Page 61 of Alpha's Forbidden Bond

“Thanks,” I said. “To both of you.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, just go!” Sarafina waved me on and Mikeal pushed his hand lovingly into my back. I smiled once more at them and then ran out of the room.

Chapter 30

Diana

In the afternoon, after letting Georgie drag me around town all morning and feed me copious amounts of food—in an attempt to cheer me up—I finally escaped and was able to head back to her grandmother’s house without much of an argument. She decided to open the bookstore for a few hours that day after all, and since she assured me she didn’t need any help at the shop, I went home and took a much-needed nap. The sun was beginning to set when I woke up, and I sat up in bed with the beginning of a headache.

“Sugar crash,” I said under my breath to no one. Georgie had stuffed me with donuts, pastries, and a coffee drink that consisted of more whipped cream than anything else, and now it was coming back to bite me in the ass. I went to the bathroom and tried to wake myself up a little with a splash of cold water. I brushed my teeth and took my hair out of the French braid Georgie had done for me that morning. Running my hands through the crimpy curls that had formed thanks to how tightly she’d tied the hair together, I sighed heavily.

This morning had been a nice distraction, but now that I was alone again, the sadness came rushing back like water out of a broken dam. My shoulders slumped, making the knots in my back tighten up once more, and I closed my eyes to try and stave off the tears. Frankly, my cheeks were too raw, and my throat a little too scratchy to allow myself to start crying again.

Leaving the bathroom with just a few tears sliding down my cheeks, I thought about going directly back to bed at first. Then, I realized that would only result in me waking up early in the morning and facing the quiet solitude of pre-dawn in Silverleaf. That sounded like a recipe for a mental breakdown, so I opted to take a little walk around the neighborhood instead. The fresh air had done me some good this morning, so maybe it would do it again. Stepping out of the basement door, a delightfully cool breeze rushed by, and I breathed in a lungful of crisp air. I stepped up to the driveway and was deciding which direction I wanted to go when I heard a rustling sound behind me.

My heart skipped a beat, but it took a second for my brain to catch up and remind me that Stanley wasn’t in any position to follow me around. Either he was dead, or he was still recovering on the compound, but either way, he couldn’t possibly be lurking in the trees behind Georgie’s grandmother’s house. Nonetheless, I wished I had replaced my mace can.

I stood perfectly still and listened for any other sound. All was silent, so I chanced a quick look over my shoulder.

I screamed.

But not so much in fear as in surprise. I truly hadn’t expected to see anyone there, so when I glanced back and my eyes met someone else’s, this was my knee-jerk reaction. Once I realized who it was that was standing at the end of the driveway, however, I released a breath I didn’t even know I’d been holding and stopped clutching my chest.

“Andreas,” I said, walking tentatively toward him. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk to you,” he said. He was wearing a soft-looking t-shirt and jeans. His hair was a little damp and pushed away from his face, and he smelled like cologne. I was pretty sure he’d just gotten out of the shower, but when my mind jumped to images of his wet, naked body, I had to move past them as fast as I could. “I’m sorry for not knocking,” he said. “I was just out here pacing, trying to figure out exactly what I was going to say, and then you walked out, and I wasn’t sure what the best way to approach you was. I didn’t want to scare you.”

I scoffed. “And you did a great job.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “How can things already be going so poorly?”

I folded my arms. “Look, just tell me whatever it is you came here to say. Does it have to do with Sarafina or Stanley? Did you see that article in the local newspaper?”

“Yes,” he said. “Er–no. Or—what I mean is that yes, I did see the article, but no, this isn’t about Sarafina or Stanley. Who are both still alive, by the way. Sarafina actually woke up from her coma today and is expected to make a full recovery. It’ll just take some time.”

“That’s good,” I said, my shoulders slumping in relief, but I would not give him so much as a polite smile.

Standing before the man who I loved so dearly was like reopening the wound he had left and ripping at the stitches that Georgie had worked so hard to thread the past few days. “Please let her know how sorry I am for the part I played in what happened that night,” I said.

“She knows.”

“Alright then.” I waited for him to add more since clearly, he hadn’t only come to town to give me an update on Sarafina’s health status. Andreas shuffled from one foot to the other. I’d never seen him so nervous before. “What else did you want to tell me?”

“I have a question for you.”

I raised a brow. “I’m listening.”

“Before I ask it,” he said. “I want you to promise me that you’re going to answer honestly. I want you to pretend I’m not here or know that I will not be upset with you no matter what you say. This is merely a hypothetical that I’m going to propose, and I just want to hear what you think, so there’s no reason not to tell me exactly what’s going through your mind. Understood?”

“... I guess.”

“Okay, good. And thank you in advance for humoring me. I know this is a little strange, but it’s the best way to cut through all the bullshit and just get to the point.”

I nodded. “I like the sound of that. Go on.”

“Right. So—hypothetically, would you rather be with me, romantically, even if it means that we might be putting ourselves at risk of… well, who the hell even knows. But something bad. Or, would you rather never see me again?”

“Wait—” I shook my head. “Andreas, I don’t understand. You were the one who said that we couldn’t be together. You sent me away using no uncertain terms, breaking my heart in the process, I might add.”

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