Pursuing My Rejected Alpha
Chapter 20

Lucien

sighed.

He was indebted to Kinnon for clearing Annalynne's name. What about Ronan who wanted to save his Lucien could not even imagine what he could do to repay Ronan.

"No," he insisted. "Please keep yourself out of this."

Ronan chuckled.

"Lulu, you are so funny. Twelve other packs agreed to side with you. Are you going to kick all of them "Those twelve packs only agreed to join because you shifted the focus of the war to your pack!" Lucie Ronan took a deep breath. That was not even his greatest concern. "Why didn't you deny what I just sa "Deny what?"

.....

"That you might want to fight the Night Prowler Pack all alone?"

Sporting a scowl across his face, Lucien averted his eyes.

Ronan's eyes twinkled from fury when he realized that that was most likely what Lucien planned to do

Lucien's silence was practically a confirmation. Ronan was about to go out of his mind.

pack?

he war? Knowing you, you might intend to go alone against the Night Prowler Pack with just that one blade of yours." ed.

"I will not let you do that," he hissed. "If anything, I will tie you up and hang you upside down from tht tree in the forest so you can watch everything unfold but cannot participate at all!"

"You won't dare," Lucien said through gritted teeth.

"Try me," Ronan replied stubbornly.

He grabbed Lucien by his elbow and pushed him toward the exit door.

"Seriously, Lucien, where did you get this self-sacrificial trait from? Did you get high on hurting yourse hat???"

"You...!"

Lucien wanted to talk back, but then he bit into his lip and swallowed the words. What was the pointing a fight with Ronan? Adult Ronan was not his agreeable younger self. He was stubborn and hot-tempered. When someone attacked him, he would come back with an attack that was at least a hundred times fiercer than the one he had to deal with.

So what was Lucien supposed to do?

Act meek and seduce Ronan into compliance? The man's handsome face darkened as soon as the thought popped up.

He could never do that.

He would rather beat Ronan up until the latter regained some common sense.

Or die trying.

Seeing that a lot of werewolves poured out of the Werewolf Council Headquarters, Noah, who was sitting under a tree and smoking, realized that the hearing was over.

Ronan Silverback did not like to wait. Noah quickly climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. When the last cars were leaving, Jake came out and climbed into the seat next to Noah.

He inhaled a deep breath and looked as forlorn as a young man who was burdened by immeasurable problems.

"Beta, is everything alright?" Noah asked, concerned about the hearing result.

"It is now," Jake said as he brought a hand to his lips to bite at his fingernails. "The future is unclear."

A cold shiver ran down Noah's spine. What was that supposed to mean?

Looking at Noah's face, Jake knew that a thousand theories went through his head. Might as well break the news to Noah. He was also part of the Infinite Eclipse Pack after all.

"We are going to enter into a war."

Noah's eyes turned round.

"But... Beta, why?"

Their pack had nothing to do with the hearing that took place today. Their pack was only one of many packs that were supposed to bear witness to the hearing process. Why the sudden war? "W... With whom?" Noah heard himself asking.

The man next to Noah turned his head slowly and gave him an ominous look. "With the Night Prowler Pack."

Noah gasped loudly.

"B-Beta, are you jesting?"

Jake shook his head. "Why would I jest about such an important matter?"

Noah looked down on his lap.

The truth was that everyone knew that the hostility between the two packs would eventually culminate in the form of war. There could not be two packs with equal strength and dominance in the same continent. What Noah bemoaned was the fact that this war had to happen in his generation.

Why, why, why?

Could it not wait for another generation?

He was only a driver!

He didn't want to start lifting swords and spears and rode into a horde of angry werewolves from the Night Prowler Pack.

If Noah were not in front of Jake, he would have howled out loud. He could risk it even less to have Ronan see him in a pathetic state. The Alpha was known to be less forgiving of his subordinates' weaknesses.

Meanwhile, the two werewolves had waited for a good half an hour already but there was no sign of Ronan and Lucien coming out. Inside the car, while Noah was busy thinking about his role in the war, Jake wondered what exactly was happening inside the Crescent Hall.

His face darkened when he thought about the Alpha and his unhealthy obsession with his fated mate.

No way.

Seriously?

Were Ronan and Lucien?

Ronan, that horndog.

Inside the Crescent Hall where the Werewolf Council members regularly held a meeting? Considering Ronan's adventurous and bountiful s****l escapade, it might even be an entry on his bucket list.

