CHAPTER 50: WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Kaya

Magnus scans the three of us with his narrowed eyes, and I can feel irritation bubbling under his skin. He is not happy with what he sees here, and none of us truly needs to fish for an explanation as to why.

"Ray," he finally speaks again, his chin jerking at Charlie standing next to his father. "Take the boy and go back to the house."

"Yes, alpha," the two of them nod in unison and leave so fast that it actually takes me a solid moment to realize that they are already gone.

Now, I have no choice but to face him alone. And boy, do I feel ready to disappear, too.

"Why are you here so late?" Magnus asks me, his face stern, his features sharp, and yet, I hear no threat or warning in his tone.

"I..." I start reluctantly and immediately trail off, my mind refusing to function at all. "They were fighting, so I thought––"

"This is a warrior pack," he interrupts and frowns a little, but his voice still remains the same. "Wolves always fight here."

I offer him a frown of my own as well as I do not really appreciate his tone of condescension.

"He was fighting a child!" I then snap, my fists clenching at my sides in growing frustration. "What was I supposed to do? Just ignore that?"

"And what could you do?" Magnus cocks a brow, his glare challenging me, responding to my own annoyance. "If that was indeed an unfair fight, would you have stopped it?"

My body relaxes, all the tension leaving it at once as if I have just been dipped into a barrel of warm water. He is right, what can I do to stop a fight? Had the circumstances been different and the fight been real, I would have probably been dead by now.

"Just because I can’t do anything about a fight I consider unfair," I suddenly hear myself talking again, and although I know I really need to stop, my voice seems to have a life of its own. "Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try and stop it. Isn’t this the purpose of this pack? To make sure everyone fights fairly?"

A soft chuckle escapes Magnus’s lips, and I can practically see a subtle flicker of amusement jump in his amber eyes. For a moment, I feel my mind go impossibly still as I can finally take in that astonishingly imposing beauty this man possesses.

I like his curly hair when it falls over his shoulders like this, I hear my inner voice talking nonsense again, and before I know it, my cheeks turn hot, while my eyes snap away from his face.

He must have caught onto my sudden embarrassment as the next thing I hear is him clearing his throat with a cough.

"You are right," he says in a softer voice now, his feet taking him a little closer to me. "But an unfair fight can only be stopped when the other person brings even more unfairness to it."

"Huh?" I blink at him, confusion overtaking me. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Magnus chuckles again, turning around to face the ground where Ray has just been training with his son. "A fight between the strong and the weak can only be stopped by someone even stronger. That’s what it means to bring more unfairness to it."

"Aahhh..." I stretch that sound, though my mind still refuses to register his explanation. His response is very... philosophical, and I don’t really think that the warriors from the Blood Moon Pack have time to be so thoughtful when they actually fight.

"You don’t seem to agree with my words," Magnus jolts me out of my thoughts again as if he can really read my mind. It feels spooky to have him in and out of my head, even though we don’t have a mind link.

"I just..." I trail off again, frantically sifting through my brain in search of an appropriate retort. As always, I find none. Goddess, I wish you didn’t hate me so.

"No, you are right," I cave in in the end, "I am not strong enough to intervene. That’s what you wanted me to admit, right? So there you have it. Enjoy."

I don’t really know why I am suddenly so moody and snappy, especially since Magnus was nothing but patient with me. I guess the final realization of my own weakness and uselessness clutches me more tightly than I have ever cared to admit.

I guess that’s my defense mechanism. I feel pathetic, so I am trying to do anything I can to make sure others don’t feel the same.

And that makes it even worse. In the past, I couldn’t care less what others thought about me, but now... Now that I am actually in charge of my own life... I can’t really blame anyone but myself. For anything.

"I never enjoy anyone submitting to their own weakness," Magnus suddenly cuts in again and takes another big step toward me, the distance between us shrinks, while the tension intensifies. "But I do appreciate your being honest with me and, more importantly, with yourself."

My eyelids can’t stop moving as I blink rapidly instead of meeting his amber gaze with dignity. I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel excited again. He is not trying to bring me down by using my weakness. No, he is trying to do the exact opposite. He is hyping me up.

"So," my voice is low but unwavering, "do you think I have a chance? Do you think I can become stronger?"

"It doesn’t matter what I think, Moonlight," Magnus replies with a strange smirk on his face, but what startles me even more is that pet name that he has just called me.

Moonlight? Because I am silver all over?

I know I’m blushing again, but this time, I am not really embarrassed. Honestly, I don’t really know what I am right now. A mess, perhaps. A complete emotional mess.

But that doesn’t matter.

"What do you think?" He adds, and that intense, hot gaze he is giving me is about to set my very soul on fire.

What do I think?