The Werewolf King’s Runaway Queen
Chapter 23

Alissa's

POV

There was a knock on my door and I sleepily rubbed my eyes before sitting up the bed.

"Who is it?" I asked sleepily.

"Ali? It's Lucas" Lucas replied.

I got out of bed and opened the door.

"Morning, tough nut" he greeted me.

I chuckled.

"Good morning" I said and yawned.

"Luke is in training and my parents will be out for a few days to visit Crescent Moon. I just wanted to let you know" he said "And Lia?" I asked.

Lucas sighed.

"She refuses to leave her room" he said.

I bit my lower lip and sighed.

"I should go talk to her" I said.

"You should but I don't think she will right now" he told me.

I sighed.

"I'll take a shower and then go to her" I said.

Lucas nodded.

"If you want breakfast, just ask the helpers. If you need someone to have breakfast with, ask me" he said.

I nodded.

"Thank you" I said.

Lucas gave me a nod and left.

I showered and got out of the bathroom in my robe.

That's when I realized that my clothes were still in Lia's room.

As if on cue, someone knocked on the door and I rushed behind the door as I hugged myself.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We brought clothes for you, milady" a female voice said from behind the door.

I sighed in relief and opened it.

"Good morning, milady" the woman greeted.

I smiled shyly.

"Good morning. Thank you for the clothes" I said.

"You're welcome, milady" she said and bowed her head then left.

I finally got dressed into a beige drop shoulder top and patched pocket shorts and a pair of sandals.

I towel dried my hair and put it in a messy bun before going out of the room.

I headed to the direction of Liana's room.

I tried to think of plans and ideas for her to talk to me so I can convince her that it's really not her fault.

What happened last night was an accident.

I don't want Liana to keep blaming herself for accidentally hurting me when in the first place, I was the one who stepped in.

I arrived at Liana's room, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Lia? It's me, Ali. Can you please open the door so we can talk?" I said.

No answer.

Maybe she's still asleep.

"Liana? Are you awake yet?" I said as I continued to knock on the door.

Still no answer.

After some time knocking, I just sighed as I leaned on the door and sat down on the floor in front of it.

"It's not your fault, Lia. You know that, right?" I said.

I know that by now, she's awake from all my knocking so although she's not replying, atleast she'll hear me.

"If you think about it, it was my mistake. It was my fault and not yours because I stepped in without a warning" I said.

"Lia, I know that you will never ever hurt me on purpose. Not even if you're own life depended on it" I continued. Still, no reply whatsoever.

I wad quiet for a few moments.

"I'm sorry that I left without any explanations or goodbyes. I thought it would be better off that way for everyone" I said.

"And I'm sorry that I hurt you in that process and until now, you carry that pain with you... The pain of being left behind and the fear of it happening again" I apologized and sighed. "I'm sorry, Lia. It's my fault that this is happening" I 'I said.

"You shouldn't be going through this but you are because of me so I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I caused this to happen and I'm sorry for being a bad friend to you and a bad...sister" I stated in shame.

"You don't deserve to feel the way you do now just because you wanted to protect me but it ended badly. If only I could take all your pain, doubts and negative thoughts, I will. I will for you, Lia" I said. "So please. Please I'm begging you, Lia. Open the door and let's talk this out. I can't bear to see you like this" I pleaded.

Unfortunately, there was still no answer.

I sighed as a single tear escaped my eye and I wiped it away.

"Okay. I'll wait" I muttered.

I stayed seated on the floor while leaning at the door.

I skipped breakfast because I didn't have thr appetite to eat with a situation like this one.

Hours passed by and every minute, my worry grows even bigger for Liana.

The thought of hurting me must be haunting her and I just want to hug and hold her and assure her that it's not her fault and everything's going to be okay.

I closed my eyes, sighed and waited patiently.

"Alissa"

I opened my eyes again abd turned to look at the direction of the voice.

"Your highness" I muttered.

Luke walked towards me so I stood up and slightly bowed my head to him.

"You didn't eat breakfast, did you?" he said.

I pursed my lips and nodded.

"And I believe you will refuse to eat lunch as well?" he asked.

I nodded again.

Luke sighed and looked at the door behind me.

"Liana, did you hear that? She's going to starve herself if you don't talk to her" Luke said.

I looked at Luke in disbelief.

"Don't guilt trip her into coming out. That's not nice. Don't do that" I said.

"You know what else is not nice? You starving yourself" he pointed out.

I rolled my eyes.

"I'll skip a few meals so what? A temporary empty stomach is not going to kill me" I argued.