To have s*x with someone in one of the Werewolf Council Headquarters' meeting halls.

"Hell, no," Jake muttered under his breath. He climbed out of the car and marched toward the building like an angry soldier.

I am not purposefully doing this to ruin Ronan's fun.

This is the Werewolf Council Headquarters, for Goddess' sake!

How dare you undermine the authority?

Ronan, our ancestors are going to flip in the afterlife...

When Jake arrived in front of the Crescent Hall, the door was closed. Jake gritted his teeth. He opened it with a bang and shouted, "Alpha, it is time to go!"

From the middle of the hall, Ronan and Lucien looked up at Jake at the same time.

They were perfectly clothed with no layer missing and lying on the floor.

Jake cleared his throat.

"What are you screaming around for?" Ronan asked with a frown. He held his hand out toward Lucien. "Let's go. Unless you want to continue arguing in here."

Lucien shot Ronan a glare and slapped his hand away.

The atmosphere inside the car was chilly. The cold tension that emanated from the backseat was enough to cause both Noah and Jake discomfort throughout the ride.

One would think that alone the thought of having to face sixteen werewolf packs in a war would be enough to force even the bitterest enemies to put aside their disagreements and work together as a team; let alone a couple who was clearly in love with each other. Not so with Ronan and Lucien who, instead of getting closer, were getting into an argument instead.

'You two are ridiculous, Beowulf commented.

'Talk to your Landon. I did not do anything wrong,' Ronan quipped.

'Ronan, it is not always about being right. Argh, you are the human being here. Why am I even giving you advice on how to deal with Lucien?'

Ronan rolled with his eyes.

'I did not ask for any!

41

Ronan turned his head toward the window on his side. In the car window, the man on the other side was reflected. Ronan glared at Lucien's silhouette with growing indignation.

.....

In Ronan's years of experience in helping out women and men alike, werewolves or humans, they were usually very grateful for his help. Especially if said help involved preserving their lives.

Not so with Lucien.

Ronan would not go as far as saying that Lucien was trying to die young, but the man was really reckless with his own life. He would do anything to preserve the lives of those around him, whether or not they were worthy of his care and protection. On the contrary, he did not care about himself at all.

This was what Ronan hated about Lucien the most.

On the other side, Landon shared Beowulf's sentiment.

'Lucien, why can't you just say thank you?'

'Did I ask for his help?' Lucien snapped.

'You need his help.

'I can manage.'

'Did you really plan to go kneel in front of Kinnon Youngshaper and beg his whole pack for forgiveness?'

'Of course not. I cannot risk you trying to kill him again!

Landon giggled viciously.

'Lucien, you are so smart. I like that most about you.

Lucien did not think that that was funny at all.

'We can just run away together, you know, Landon suggested. 'You and I, just the two of us!

'And what about my family? My pack?'

'Honestly, Lucien? They did not care about you that much!'

'Are you the right one to talk to me about that?'

""

41

...

Lucien rubbed at his temple and sighed in his heart.

'Sorry, Landon. I am not in a good mood. Can we please just drop the topic? I need to think.

'I am truly sorry for everything, Lucien. That was not a lie. Whether it was about the past or the present time. I just think that we stand a chance for happiness!'

'You are still reveling in that beautiful Alpha Camp dream.

'It was not a dream. It happened!

Lucien closed his eyes.

'It ended. Now it is nothing but a dream!

Landon let out a sorrowful howl and went silent.

Great, Lucien thought. That was the last thing he needed. He had a war hanging above his head, and then he had an argument with both Ronan and Landon. The bad things always happened all at once.

The air inside the car was so suffocating. Lucien could barely breathe. He looked out of the window and saw that they were in the middle of Hapsborough City.

"Please drop me at the central train station, thank you," Lucien spoke in a cold tone.

Ronan turned his head toward Lucien, his eyes were blazing with anger.

"What are you trying to do?"

"What else? Going home of course," Lucien snapped at Ronan with an equally furious look. Ronan was not the only one who could be intimidating. They were both alphas. "No," Ronan determined.

Lucien was like a volcano close to eruption.

"What do you mean 'no'? Ronan Silverback, just so you know, I am not your property."

"You are sick in the head. It is my responsibility as a good fellow werewolf to make sure that you don't go to the East Temple City to offer yourself up to compensate for everything that happened."

