Chapter Eighteen
Chloe looked over the gardens on the morning of the mating and marking ceremony. It remained only a few hours for the relationship between Chloe and Liam to be sealed officially. Chloe wasn’t really excited about it. Instead, she was filled with anxiety.
The calming colours of the lilies, and daffodils didn’t help matters at all. She honestly didn’t know what to expect from the whole thing, and she was filled with anxiety, regarding the very same. If things would have been different would Prince Aiden, she would never know now, because she had chosen how she wanted her life to be, and she had to dance to the tune of it. There was no two ways about it, and she would have to fix whatever is needed to be fixed at this point, so things might make sense.
She felt her hand slowly circle her waist, and she turned to Liam. It still shocked her how intensional he had become. He wasn’t brutally rude like he used to be, but a bit calmer. She still had not been able to allow him touch her. For some reasons, she was going through doubts.
“Why are you standing here all by yourself, Chloe?” He asked softly.
She sighed as she turned around to face him. His hands trailed her waist and held her captive. Chloe sighed as she touched the collar of his shirt. “I’m anxious of the whole thing.”
She could see fear cross his features. “Are you having second thoughts about us?” he asked quietly.
Chloe shook her head, as she bit her lips at the same time. The truth was that she wasn’t having second thoughts, but she was definitely worried about something. That something was Emily. She had not seen the latter for sometime, and there was no telling what she might do to her. Chloe wondered if she should meet her to iron things out, but she couldn’t do that too. She was stuck in the situation.
“Liam, I don’t have second thoughts. I’m simply worried about how the day would play out. I don’t know why I think something would happen.” She explained.
He released his hands from the small of her waist and placed them on either side of her cheeks. Her heartbeat skyrocketed, not because of love, but more of fear. Somehow, she was always waiting for him to snap and become the man he used to be. She didn’t completely have faith that he had changed for the better.
He slowly pecked her on the top of her head, and she shivered slightly. “Chloe, you don’t need to fear. I’m with you, and I love you so much that my heart hurts. I was an idiot to wait this long to accept our bond, but not anymore. I honestly care about you. I want to be with you. When you remember these things, then, everything would be good,” he said softly.
She swallowed hard. “I hope so.”
“Have faith in the moon goddess. Everything would be ok by no time, and we would have the happiness that we seek with all of our hearts. It would be better than nothing, and there would be peace for the both of us while prepare to rule the Break-stone pack,” he said softly.
Chloe smiled softly. She wasn’t completely relieved, but she didn’t want to stress Liam so much today. He had so much expectations for the celebrations and she wanted him to be happy about it. Chloe slowly pulled away from him, and pushed her hair behind her ears.
“Thank you. I should be leaving now. There are a lot of things that I need to do and if I don’t get to it, nothing would be right. I would see you tonight as your bride, Liam,” she said with a shy giggle as she ran off.
Despite her excitement, she saw a blue anklet tied at the right ankle of a leg. She looked up and met Emily’s eyes. Emily was looking at her with so much anger that stunned her even. Chloe gulped and turned towards Liam who was looking at the garden oblivious to what was going on. She reached her hand to hold Emily’s, but the woman easily removed her hand as she walked over to where Liam was.
Chloe quickly moved away and hid behind a stature. She had to know why she was nervous and reacting the way she did. Was Liam fooling her all these while or was he authentic? There was no way someone would change so much in such a limited time. There should be a form of explanation for it, and she wanted to know it.
“Liam, you’ve been avoiding me,” Emily was saying.
Liam turned towards Emily. He had a tortured look on his face, and it was evident that he wanted to go far away from her, but he had to also face it.
‘Stop projecting your thoughts on the situation,’ Chloe scolded herself inwardly.
“We are no more an item, Emily. I think we should respect that,” Liam said firmly.
Emily gasped in shock. “Wait, what does that mean? You don’t want us to be together anymore? You don’t love me anymore?” She asked.
Liam sighed and took her had in his. “I don’t love you. I’m sorry that whatever we had, had been nice, but I have recognised that the moon goddess is never wrong. It feels like foolishness now to continue pretending that we would have worked out, when we both know that we wouldn’t. I wouldn’t have been completely happy with you, Emily because I never really accepted or rejected my mate. And, now, I don’t feel like rejecting her. I want to…”
“Just stop!” Emily whisper screamed. She held her breast like she waned him to see the size of it. Chloe was a bit taken aback by the display. “You slept on my breast, and you were the first man I allowed to do things with me because I thought you actually loved me. I felt you cared about my feelings and thoughts. But, that is not true. You only care about yourself and no-one else. You’re a fucking…”
Liam made a move to touch her, but Emily moved backwards in pain. She cleaned the tears that was falling from her eyes like they were treacherous. “I have never seen a more selfish man like you.”
Liam shook his head. “I know that you had great expectations about our relationship, but I’m far from selfish. I always try to be understanding towards you, and understand what we have for each other. But now, I can’t continue with our delusional relationship. I love Chloe, and that is what matters to me,” he said softly.
Emily nodded like she was about to go crazy. She slapped the trees and leaves like they were the cause of he her issues, then finally, she turned to Liam.
“You love her?” She asked coldly. Liam nodded. “That is so good. I would show the both of you a lesson. You just want to ruin my life because of Chloe, the fucking lowlife. You were embarrassed to even call her name. All of a sudden you are passionate about actualising the dream that your moon goddess gave to you.”
Emily laughed like she was going crazy. “I’m an idiot, but your Emily would definitely pay for this embarrassment.”
With that, she turned back and left with Liam screaming at her not to do anything silly. Chloe sunk further in the statue till Emily left. She was stunned, scared and delighted all at once. Liam had defended her against Emily. It seemed like something that could not easily be achieved, but it had been. Now, all she had is worry to last her the day.
Emily was a very dangerous woman. She also was not going to let things slide as she had promised. Heavens knew what she wanted to do. It was crazy to think about all the things that could easily go wrong if things were not curtailed or in the right order.
Chloe slowly got up, and tiptoed away from where she stood. She needed to watch her back from now on. Her anxiety had not been unwarranted in the first place. There was so much going on now. Now, she knew Liam’s intentions for her, she wanted to fight even harder for her rights.Content © copyrighted by NôvelDrama.Org.
The maids greeted her as they passed, and she simply mumbled her response. Could Liam protect her? Despite his talks, he would trust Emily more than he trusted her, and that made her so afraid. She really didn’t have anyone. She was just on her own, and she needed to re-strategise.
“Why do I have to bear all these?” She asked herself.
Deep down, she knew the answer. She wanted to fulfil all the relationship she had with this pack. It was her home, but the problem was that she was afraid of the unknown. It was funny that this fear had come again as a form of Emily.