she proved me right.