Not that Lucien did not do that once already, so Ronan's words for once had weight. Red color crept up Lucien's face and marred his expression. The mere fact that Ronan had to say all that in the presence of two other people was excessively humiliating. Jake and Noah, on the other side, were as still as corpses. They did not even dare to breathe. They wished they were not there at all to listen to the lover's spat.

As soon as Ronan saw the change on Lucien's face, he knew that he went too far. Unfortunately, the milk had been spilled on the ground. He could no longer take back his words.

"Let me out of the car now or I will jump," Lucien said through gritted teeth.

"Fine," Ronan said. "Stop the car."

Noah wordlessly abided. The car pulled up smoothly near a traditional market not long after.

Wasting no time at all, Lucien climbed out of the car with a huff. Ronan did the same.

"Go back to the pack house, no need to wait for us," he said to Noah.

When the Alpha gave them a reason to flee, naturally they had to express their gratitude by complying with the order. Noah did not need to be asked twice. He merely uttered a "Yes, Alpha" before he escaped from the scene. Ronan sucked in deep breaths a few times before he caught up with Lucien. When the other man saw Ronan, his temper flared up again.

"Why did you get off the car as well?"

Ronan put both his hands into the pockets of his suit while he strolled casually next to Lucien.

"Who said that I am following you? Lucien, you always act as if you own a city when your holy self walk on one of its streets. This is never the case, be it in South Bedford City or the Hapsborough City."

Lucien decided that every stupid sentence that Ronan Silverback spouted would kill one of his brain cells, so he decided to no longer waste his time, ignore Ronan, and just walk away.

As expected, Ronan did not let him go that easily. The Alpha grabbed Lucien's wrist and stopped him from getting away.

"Lucien, let's talk. What are you so dissatisfied about?"

What was he so dissatisfied about?

Lucien did not even know where to begin.

The fact that his peaceful life in South Bedford City ended the moment he met Ronan again?

The fact that Ronan needed to be told to stay away again and again but he kept coming back to ruin Lucien's plans?

Or was it his own treacherous heart that grew fonder and fonder of Ronan every time their paths crossed?

After Landon ran rampant and almost murdered Kinnon, Lucien was stuck in a critical predicament. He was struggling to do damage control. And then Ronan came and did the exact opposite.

So what was Lucien dissatisfied about, again?

Everything!

"Ronan, I just want you to stop bugging into my life. Can't you just leave?"

.....

The words that came out were harsher than Lucien's original intention. Ronan's grip on Lucien's wrist slackened instantly before the former let go.

An empty "Oh" was heard behind Lucien. Ronan's voice sounded so hollow. So sad.

Lucien clenched his jaw and cursed inside his heart. It was not a fair thing to say. Ronan was just trying to help. Lucien quickly turned around to face Ronan. "Ronan, that was not what I..."

"ORANGES FOR SALE, ORANGES FOR SALE! 1 KG FOR 2 DOLLARS, 2 KG FOR 3 DOLLARS!!! COME COME COME AND BUY NOW!"

"HANDSOME MAN, COME AND BUY FLOWERS FOR YOUR BELOVED!"

Both Ronan and Lucien were stumped. How did they end up in the middle of a traditional market? Left and right of them, eager vendors stood in front of their goods and merchandise. There were fruit stalls, flower stalls, accessories stalls, clothing stalls, etc.. Some young men and women walked back and forth with various goods in baskets that dangled from their arms. Their goal was to sell to prospective buyers that were too shy or lazy to approach the stalls.

When Lucien and Ronan walked between the rows, they quickly attracted the attention of the vendors and the visitors alike.

Some were attracted by Lucien's otherworldly beauty and Ronan's domineering masculinity, but most of them only cared about one thing: money.

Lucien did not look like a rich CEO, no. Ronan on the other side with his expensive watch, bespoke suit, and shiny shoes screamed young millionaire to their faces.

Lucien was quickly pushed aside by a bunch of street vendors who then proceeded to surround Ronan like hungry hyenas. They pushed forward with their baskets, intent on squeezing the Alpha dry. "Esteemed Young Master, you look so gloomy. Did your girlfriend refuse to take a walk with you? Buy her some flowers to soften her heart!"

"Flowers are outdated. Buy her a box of chocolate instead! Look, I have here the latest, most popular product that just came out last week!"