Luke massaged the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"You say you're not the same from before but most of the time, I think you are" he muttered.

I frowned a little.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said frowning.

Luke just shook his head and left.

I scoffed.

What's that supposed to mean?

Still, I continued to wait.

My stomach grumbled but I ignored it.

I don't know at what time but I ended up falling asleep.

"Ali?"

I slowly fluttered my eyes open and saw Liana's face.

"Lia" I said and hugged her.

As soon as I did, she burst into tears.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was so upset with Luke and I just... I'm sorry" she sobbed.

I smiled lightly and caressed her back.

Finally.

"I know. I know. It's okay. It's not your fault" I cooed

Liana kept crying and I just continued to hold her.

"Please don't leave again. I promise I'll do my best to protect you from now on. Even from myself" she muttered.

My heart broke for her.

Lucas was right.

Lia is doing all of this because she doesn't want me to leave again.

But I can't even promise to stay.

Atleast not yet.

Leaving might be painful but breaking a promise to stay is even more heartbreaking.

So I can't.

I can't do that to Liana or to Bryan or to anyone.

Not when I'm still unsure with both Luke and I's bond.

Once Lia has calmed down, we decided to go upstairs.

It was almost night time but we both couldn't wait any longer to eat dinner since we haven't eaten anything for the whole day.

The helpers served us our early dinner and Lia and I sat side by side as we started eating.

"Can I ask something irrelevant?" Lia asked.

I nodded.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"Although there's ni excuse as to my brother hurting you or even trying to hurt you, what exactly triggered him to do so?" she asked curiously.

I pursed my lips.

"We were in a heated argument and I ended up taunting him to reject me as his mate" I said.

Lia gasped dramatically and I lightly chuckled.

"The argument was that bad?" she said.

"Well, I think the timing was just not it. I was pretty upset and depressed to leave my pack so things escalated quite quickly and one thing led to another" I said with a shrug.

"To be honest, I think I really would've done the same that you did" she said.

"Right?" I said and we both chuckled.

Then, there was silence.

"Did you mean it though?" Lia asked.

I looked at her for a moment.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet but do you want to know something interesting?" I said.

Lia nodded.

"I dreamt about it. Me mentioning a rejection and Like choking me in anger" I told her.

Lia looked stunned.

"I guess I wasn't fazed when it actually happened because of the dream. Maybe I was really expecting it to happen in real life because I was aware how your brother would lose his mind because of it" I said. "Ali..." Lia looked at me with concern.

"But maybe it happened because I was resisting so much and because I was afraid of the relationship I could have with Luke because we're mates despite being in each other's throats when we were still teenagers" I said. "Well, your feelings are valid. You've been through a lot of bullsht because of my brother and now, those experiences are reflecting on the bond that you guys have now as mates" she said and held my hand.

I nodded in agreement.

We finished up eating our meal and headed to the balcony with our desserts.

Lia and I looked at the lights from below.

"Do you think it will get better?" I suddenly asked.

"What will?" Lia asked as she ate a spoonful of ice cream.

"Your brother and I. Our relationship and all" I said.

Lia sighed and shrugged.

"I know my brother. I know you. I know how you you guys are. But I still don't know what fate might bring the both of you because I never would've thought in my whole life that you'd be mated to your enemy of all people" she said. "He's not my enemy. We just really don't get along very well" I said.

"Right" she said sarcastically.

I chuckled.

Then, there was a moment of silence between us again.

"But you know what?" Lia said.

"What?" I asked.

"I used to think that Luke was mean to you because he liked you" she said.

Huh?

"Are you serious?" I said chuckling.

"I'm serious, Ali. I remember how he used to look at you when you weren't looking. It was..." she said and paused trying to replace the right word.

"It was warm and loving and he looked at you with so much passion and admiration. Well, I thought that way not until you guys almost killed each other which by the way is something I still fear can happen again" she stated.

I shook my head as I chuckled.

"I don't know. Maybe I was young and naive back then that's why I thought that way because when I think about it, he always acted differently in different occasions" she said with a shrug.

"I'm surprised you even thought that because I was aware that your brother hated me from the first time he laid his eyes on me" I said.

"I mean, you did punch him the first time you guys met" she said.

I pursed my lips guilty and we both chuckled.

"You're in a really tough situation, Ali" Lia said.

I sighed.

"Yeah. I know" I said.

Lia laid her head on my shoulder.

"Don't worry though. I'm supporting you all the way. Whatever your decision is" she muttered.

I smiled.

"Thank you" I said.

I might not be lucky with love and with my immediate family but atleast I'm lucky with friends.

I think that's enough to keep me sane.