Chapter 80

• HAERA
• I didn't have to wonder too much for the rest of the night because Basil showed me a lot of things I could find fun when around him just by sitting beside me at the dinner table. The celebration dragged longer than I thought and of course gave me more than enough time to listen to the man who has suddenly gotten all my attention, speak. I wasn't the only one who found him interesting,I could see the sparks of adoration in my father's eyes as he listened to him speak on and on about life outside of the pack and his experience outside of it as well. His knowledge of how the world around us worked was evident in the confidence his tone held. Basil made jokes that got everyone seated at the table laughing their hearts out and it was such a heartwarming to see. He seemed to enjoy talking about his adventures so much that he loses sight of any other thing. It gave me the perfect chance as I used his distraction to stare at him. I watched his lips move,his eyes dilate and his lashes flutter. I watched the crinkles his eyes formed on the sides when he smiled and the bobbing of the lump in his throat when he laughed. Every single thing about him pulled me to him like he was a man magnet. I said little, seated by him and ate little of the food placed in front of me. If I didn't know better, I'd say Basil was the focus of the dinner and the entire celebration itself. My ears picked up on little bits of his conversation with my parents and I was left to wonder why I have never seen him around all through my days as a maid in the Moonstone pack. Not like I was able to go past my quarters and the posts assigned to me for me to be able to see a man like him but there was no way I could have missed a man like him if he had been around. His entire aura oozed confidence and boasted of a man who knew what he was doing. He had an air of mystery surrounding him yet I don't think i've met anyone so open and free. It had me confused yet intrigued. "You'll bore a hole in my head if you keep that up." The subject of my attraction leaned over to grab a side dish on the other end of the table beside me but I didn't need anyone to tell me that it was merely a cover to whisper the words in such a way that they would be for my ears alone. I kept my flushed cheeks hidden with my hair since he caught me gaping at him. I watched him pick out a few shrimps from the plate he took and then leaned over as well to grab it. "Your head was in the way of my quality entertainment, that's all." I whispered back before taking my seat feeling proud of myself for the excuse I came up with. After all, his head was indeed in the way of me watching the palace jesters perform from across his side on the table. A sinister smile played by his lips at my smooth response and in no time he was back to talking to the adults while I continued to watch my "Quality"entertainment. It went on like that until it was past midnight and the crowd had began dispersing in ones and twos. I knew it was completely over when my parents stood to their feet. My relief escaped my lips lightly. My mother's gaze settled on me as if it hasn't been on the cute Beta blood all night. "My dear, I hope you had a good time today. We shall retire to our rooms now." I didn't get to say anything before she turned to Basil again "Dear, do well to see Haera off to her room will you?" Basil stood with a bow. "She's safe with me." The statement made my mother grin before she stretched her hands toward me from across the table beckoning me to come into her embrace. I rose from my seat and trudged over to her proudly and sinking into the sea of her embrace, scent and her silky clothe. "I'm glad you have found your true place with us, Princess Namia." My father came around to hug me the same away before the both them had Basil assure them once that he would walk me to my room and then left the huge hall with just me and Basil in it. With everyone gone and silence prevailing over the hall, it felt even more real now that I was beside Basil. "Ready to leave?" Basil asked, already walking in front of me. "You're meant to walk with me to my room not walk ahead of me." I called after him and he whipped his head around with another one of his smiles that made me swoon for just a split second or maybe it was more because my wolf who seemed to be laying low at first was suddenly growling in my head. "I'm starting to think he smiles like that on purpose just to make you fall head over heels for him...that's if you haven't even fallen so hard yet." I barely held in a chuckle at Dezra's words. I should have known letting sleeping dogs or in her case, wolves, lie wouldn't change a thing about my wolf. I followed after Basil and maintained the same pace as him as we walked slowly and silently towards my chamber. Looking at the length of his legs, I knew he could walk faster than that but it warmed my entire body to know that he was slowing his steps for me. We said nothing as even as we were just a few minutes away from my chamber. It felt weird, I had thought we would get