"Pah, you say that every week!" A jewelry vendor broke into laughter. "Handsome man, everyone knows that diamonds are women's best friends! As soon as your wife looks at this diamond bracelet, she will be nothing but molten wax in your palm!" Ronan gave Lucien an exasperated look. The latter just stood aside with a nonchalant expression on his face. Lucien did not intend to help Ronan at all. Instead, he was watching the show with great amusement.

Ronan reached out and picked a white rose from the flower vendor's basket. A white ribbon with a little card was tied to its stem. The young woman almost cried from joy.

white rose symbolizes loyalty, purity, and innocence! What a great choice!"

The enchanting white rose was extended toward Lucien, who was still staring at Ronan as if the latter was part of a circus attraction.

The vendors and visitors fell into a choir of "Ooooooooh's when they realized who the rich man's lover was. No wonder they were walking together. The husband was chasing his wife!

Lucien's gaze drifted from the white rose to Ronan. Instead of taking the rose, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and pursed his lips.

Truly, this ice statue was not easy to melt.

Ronan sighed.

"I am sorry for not discussing this with you first prior to making the decision. I did not mean to hurt you. I just don't want to give you a chance to reject me."

A round of "Awwwwwwwwww's went through the crowd. What a poor man! How could his lover be so unforgiving???

"Please take the rose, my heart is breaking here," an elder woman clutched at her chest, tears welling in her eyes.

"Young man, look here, this man loves you so much. He is practically declaring his endless love to you in public. Why would you not accept his wholehearted apology?"

The vendors were pushing for Lucien to take the rose.

"Come on, just take it!"

"Look at how sincere he is!"

Ronan gave Lucien an innocent smile.

Lucien stared at Ronan in disbelief. Was he really using the crowd to force Lucien into accepting his apology?

Why was it that random strangers automatically sided with Ronan? They did not even know the whole story! It was as if the latter had a mysterious charm that made people trust him unconditionally. Or was it because Lucien exuded such negative, villainous energy? Sick of the whining and crying spectators, Lucien finally accepted the rose under the gleeful cheers of vendors and visitors alike.

"Good for you!"

"Oh, I am so happy I can die now!" Someone in the crowd sobbed.

Lucien twirled the white rose in his hand and looked at the three words that were written inside the card.

"I love you," it said, written in a pink script font with colorful hearts as a backdrop.

And then the flower-selling young woman turned to Ronan and politely asked, "Mister? It costs two dollars."

An awkward silence settled in the crowd when Ronan reached neither into his suit nor his pants pockets for a wallet. He instead cleared his throat and flashed his lover a shameless grin.

"Lucien, lend me two dollars."

The crowd was amazed.

The supposedly rich man was actually so penniless that he could not afford to pay for the one white rose that he just gave to his lover.

An evil smirk hushed across Lucien's face. He played with the thought of leaving Ronan there and just walking away with the rose.

Just what would Ronan do then?

Then again Ronan was still Ronan. He did not mind taking money from others.

The elder woman, whose heart was on the brink of breaking, quickly took out a five-dollar note and pressed it into the flower-selling girl's hand.

"Here, take it! I am so touched by their beautiful love story. Don't ruin it for me!"

Ronan sighed dramatically.

"Ma'am, thank you very much for your..."

.....

Before Ronan even ended his sentence, another hand shot out and pressed another five-dollar bill into the flower-selling girl's hand.

"Shameless!" The red-blonde man muttered under his breath. Behind him, the Alpha was without a single shred of remorse.

"Thank you, not necessary," Lucien said gloomily. He then grabbed Ronan's wrist and pulled him away before he bought more things he could not afford to pay.

Snickering, Ronan even had the face to wave at the traditional market crowd as he was being dragged away by a thin-skinned Lucien.

"Lulu."

Ronan slumped against Lucien's body and hugged him like a bear. "I am hungry. Treat me to lunch."

Lucien was tempted to tell Ronan to ask the elder ladies in the market for some lunch money. The only problem was that they already knew that Ronan was related to Lucien.

If Ronan was shameless enough to approach people to ask for money, what would those people think about Lucien?

Oh, forget it.

Lucien had a better idea.

"Ok," the man said. He did not even bother elbowing Ronan to free himself.

Ronan raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Did Lucien just turn obedient for no reason? Of course not.

