A dangerous light flashed across Lucien's eyes. His pale face was twisted by fury. How could anyone be so shameless?
Lucien wanted to drag the werewolf out of the tree's shadow and beat him black and blue. He could not care less whether or not Ronan was present. However before he even took another step toward the tree, Ronan already grabbed his wrist. Accidental or not, Ronan was squeezing a slash wound on Lucien's arm. The latter hissed from pain.
Thinking that his Alpha was there to save him, the werewolf came out after he finished dressing himself. He went to pick Maya up from the ground, but Jake went ahead of him.
The Beta put one of Maya's arms around his neck as he hoisted Maya into his arms. He shot the werewolf in front of him an indecipherable look.
"Is something the matter, Gavin?"
So his name was Gavin. Lucien tried to wrench his arm away from Ronan's steely grip to no avail.
"Nothing," Gavin answered with a grin. "Alpha, Beta, I am so happy that Maya is finally safe again. What are we going to do with this human being? I fear that he is going to do something to Maya again."
"You fucking bastard!" Lucien shouted angrily, ignoring the pain in his arm. "You shameless liar!"
Gavin shrank back. He furrowed his brows, pretending to worry about Lucien's emotional state.
"Alpha, it is best to take care of this human being right away. He lives alone. No one will notice if..."
Gavin did not end his sentence but all of them knew what he wanted to say.
Jake chuckled. "That won't do, Gavin. Considering that he has been protecting Maya from scum like you."
Color drained from Gavin's face as soon as he heard Jake's words. He turned around and escaped.
"Ah...!"
Lucien tried to free himself but Ronan was not letting him go. Jake too did not move from where he was, still standing in front of them with Maya in his arms.
"Jake, go back with Maya to the hotel," Ronan said languidly. "I still have something to do."
Jake was not in a position to question his Alpha about what it was exactly that he had to do so late in the night, so he simply nodded and went back to the hotel.
"You fool!" Lucien hissed at Ronan as soon as they were alone. "Why are you here standing around like a useless Alpha? Are you letting that werewolf escape because he's from your pack???"
Ronan raised an eyebrow at Lucien.
"I already gave an order for a hunt. He is not going to be out in the wild for long. I shall have him delivered in front of me at the Pack House tomorrow."
"..."
Lucien shot Ronan a glare.
"Then what the hell are you doing here. Let me go, I..."
A wave of dizziness flooded Lucien's head. He felt faint, and then his legs gave up under him. Ronan picked him up with one swift movement and carried him in his arms.
Lucien was losing a lot of blood. Ronan brought him back to his hotel room and asked the Healer that they found for Maya to take care of him.
Beowulf could not shut up.
'Ronan, is Lucien going to be fine?'
Ronan chuckled.
'I thought you only care for Landon. Now that Landon deserted him, do you still care about Lucien?'
'I do, and so do you,' Beowulf pointed out.
Ronan furrowed his brows in displeasure. Only Beowulf spoke to him in this way. Ronan hated to be reminded of his unrequited affection for Lucien.
After the Healer patched Lucien up, she excused herself to go back to her and Maya's room. Jake already got them a new room.
Ronan slowly walked toward the bed and towered over the unconscious Lucien. He was pale from excessive blood loss, and half of his body was covered in bandages. He had fought as bravely as any werewolf.
Only that he was no longer one. Not after Landon left him.
Ronan rubbed at his forehead and sighed. There was only one double bed in the room. Lucien was not going to like sharing a bed with Ronan, but so what. Ronan was not going to get himself a new room. Lucien just had to make do for the night. Ronan took off his shirt and slipped inside the quilt.
The room was filled with a mix of their faint scents. It had a calming effect on Ronan, who slept throughout the night without further disturbances. He only woke up when the man next to him started to stir. Their eyes met as soon as Ronan opened his eyes.
It was difficult to decipher the look on Lucien's face, but there was neither gratitude nor delight in his eyes. Ronan's heart turned a few degrees colder when he saw Lucien being his usual self again.
What did he expect? He was the fool for expecting more from a heartless person like Lucien. Ronan raked his fingers through his hair and put his shirt back on. Lucien propped himself up with a lot of effort. His eyelashes were slightly moist from pain. Ronan reached out to help Lucien but the latter shot him a fierce glare and refused his help.
Ronan raised an eyebrow at Lucien's haughty attitude. "What's with the attitude? We shared a bed before. And we did a lot more than just sleeping next to each other."
Lucien's head snapped toward Ronan as he regarded the latter with an icy look.
"Stop speaking about the past."
Ronan scoffed. That was it? "The Past"?
"I have a burning question for you. I hope you can enlighten me."
Lucien cut him a smirk.
"Please speak then, Alpha."
Hearing Lucien call him Alpha made Ronan bristle with annoyance. It was less a compliment, more a mockery. Never mind. Ronan drew a deep breath before he posed his question.
"If you did not want to be with me, why did you let me fuck you back then?"