Louisa's POV
"Is that a..."
"Amazing, right? You just can't take your eyes off it."
I looked at the image in the catalog.
It was a headless statue made of precious moonstone.
Decades ago, Alpha Shay from the Aberrant Canines sent seven maidens to blast the entire Kanz Mountain into an ocean of fire. From that one, the moonstone mines were sealed permanently, which was why moonstones were really scarce and precious.
"But it's broken. Where's the head?" I asked.
"It's lying in my treasury," Alpha Zackery smiled. "Such a beautiful sculpture. Look at the curvy wrinkles on its dress. Can you believe that it's made of the hardest stone in the world? You know, when the moonstone is unearthed, the chemicals on its surface get in contact with oxygen in the air and immediately lose its dazzling color. That's why unprocessed moonstones look a bit tarnished. But after processing by skillful craftsmen, the tarnished coat is gone and the inside chemicals of the stone are exposed to the air. At that very moment, the color of the stone solidifies. The inside chemicals vary, that's why every moonstone is unique. Most of them have uneven colors and cloudy patterns, but one in a million stones has this kind of purity. It looks so soft and fragile that you can see the breathing of light. It jumps out of the statue and shoots right up at your face. It's free of boundaries and restraints of time and space. Anyway, it took Ragnar's Hall a lot of effort to look for the missing piece of this statue. I must have it today."
"But they know that you want it so badly, why don't they directly sell it to you?" I asked.
"You're so adorable, little girl." Alpha Zackery tapped my nose and smiled.
I didn't know what he meant. But somehow I could tell there must be some unspeakable reasons behind this.
"You don't need to worry about anything, little girl. After I get this statue restored, I will give it to you." He winked at me and said.
"What?! No... No! I... I don't want it! Please don't give it to me!" I waved my hands like a fan.
He must have been out of his mind.
We literally just met for the first time today.
And he wanted to give me a present that was worth the entire Kingdom.
Alpha Zackery smiled mischievously, sat back, and stretched out his endless long legs.
"Take this priceless statue as my present for you to memorize our first encounter. I want you to have it because it will remind you of me in the next thousands of years of your life." He looked at me with affection and said.
I stuttered, "Alpha Zackery, Your Excellency, I appreciate your generosity, but... but... This is very inappropriate..."
"Why?" He asked and took a sip of champagne.
"I'm nothing! That's why. I don't deserve to have something this precious..." I said.
"So what? I'm not allowed to buy a girl a present to make her day?" He looked a bit demotivated.
"No... I mean... You have a right to do whatever you want to do... You've already bought me a set of jewelry, which costs you more than 200 grand. That has been very generous of you already. But now, you're trying to give me something that is worth the fortune of the entire nation. That is something else. You're obviously onto something which is beyond my capability of comprehension. Even though I'm nobody, I still have a right to refuse to get involved in whatever you're planning to do. So, if you may excuse me, I have to go look for Will and attend to a very sick patient." I stood up and tried to walk out of the room.
When I pulled the door open, several soldiers were standing outside and blocking the door.
I turned back and saw Alpha Zackery sitting on the sofa and looking at me.
"Come back and sit with me," He tapped the empty spot next to him and said. "This is not a request."
He was still smiling, but the look on his face made it very clear what he meant.
This wasn't a request.
It was an order.
I clenched my jaw and walked back.
The soldiers slapped the door behind me and the bang sound startled me.
I sat next to Alpha Zackery and he held me in his arms.
"Little girl, you're shivering." He pulled a blanket on my shoulders. "Please don't be afraid of me. I'm an open book. You can ask me anything. All I want to do is to make you happy."
"You're contradicting yourself," I said. "I keep asking you why you are so kind to me, but you never answer."
"I've already told you, I like you and I want to make you happy." He explained patiently.
"But you don't like girls!" I couldn't hold it anymore.
"Who told you that?" He stared at me and asked.
I was speechless.
He was silent for a brief moment.
Then, he suddenly pushed away everything on the table and pinned me on top of it.
Before I could protest, he had already pressed himself on top of me.
"Is this what you want?" He looked down at me with aloof detachment and asked, "To be treated roughly, without any respect? To be taken against your will? Is being raped the only thing that proves you're being loved?"
"Let go of me!" I exclaimed in humiliation.
"He doesn't love you, Louisa," Alpha Zackery said. "All he wants to do is rape you, and you're too blind to see it because love makes people blind."
"He's my mate! I don't have a choice!"
"This afternoon, in the stable, do you know why I asked him to reject you but eventually let him go?" He asked.
"You want to see my response and I've already made it loud and clear. I will never leave him and I'll never accept his rejection."
"No. I want to see Lucas' reaction," Alpha Zackery said. "A man will never leave a woman he loves, Louisa. He will never give her away to anyone, no matter who this person is. But you've seen what happened. He gave in to me by asking you to accept his rejection. What you've witnessed in the stable, the emotional swing on his face, the tears in his eyes, none of them was an indication of love. It was pure grievance because I took away something belonging to him by higher force and power. Don't mistake it as love, little girl. That's dangerous."
He said as his hands slowly getting all the way up to my neck. He picked up the ring from my bosoms and said, "Remeber, when a man sees a woman he loves, he showers her with expensive gifts and gives her a ring. He will never, ever let anyone take his woman away."