Ronan's face quickly darkened when he saw where Lucien was taking him for lunch. It was an ice cream parlor. A gigantic signboard in form of a huge cone with three scoops of strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream hung on top of the pink glass panel front door. The words "Joe's Best Ice Cream Lounge" were written across the cone, sprinkled with what looked like a bunch of rainbow glitter.

"Are you serious?" he asked loudly when Lucien dragged him through the entrance.

The building exterior was enough to make Ronan cringe. The interior threatened to make Ronan vomit. The wall was painted bright pink. The tables were chocolate brown. The floor was laid with tiles of three alternating colors: white, chocolate, and pink.

It was like entering an ice cream world where salt did not exist.

Ronan gagged.

"I am out of here," he proclaimed as he broke free from Lucien's grip.

"Suit yourself," Lucien said with a smile. He did not bother to stop Ronan. Instead, he picked a seat at a circular table near the window. As soon as he was seated, a waitress quickly came over with a menu selection.

Ronan muttered a curse under his breath and sat opposite Lucien. He looked extremely unhappy.

"I want the lava cake with chocolate and vanilla ice cream. And a glass of fruit punch."

Lucien smiled sweetly at Ronan. "What do you want to eat, Ronan? My treat."

Ronan took the menu booklet from Lucien and shot him a dirty look before he read through the colorful pages.

Ice creams.

Cakes.

Ice cream cakes.

Waffles.

Ice cream waffles.

Ice cream sandwiches.

Sweet drinks.

Ronan wrinkled his face in disgust.

"Do you guys have anything other than ice cream here?" he asked the poor waitress who did not understand why someone would willingly come inside an ice cream shop if he hated ice cream that much.

"Um... what about cakes and waffles?"

"Are those sweet?"

"Y-Yes...?"

How could cakes and waffles not be sweet? Was this man kidding her or what?

Ronan rubbed the bridge atop his nose and sighed.

"What about sandwiches? You have ice cream sandwiches. I want sandwiches with ham and cheese or tuna and egg. Please don't forget the salad and tomato."

The waitress gaped at Ronan. Did the customer mistake the shop for a sandwich shop? They did not even have proper bread! Why didn't this customer just go to a sandwich shop just two blocks from the ice cream shop?

"Did you hear me?" Ronan asked impatiently. "Why are you still standing here?"

The waitress' face quickly crumpled. The customer was so mean! He scared her! Before she burst into tears, Lucien intervened.

"He was kidding," Lucien said. "Please give him waffles with less sugar and a cup of tea instead."

The waitress quickly noted down Lucien's order and escaped with the menu booklet. Ronan groaned in exasperation.

"Lucien, could you just... I had the worst dinner in my life yesterday," Ronan complained. He was naturally referring to the macaroni and cheese that was way below his dinner standard. "I only had a cup of coffee this morning. Please give me a decent lunch. Or let's just go to Carlton Bay. I need something wholesome instead of this kiddy treat that you thrive on."

Lucien could not help but smile.

When Lucien smiled, he was no less warm than the morning sunshine, no less sweet than honey, and no less enchanting than a love goddess. Ronan reached out and cupped Lucien's beautiful face with both of his hands.

"Still angry?"

Lucien's smile disappeared. He smacked Ronan's wrist with a long metal ice cream spoon.

"Ow."

"Stop touching me as you please in public."

Ronan withdrew his hands. So Lucien did not want to be touched in public. Did it mean that he consented to be touched in private?

Their meals arrived after fifteen minutes of waiting time. Ronan poked at the pile of pale waffles in front of him, all the while thinking that he had never had a more tragic lunch.

"Ronan."

"Hmm?"

Ronan dissected a waffle and dragged a piece across the plate to see whether it had any cream filling.

"What is your plan?"

Ronan looked up from his plate and his eyes met with Lucien's.

When they were young, the alpha children learned about pack wars from the werewolf history books and also from their pack elders. Back when the werewolves first came to be, there were a lot of small packs that fought for territories. Over time, the smaller packs merged into bigger packs, usually through pack marriages. Fights over territories decreased as the number of packs decreased and vacant territories were claimed one by one.

Although werewolf society evolved along with human civilization, they were still bloodthirsty beasts. When conflicts between packs arose, they quickly resorted to violence first and then peaceful discussion. Over time, peaceful discussions were encouraged and violence was repressed. When peaceful discussions no longer helped, then wars were necessary to offset the accumulated malice.

The last war that was fought was the one between the Silent Walkers Pack and the Night Prowler Pack.

