Leah's POV
"Leah, wake up." I heard a voice in oblivion.
I lifted my arms to cover my eyes.
"Leah..." The voice called my name again.
"Finn..." I mumbled. I stretched out my arms toward the source of the voice.
A pair of hands held my arms.
They felt warm.
No, they weren't Finn's hands, which were always cold.
I opened my eyes and saw the blurry figure of Lucian sitting next to my bed.
He placed his hand over my forehead and gently said, "Leah, I'm here. You don't have a temperature anymore. That's great."
"Water..." I whispered. My throat was burning.
A cup of water appeared in my sight. It was Jalin who was holding it.
Lucian held my back and added a pillow behind my back, so I could sit upright.
I turned my head away to avoid seeing Jalin.
I heard Jalin's voice -
"Leah, I know you're mad at me, but..."
"Why didn't you hire Finn? Why did you ask him to work for Lucas?" I took a sip of water and said impatiently.
Jalin cleared his voice and said, "There are some technicalities... I'm sorry, Leah. We really can't hire him and Lucas was the only right fit for offering him a working permit, or else he would have to be deported out of the Kingdom. I made a tough judgment call. It's for your own good."
"Who are you to decide what's best for me?! How about Finn? Have you thought about him? Do you know how much I cared about him? Can't you see that I'm madly in love with him?! Why do you have to interfere with my personal life?!" I shot out a string of questions. I spoke too fast and I couldn't catch my breath. So I had to sip more water.
Jalin stared at me and he didn't say anything. He had a melancholy expression on his face.
I turned to Lucian and scolded, "You! You're behind all this bullshit, aren't you?! Every time Jalin does some shitty craps that I can't fathom, it turns out that you are the one who's behind it. Do you enjoy meddling in my life, brother? Does that give you a sense of achievement or something? Why can't you just leave me alone and let me mind my own business?!"
Lucian sat there, towering over me. His chiseled jaw was set in a firm line and his eyes were narrowed into slits of simmering anger. His dark brown hair and sharp, angular features seemed to have been carved out of stone. Like every time we got into an argument, he faced my accusations with a stoic demeanor. Despite his obvious frustration, he exuded calmness and control, which was both alluring and intimidating.
"Have you finished your speech?" Lucian asked in a cold voice.
"Yes! And I don't want to see you now! Both of you! Get out of my bedroom!" I raised my voice.
Neither of them walked away.
I put the cup on the stand, lay back, and covered my head with a pillow.
If they didn't want to walk away, I could be an ostrich and pretend that they weren't there.
Lucian removed the pillow from my head and held me in his arms.
I tried to push him away, but he didn't let me do it. He placed his chin over my head and I couldn't go anywhere.
After struggling for a while in vain, I gave up.
Lucian said in a velvet, steady voice, "Leah, all I want to do is to protect you. In case you haven't noticed, you're in great danger right now. Someone wants to kill you and we don't know who he is despite all our efforts. He hasn't left any clues for us. This means that the one who wants to kill you is very good at what he's doing. And that's why he's a real threat to us. Before we figure out who he is, we have to keep everything the way it is right now. It's a delicate balance. Whoever tries to break it first is the one who has a fracture. And all we need is a little fracture to crack this case."
I took a deep breath and said in a determined voice, "Brother, I'm no longer a little girl. You can't protect me at all times. If someone wants to kill me, I will deal with it. When the time comes, I will confront him. I'm the daughter of Lycan King. I am more than capable of dealing with shit like this. Now, leave my bedroom. I will get changed and go to work."
Troy drove me to work on that day. From the rear mirror, I saw the dark circles around his eyes. He looked absolutely exhausted.
"What's going on, Troy?" I asked.
"Nothing, I haven't been sleeping well these days," Troy replied.
"Have you heard of Darren?" I asked.
"No. I've called him a hundred times, his phone remained shut. I called Gean and he said he would look for him," Troy said.
I picked up my mobile and dialed Gean's number. He answered immediately.
"Miss Lewyn, I was about to call you. I've found Darren. He's in the custody of Alpha Mick Toussaint of Rock Growlers Pack."
"Rock Growlers? Do you mean Alpha Dire?" I frowned.
"Alpha Dire was dead yesterday. Now his son has taken over," Gean said.
"Mick Toussaint..." I mumbled and frowned. "Is he the one who was trying to abduct me? He's Clara's cousin, isn't he?"
"Yes," Gean said. "He was bailed out by Alpha Dire from the institution last week."
"And his father was killed within a week of his release," I rubbed my forehead and said. "This is very misleading. He might think that I was behind his father's assassin, especially when he found out that my personal assistant showed up on the same day that his father was assassinated."
"And you didn't have any alibi on the day his father was killed," Gean said. "This is a very delicate matter, Miss Lewyn, but let me deal with it."
"He's got Darren in custody, Gean," I said. "Arrange a meeting. I want to see him."
Gean said, "Miss Lewyn, you really don't have to..."
"Gean. I was shouting at Lucian and Jalin this morning for meddling in my life. Please don't let me shout at you." I said in a cold voice.
"I understand what you mean, Miss Lewyn. Being shouted at by you is the last thing I want. What I wanted to say is that I don't have to arrange a meeting for you. You will see Alph Mick tonight at the Grand Ball. Every Alpha will show up on the ball," Gean said in a calm voice.