CHAPTER 100: FATHER’S PAIN...

Charis

I slowly lowered myself back on the chair, hanging my head in shame. My cover was fast slipping away. How many more people before my father discovers me?

"I know you’re Alpha Silas’s daughter. I figured it out at the hospital, and today especially with your..." he trailed off. "Heat, all over the place. Plus, your father has been going around, raving about you. You don’t walk like a boy, and, well, I have enough sisters to know the subtle mannerisms women exhibit. So, I just knew."

If Alpha Terry could tell just by looking at me, I wondered how many others might have cracked the code.

"Why didn’t you tell him?" I muttered, looking up at him.

"There must have been a reason why you left right? And your father..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "The point is, your parents are suffering. Your dad is desperately looking for you. Perhaps, it’s time to consider—"

"No!" I rose to my feet again, shaking my head as I moved away from the dining table. "You don’t understand, Alpha. The version of my father you all know is different from the version I’ve lived with all these years. He’ll kill me if I go back... he’d lock me up forever, and I don’t want to marry, Darian Blackmoor."

"What if—"

He didn’t complete the words when the dining room door slid open and Rhett carried a drunk Kael inside, groaning with exhaustion as he dumped him on one of the dining chairs.

"Gosh, I hate a drunk Kael..." Then he looked up at both of us, pausing suspiciously and looking from me to his father and back to me.

"What’s going on?" he asked slowly.

"Nothing," Alpha Terry said with an easy smile. "You’re home early and you’re not drunk."

Rhett shot a glare at his father. "I can’t drink. I promised, Dr. Maxwell, I won’t touch a drop of alcohol."

"Eamon!"

At that moment, Kael opened his eyes, and our gaze met. His pupils were dancing in and out of focus as he stood and wobbled to where I was standing.

Grabbing my cheeks with both hands, he slurred. "I can’t get you off my mind, Eamon. Every time I tell myself I won’t care, I end up worrying about you the entire day. I hate to see you cry... I hate that we have to fight too, but I can’t let myself love you, Eamon... please, help me unlove you."

My gaze flitted to Alpha Terry, whose brow had arched in surprise.

Kael slumped against me, wrapping his hands around my frozen form. Rhett rolled his eyes and came to where we were.

"That’s enough, Kael. You’ve confessed to everyone tonight that you love Eamon, and we know. Don’t embarrass yourself further."

Kael shrugged Rhett off, tightening his hold around me. At that moment, a maid entered the dining room with a food tray.

"Here is what you asked for, Alpha Rhett," she murmured, setting it down on the dining table.

Rhett thanked her and tried to pry Kael from my body, but succeeded in only making him grab me tighter.

"Just tell me what you want him to do and I’ll make him do it," I suggested, hoping my ribs had not broken from Kael’s squeeze.

"I need to feed him that," Rhett pointed grudgingly at the new food tray in the dining area. "It’ll sober him up."

I nodded and turned to Kael, whispering.

"Let’s sit for a minute, Kael. My legs are aching, and you’re holding on too tight."

He immediately let me go and took a step backwards. "I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No," I shook my head, flashing him a smile as I reached for his hand. "Let’s go sit."

He nodded, reaching back and grabbing my hand instead as he led me to the table. Even in his drunk state, he was still caring.

Rhett pushed the tray in front of me. "Ask him to drink this."

I nodded, then turned to Kael. "Kael, drink this, it would help you sober up."

Without another word, he carried the plate and drank the entire liquid before setting it down. Then he turned, staring at me like a puppy.

"I wish I could record him like this," Rhett scoffed. "Take him to his bedroom and make him bathe. He’ll be fine."

I nodded and turned to Kael, who was already on his feet, leading me towards the door. He was still drunk, but he managed to walk out of the dining room until we got to his bedroom.

When we got in, he removed his shirt in one fluid motion, then turned to me.

"Do you want to bathe with me?"

"No!" I chuckled. "I’ll be here waiting for you, okay."

"You won’t go?" he asked.

"No, I’ll be here waiting for you."

He nodded and staggered into the bathroom. I sat at the edge of his bed, listening to the sound of the shower running. I was too tired to think of what to do, and I couldn’t run away again. Tomorrow, I’ll figure out what to do.

A knock sounded on the door, and Rhett came in with some clothes in his hand.

"Let him wear this," he murmured, coming to drop the clothes on the bed. As he turned to leave, I called out to him.

"Rhett..."

"Not now, Eamon," he shook his head. "Take care of Kael first, we’ll talk later."

I nodded. "How about, Slater? Is he coming?"

"He isn’t home?" Rhett arched a brow. "He never showed up at the club."

"Oh!" I nodded. "Strange."

"Maybe he went elsewhere," Rhett shrugged.

"Yeah!" I nodded.

He turned and went out of the room. A while later, Kael came out, wrapped in a towel. His pupils were no longer dancing as much as it was when he came back. He seemed to have sobered up a little.

I tried not to stare at his glistening chest as I took the fresh change of pyjamas, which Rhett brought in a while ago, to him.

"You should change into this," I suggested.

He nodded and took the clothes from me, heading back to the bathroom.

When he finally emerged, he was wearing only the pyjama bottoms and had slung the shirt around his neck.

I stood from the bed, turning to face him with a quiet smile. "Since you’re settled in, I’ll go back to my room. Do you want me to bring you anything else? Are you hungry?"

As I asked him, his eyes won’t leave my face. He didn’t even blink them, and I was getting uncomfortable. He crossed the room to where I was, closing the distance between us.

"Eamon," he murmured, my name, reaching for my hands and pressing tiny kisses on the back of my knuckles. "Stay with me, please."

I removed my hands from his, hating that my body was reacting to him already.

"I’d better not, Kael. I don’t want you waking up in the middle of the night and wondering why I am lying next to you. You’re still drunk..."

"You can leave after I fall asleep. Please!"