How unfortunate that the next war was also between the Silent Walkers Pack and the Night Prowler Pack. Along with representatives of thirty other packs.

"You have been gone for a few years," Ronan remarked. "Did you know anything about the war that Deacon started?"

"Only when it started and when it ended," Lucien answered with a grim expression.

Ronan stopped stabbing at his waffles and stared at Lucien. "It is surprising that you did not try to stop Deacon."

Lucien shook his head. "Deacon was the Alpha. I was nothing."

Lucien did not say that because he had some kind of an inferiority complex. After losing Landon, he simply did not think of himself as a werewolf anymore. Especially after Deacon took over as the next Alpha. When Lucien left the Silent Walkers Pack, he was determined not to look back. Until of course, Kinnon killed Deacon and Lucien came back into the picture.

.....

"For someone who is nothing, you hold a great importance within the Silent Walkers Pack," Ronan pointed out.

Lucien scoffed. "What importance? I was a useful pawn."

"So you know," Ronan narrowed his eyes at Lucien. "And you still planned to sacrifice yourself for your pack." Lucien ate his cake wordlessly.

Seeing that Lucien did not plan to continue talking about the topic, Ronan circled back to Lucien's first question.

"To put it in simple words, we all transform and attack each other until one of the opposing sides gives up."

"It is the fairytale that they told us when we were young," Lucien scoffed. "I want to know the truth."

Ronan sneered. "Well, at least you don't hold any of those naive thoughts. It is a good start."

"The reality of a werewolf war is that one of the Alphas must die. It is the only method of conflict resolution that is known to werewolves.

Well. In this case, you hold the position of the Alpha in the Silent Walkers Pack. You will be the target of assassination in order for the war to conclude."

Was that the only way out of this war?

To kill each other?

Although Lucien and Kinnon were not fated to be mates in this life, Lucien hoped to at least be friends with Kinnon. Kinnon had been anything but unkind to him and Annalynne. Lucien owed him that much.

"Lucien, don't you dare try to use your life to end the war," Ronan warned.

Lucien scowled at the Alpha.

"Do you think I am depressed? Suicidal? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I have reason to suspect," Ronan argued. "Let's just prepare well for the war and go for it."

Lucien cut into his lava cake and the chocolate sauce inside flowed out like a little river. Like blood. Kinnon's injured figure appeared before Lucien's eyes. He could not do it. He could not kill Kinnon.

"Ronan, I don't want Kinnon to die."

Ronan wrinkled his brows.

Kinnon.

It's Kinnon again.

Ronan's fingers curled up into fists on top of the table.

Kinnon was the Alpha of the opposing side! The one they were supposed to kill in this upcoming war! Should Lucien not be worried about his own people? Or about Ronan? Ronan was going to stand next to him, fighting one werewolf after another!

Why was Lucien worried about Kinnon? That guy was supported by sixteen other packs! Seventeen including his own!

Ronan could not take it anymore. Before he could stop himself, he already blurted out the question that he wanted to ask so many times.

"Tell me the truth, Lucien. Do you love him?"

As soon as he asked the question, Ronan wanted to bolt out of the door and disappear from Lucien's sight until the day of the war came. He was not prepared to hear the answer at all.

Ronan was as pale as a ghost.

"Never mind, I..."

"No, I don't," came the answer short and clear.

Ronan's mouth dropped open. Did Lucien just say no?

"Excuse me, what did you just say?" he asked with a hollow voice.

Lucien shot him an annoyed look. "Are you deaf? I said no, I do not love him."

"Then, are you in love with someone else?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

44

"..."

The Alpha was too greedy.

It was good to hear that Lucien did not love Kinnon, but it did not mean that he loved Ronan in return.

Ronan was desperate to hear it from Lucien's mouth. He had confessed his feelings to Lucien on so many occasions, but Lucien had never once told him that he felt the same. Although Ronan kept telling Lucien that the latter could take as much time as he needed

to say yes and that Ronan would wait for him no matter how long, it was still a torturous ordeal.

They were about to participate in a war against seventeen werewolf packs. Would it have killed Lucien to tell Ronan just once that he also loved him? That the affection was not lost after the third painting was finished?

He did not know that Lucien too had his insecurities.

"What about you?" the red-blonde man asked in return. Pain flickered in his caramel-brown eyes for an instant, before he gave Ronan a penetrating look. "Do you love Lillian Woodland?"