Chapter 95: _ The Unfaithful Mate
The brittle midnoon air of Ravewood pack felt heavy with a kind of anxiety as Lupe and I stepped out. The mishaps happening around seed to be dulling everyone’s spirits.
The usual bustling crowd of werewolves, fairies, and elves milled about - the diversity was simply beautiful.
Whispers and gazes followed Lupe and
like the breeze and were often accompanied by the occasional pointed glance from the wolves.
It was very much expected.
Several she-wolves Lupe knew approached Lupe, and offered condolences for her mother’s passing. So stayed a little longer and their eyes would flickering towards
before dropping away.
The air was a wave of judgntal gazes as I was used to. So, it was all good. Well, maybe until...
One particularly bold she-wolf with orange hair sidled up to Lupe.
With a voice filled with bogus concern. "Oh, Lupe, how awful about your mother. And here you are walking with the oga," she said, her gaze sweeping over
as if I wasn’t standing right there.
She flicked her gaze towards , her ash eyes filled with disdain. It was like she could swallow
whole if she may. My throat tightened, and I fought back the urge to shrink under her hateful glare.
Lupe’s spine stiffened. "Isleen’s my friend, Anya," she said sternly.
Anya scoffed, her perfectly arched brows eting Lupe in a disdainful frown. "Friend? No wonder your mum was murdered. You befriend an oga and your whole life goes downhill."
What in the blazes of thunderstorms?!
That was harsh! Such a wicked thing to say to anyone!
My eyes widened in shock. These people condemn
but it was always very evident that it was them who needed to do better.
Lupe lunged forward at her and I saw her claws extening. Right after, a growl began to rumble in her chest.
"Take that back, Anya!" she snarled. "Enough of your insolence! Get out of my sight!"
But before Lupe could launch herself at the insolent she-wolf, I clasped her arm, urging her back. "Lupe," I whispered, my voice hoarse, "it’s not worth it. Let her spew her venom all she wants, hold nothing on ."
To be frank, Lupe was once like this Anya, if not worse. Lupe would practically follow
around with her late friend to mock . It was like they’ve got nothing else to do than to make life hard for .
Anya, however, was completely unfazed. She simply rolled her eyes and sauntered away like she knew that was an empty threat from Lupe or she was certain that she could take Lupe down.
Lupe closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to regain her composure. When she opened them again, they were filled with burning sadness and anger.
She then turned to
with regretful tears in her eyes. "Isleen, please don’t listen to her," she whispered. "You have to know that I don’t believe a word of that nonsense anymore."
"It’s okay, Lupe," I patted her shoulders reassuringly.
"Thank you," she nodded. "You’re such a kind soul."
.
The rest of the walk to the market was shrouded in an uncomfortable silence between us. Every so often, Lupe would catch soone staring and her jaw would clench, but she listened to
and didn’t throw a fit.
It was always beautiful watching the elves and fairies move about. I particularly loved the fairy’s colorful wings, so I focused on that instead and ignored every elent that could make
lose my cool.
I still found it hard to believe that one of these creatures could be a murderer and even intended to harm Liam. It was such a sha. They seed so— peaceful.
We finally arrived at the store a while later.
While Lupe browsed the vegetable stalls, I wandered towards the dairy section. The shopping was at least peaceful. I whistled my way through it and just as I reached for a carton of milk, I heard a loud gasp co from behind .
Turning around, I saw Lupe frozen in place. She had the look of pure horror etched on her face. The grocery cart Lupe was pushing had toppled over and sent a cascade of fruits and vegetables rolling across the floor.
My heart skipped a beat.
I rushed to her. "Lupe, what’s wrong?" I asked, dropping everything to kneel beside her.
My gaze followed hers and landed on a tall, imposing figure leaning nonchalantly against a pillar. The tall silver-haired male wolf with a cocky grin stood beside a slender elven girl with cascading green hair. They were locked in a suggestive embrace with the she-elf giggling at sothing the wolf whispered in her ear.
"D– Drach?" She stamred, lips trembling hard.
I frowned at her, hating the attention we were getting from almost every custor in the store. "Who is Drach?" I asked.
Tears welled up in Lupe’s eyes again.
Gosh.
The girl had cried a river just today.
The tears spilled down her cheeks silently as she continued to watch the two flirting duo in front of us. "Isleen– that’s... that’s my mate," she choked out.
My mouth drawled into an ’O’.
Now I understood her tension. Here was Lupe, grieving her mother, and her supposed mate was off cavorting with another woman. The one who was supposed to be by her side during her hour of need was escalating her grief.
Life’s irony.
Lupe deserved better.
He didn’t seem to hear her at first. He was so engrossed in the beautiful elf in front of him. I thought the mate bond was sacred?
So far, I had co to see nothing so sacred about it. Mr. Fenrir had a wife who was his mate and still flirted with . And again, here was Lupe’s mate having a lovely flirting ti with an elf.
Her voice shook as she uttered his na again, this ti louder. Drach finally turned towards us. When his eyes settled on her, surprise took over his face but it was soon replaced by a careless grin.
"Lupe? What are you doing here?" he asked nonchalantly and dismissive.
"I– I just lost my mother, Silas," Lupe coughes out, tears streaming down her face. "Where have you been? Why didn’t you even co at all?"
What the-?
Nah. Lupe was annoying
right now. Of all the things she could say to him, this was it?
Drach’s grin began to disappear and was replaced by a fleeting trace of snare. But it was gone as quickly as it ca. "Oh, right," he mumbled, feigning sympathy.
It was so obvious that he didn’t give a shit. Oh, gosh. How could Lupe have remained with such a person?
Because the Moon Goddess wanted it so?
Drach began to walk towards Lupe. When he reached her, his hand reached grabbed her arm in a rather aggressive way.
"Are you here to embarrass
publicly?" He spat.
Holy moly, WHAT?!
The guts of this shaless wolf!
I pushed his hand away forcefully.
"Don’t you dare hurt her!" I growled, my voice low and threatening.
The audacity of this wolf!
The audacity of HIM!
Drach seed to be caught off guard by my sudden intervention. He glared at . "Who the hell are you to tell
what to do?" he sneered.
His icy glare did little to faze . "I’m her Friend," I spat back. "And unlike so mates, I actually care about Lupe’s well-being."
Drach scoffed and before I knew it, he pushed
right onto the floor in a loud thud.
Reviews
All reviews (0)