Louisa's POV
It wasn't Lucas.
It was Lucian standing behind me.
Noticing that I looked a bit disappointed, he offered me his arm.
I lowered and shook my head.
"It's OK. I can walk by myself..."
I didn't finish my sentence when Lucian took up my arm and wrapped it around his.
Then, he walked with me to the side entrance.
"You don't have to do this." I struggled to hold my tears back and said.
"No, I don't. But I chose to do it," Lucian said without looking at me, taking Will from my arms.
"Why are you so kind to me?" I frowned and asked, "Why don't you just kick me away just like everyone else?"
"When I was little, I was sent by my father to the White Walkers Pack as a pawn. I didn't know why he chose me, because he had seventeen sons and I was the fourth. He would usually ignore me, just like everyone else in our pack. So before I was sent away, I decided to make a scene. I walked into his tent for the first and last time in my life and confronted him. I asked him why he chose to send me to the North. I still remember his reaction today. He looked confused and asked me, 'Who are you?' He didn't even recognize who I was."
"I'm so sorry to hear that..." I lowered my head and leaned against Lucian, trying to bring him some support.
Lucian continued, "I haven't told anyone about my story except Lucas. He told me that it was all my fault. He's right. I was the one who chose to remain silent all the time, to let my father ignore me. Sometimes you need to fight for what you want."
I looked up at him and asked, "What if this is what I want?"
"Then I guess we can't always get what we want," Lucian said in a detached voice.
Will played with his long straight blonde hair in his hands and tried to braid it. Lucian pulled his hair back and handed him the tassel.
Will made face at Lucian and stroked his head against Lucian's shoulder like a little puppy.
Looking at them, I felt a strong impulse to hold both of them in my arms.
How I wished Lucian was my husband and Will was my child!
As I was lost in a daydream, a giant gorilla-like man appeared in front of us. He was wearing the dark staff uniform.
"Beta Lucian, it's nice to meet you again. This must be Gianna." He looked at me and said.
I felt so embarrassed and waved my hands, "No, I'm not..."
Lucian took out the invitation and said, "It's always a pleasure to meet you, Alpine. This is Alpha Lucas' plus-one."
That giant named Alpine looked at Will and asked with amusement, "What about this little fur ball here? He looks very adorable."
Will looked a bit shy, hiding his head behind Lucian's hair.
"He's my plus-one," Lucian replied briefly.
"OK, it looks good." Alpine folded the invitation carefully and handed it back to Lucian. "I would like to inform you that the safety protocol has been updated recently, due to certain issues of sensitive nature. We might need your cooperation for a quick safety check. We need you to put all items with potential hazards on that table for inspection, including knives, lighters, or other flammables."
"Sure," Lucian nodded and placed Will on the table.
Alpine had a wry smile on his face and looked at Will, "Wow, it seems that you're a dangerous little tough guy, aren't you?"
Will stretched out his arms at me, "I don't like this potato head."
I quickly walked towards him and picked him up like a rabbit.
"I'm sorry," I looked up to Alpine and said. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."
Alpine stroked his bald head and cracked a giant smile on his face, "He's an adorable child. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, my Lady. I'm also confused about the changes. I know things are getting worse, but I didn't expect it would be this bad."
Lucian looked at Alpine and asked, "Really? What did you hear?"
Alpine said, "Rogues, you know. Rumor has it, that they are conglomerating and planting explosives everywhere. I don't know why they're doing things like this."
Lucian took Will from my arms and said, "Maybe they want to make a point by sending us some message."
"What message is that?" Alpine scratched his head and asked.
"They are conglomerating," Lucian said.
Alpine looked like he was totally lost.
"Rogues are rogues, they never get together. That's why they're rogues." Alpine looked confused and concerned at the same time.
"Maybe the world we're living in is undergoing some changes," Lucian said and patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, we'll sort it out."
Alpine looked relieved and said, "It's always a pleasure to talk to you, Beta Lucian. You're always so kind to us. I especially want to express my thanks to you for taking care of my brother."
"You should thank Alpha Lucas. He's the one who made the decision. I just carried out his order," Lucian said.
"I know, but still..." Alpine looked at Lucian sincerely.
Lucian said, "Alex's a great kid. He's doing well in our camp. Don't worry about him. He's going places."
After walking past the security check, I looked at Lucian and asked, "Who's Alex?"
"He's Alpine's brother. He suffers from Albinism disease. People hate him and nobody wants to offer him a job, so Lucas accepted him and let him take care of his carts."
I frowned and said, "Really? I thought he would want to kill a sick kid."
"Yes, he would do that. But it would be wrong. That's why I didn't let him do it," Lucian said.
"Why would people hate a sick person? Isn't their life already miserable?" I murmured.
"People don't like things that are different from them. When they see strange things, they start to panic. It has nothing to do with the disease but everything to do with fear," he said.
"I'm different from Lucas and you," I said. "So are you afraid of me?"
"I don't know about him, but I'm terrified," Lucian said and took a glass of cocktail from the refreshment table and passed it to me.
"What's that?" I frowned at the white liquid in the Martini glass.
"Cocotini. Try some. It's sweet. You'll like it." Lucian said and looked at Will.
"What would you like to drink?" he asked.
"That lady looks delicious," Will licked his lips while pointing at a fat lady with a giant wig.
"Don't even think about it," Lucian warned.
Will looked disappointed.
I laughed and took a sip from the glass.
Then, I immediately knew something was wrong.
"Lucian," I looked at him and asked in a horrified voice. "What's inside the glass?"