Chereads / Of Love And War / Chapter 24 - Chapter 24

Chapter 24 - Chapter 24

Cyprus

At the mention of Zevrus' name, the whole atmosphere changed into electricity. I could see Cedric's eyes widened a fraction but then he hid his emotions and stayed serious "Zevrus? you mean my brother?" Xavier nodded "yes, Xavier and I were both in the same cell inside one of the fucked up laboratories" I leaned in closer, this was very interesting. "They put us in the same cell to know which one of us was stronger, of course we fought and he won. Afterwards they left us for days alone, no water, scarce food, he rarely ate, and he always gave me all the food" Cedric closed his eyes and leaned back "my brother, kind as ever, always puts others first" alpha Xavier nodded "as days passed by, we began talking and became best friends, at one point I suggested a plan to escape, but he refused, he said there was nothing to go back to, and when I asked why, he spoke of Rain" I scrubbed my face with one hand and sighed, looking at Cedric, he was breathing hard, eyes locked on alpha Xavier as he continued "one night before I escaped, the scientists ran an experiment, they transferred some of Zevrus' blood into my body, they were talking about using one alpha's blood to create equally strong werewolves- right now, I have Zevrus' blood running in my veins, and that's the only way that made me win against alpha Dracus'' Cedric looked thoughtful for a moment, then he nodded and closed his eyes ''that's why you smell like him, that's why I thought you were familiar- the eyes look a lot alike too" alpha Xavier nodded and swallowed "after that experiment, Zevrus got sick, I wanted him to escape with me, but he said that he'll be a burden- he said that he'll help me escape, but made me promise him that I'll deliver a message to you" Cedric sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "I'm listening" alpha Xavier took a breath "get Rain back to the pack, protect her and keep her safe, and if he doesn't come back, she is to be your mate" I froze, Zevrus wanted this? Cedric shook his head in disbelief "but, why?" Xavier nodded "I asked him the same question, he said that Rain will make you see that not all humans are bad" Cedric nodded and closed his eyes.

After a brief moment of silence Darious spoke for the first time since the meeting began "that doesn't answer alpha Cedric's question- what made you betray your alpha for Rain?" we all stared at alpha Xavier , he shook his head "the way Zevrus spoke of her, the way he described her, that triggered something in me- and I promised him that I'd protect her" I had to say something "is that why I smelled you on her?" Cedric's eyes darkened "answer the question" alpha Xavier sighed "fine, I kissed her". Before I could blink Darious was on his feet holding alpha Xavier by the collar of his shirt "how dare you lie about this? Rain would never let you even touch her- we all know how loyal she is to Zevrus" alpha Xavier smirked "well, first she pushed me back and declared her loyalty to Zevrus- but then she smelled him on me and well.. she enjoyed the kiss" this time alpha Cedric's snarl echoed through the room "you son of a bitch!" I quickly stood in front of alpha Cedric and tried to hold him back, alpha Xavier delivered a punch right on Darious' jaw which made him let go of the shirt and stumble back, Darious charged forward but I reached a hand up "enough!" they froze as they stared daggers at each other, I took a deep breath "what's done is done, alpha Cedric, you can't forget that it's thanks to alpha Xavier that Rain is alive and well, if it wasn't for him, I really doubt our plan would've worked- we got to move on" alpha Cedric sighed and closed his eyes, he walked away and brushed his hair back as he took a few more deep breaths, I looked at alpha Xavier "alpha Xavier, let's not forget that you are here to deliver a message from Zevrus- let's make it respectful and leave this room as friends and future allies" I reached my hand out to shake his, alpha Xavier nodded and shook my hand, then his attention turned to alpha Cedric "alpha Cedric, I apologize for my lack of words, I have nothing but respect for Rain and you" he reached out his hand "I look further to future alliance" alpha Cedric studied alpha Xavier's hand for a second and looked at me, I nodded to him, he nodded back and shook alpha Xavier's hand "all is good".

Cedric

after alpha Xavier left, I headed towards the main house- all anger and exhaustion left me the moment I got inside and smelled Rain's scent, those roses that made my stomach churn in a good way, I slowly walked upstairs reaching for the door of her room, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, enjoying her presence. Slowly and quietly opening the door my eyes fell on her sleeping form, she's angelic, sleeping on her back, one for her arms is on her side while the other is next to her head- her fingers barely grazing her cheek, her hair splayed on the pillows- so brown I wonder if tastes like chocolate, her long lashes fluttering in the top of her cheeks, those beautiful lips slightly parted as she breathes slowly and peacefully. Her beauty is so intoxicating that my body moves by itself and I walk to the bed and lay beside her- I sigh and stare at the ceiling, Rain's presence is becoming known with every day that passes, soon I'll have many more wolves sniffing around her. I think about Zevrus' message, he wanted me to mate with Rain, I had no problem with the idea but the real question was if she'd accept it, one thing is for sure, if I wanted everyone to know she's claimed, and keep her safe, I had to tell her about Zevrus and claim her as fast as possible.

Rain stirred beside me, she crossed her leg over mine and placed her head and arm across my chest- the movement had me surprised but then a smile crept access my face, like a stupid teenager having the first moment with his crush, the only thing I was missing was the bunny front teeth and the nerdy glasses, after a moment of hesitation I put my arm over her and pushed her closer to me- then I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

Rain

the morning sunshine pooled over my face and I squinted my eyes, grumbling I put my hand over my eyes and stretched- but then I froze , the soft pillow under my head suddenly felt hard and leathery, a slowly removed my hand from my eyes and opened them- my gaze fell on hard abs , long stretched legs covered in black jeans that ended up in biker boots, then they travelled up to meet a hard chest that was rising and falling making my head rise and fall with it, I tilted my head a little backwards and my eyes continued to travel up the hard neck, to the jaw line, to the slightly full lips, to the straight nose, and lastly eyes that were actually open and looking at me- startled, I yelped and jumped up "Jesus Christ Cedric!, you scared the hell out of me" his laugh echoed in the room "you should see your face right now, judging the way you were ogling me- scared isn't exactly the reaction I expecting" then he laughed again , I was so embarrassed that I'm sure I was all red, I stumped my foot on the floor " stop laughing, I was not ogling you" he paused with a grin "did you just stump your foot?" then he laughed again "oh man, I haven't laughed like that in a long time- and yes you were ogling, stop denying it" frustrated and out of excuses I lifted my hands in the air "argh! ok! I was ogling, you're so handsome it hurts, but the question is, what are you doing here??" he sobered and slowly got up to his feet "nothing, just came to check on you last night and fell asleep" I blushed harder, he cared, I opened my mouth to say something but then he spoke "there's something I wanna talk to you about, go get ready and meet me downstairs" I nodded "ok" and then he left.

ten minutes later I walked downstairs, Cedric was waiting for me in the kitchen, sitting on the bar stool, leaning forward while holding his coffee mug- he looked so deep in thought, judging by the frown on his face and the way he was looking outside the window like he's gonna kill someone- I expected the subject of our conversation isn't exactly going to be cheerful. cleaning my throat, I stepped into the kitchen and started preparing my own cup of coffee, he looked at me "how'd you sleep? Did you have a good rest after all that shit yesterday?" I sighed "yeah, I guess it's all behind us now, I'm right here and so are you and the guys, to me that's what's important" he chuckled so I frowned and turned around "what's so funny?" he shook his head and looked down "you don't understand, the situation is exactly the opposite, what's important here is you Rain- your safety" I looked at him like he's grown a second head "what are you talking about?" he tipped his chin towards my mug "finish making your coffee, we'll talk on the way" I raised my eyebrows "on the way? where to?" he smiled and got up "we're going on a walk, I'll be outside" he winked at me and walked outside.