talking immediately but with Basil, it was hard to tell. The only thing that comforted me was the ease being beside him put me in. We didn't have to say anything for me to feel so comfortable around him when I haven't even known him for long. I felt safe without even having to utter a word. His ambience was that of a man who would believe every single words that leave my lips. But it was also very awkward that we weren't saying anything to each other. Not to come off as clingy, I decided to pay attention to something else. The stars seemed extremely bright this night and the moon was bigger than one could ever imagine. Both lights;the glittering one and the bright one, formed a force that illuminated the whole place, pushing away the need for fire torches. It was breathtaking. "You enjoy star-gazing?" He said the first words to pass between us since we started walking. "Uh...yeah. The stars are exceptionally beautiful tonight for some reason." He shrugged. "Maybe its their own away of welcoming a new princess to the world." I feigned a cringe as I diverted my attention to him. "How cheesy." He laughed it off and I relished in the sound of it that seemed like it resonated from his throat and bounced off the walls of the palace. "I know a place, come with me." He suddenly said, stretching a hand for me to put mine in, I looked at the calloused palm and then at him, hesitating. A smile played on his lips again as he said "Common, you'll love it. Let's just say it's the beginning of your lessons as my student." He won out, after I contemplated the soft bed in my room and the handsome man reaching out to me. I took his hand and he closed it in his before breaking into a run with me trying to bunch my long dress up my thighs with the other end. He took a turn that I never knew existed in this part of the palace and continued to pull me along with him. I followed willingly, completely trusting his intentions for me. After seconds of breathless running, we finally stopped and I bent over to catch my breath. "Did we really have to run? We could have walked." I asked, breathlessly. "Where's the fun in that? Besides, I get to see a side of you that isn't calm and collected." "You mean a side of me that's sweaty all over from running when I wasn't being chased." "Right..." "You are f--Woah..." My breath got totally knocked out of me this time as I stared ahead of me at the place where Basil had brought me. It looked too good to be real. Never in a million years did I think I'd be staring at a view so beautiful my eyes watered on their own accord. The only thing that kept leaving my lips was a breathless wow. "What do yiu think? I figured you'd appreciate this place better, for someone who loves star-gazing." I didn't just appreaciate it, I loved it. No view could beat the one of the moon and the multitude of stars, shining down on the still lake in front of me. It was as if the water was the one who harboured the stars and the moon while the sky mirrored it. "It's beautiful."I finally whispered. I sensed Basil's pride in himself as he walked around me as if in search of something then came back soon enough with two big stones. "Common, have a seat." I did as he told, unable to move my eyes from the beautiful view. How did I not know that something so beautiful was at my pack? How did I miss out on the pleasure of seeing this everyday? "How did you discover this place?" Again, he gave another one of his shrugs that meant it was no big deal. "Discovered it since I was a child. Used to come down here to cry my eyes out and laugh at my reflection in the lake inbetween choking tears." "Typical Basil." I said and we both cracked up while I imagined him in my head as a little mischievious boy crying by the beautiful lake. "I bet you come here a lot. You look like you were too much of a trouble when you were a pup and your father couldn't help but punish you each time." I joked but he didn't laugh. Neither did he smile. It had me stunned for a second, thinking I said something I shouldn't have said. I looked to the side where he was seated beisde me closely to see his expression. It wasn't hardened but it was tense. "I did come here because of him but not because I was stubborn as a child...my father...he..." A pause and then a sigh "He never really wanted me." I paused, not knowing what to say because I didn't even know what "wanted."meant in that context. "Why?" I whispered softly. Why would anyone not want a son like Basil. If there was anyone who should be unwanted, it was me, not the 6-foot whatever hunk of bubbly nature sitting beside me. His gaze was intent on the still lake while I waited patiently for him to talk. "The day I was born was the day my mother died. He lost his mate because of me." I blinked once. Then twice. Then looked away from him and back to the lake in front of us. I didn't know what to say to console him or if he even needed consolation. Basil didn't come off like someone who has such heavy baggage like I carried all my life. Looks and maybe traits can really be decieving. "I'm sorry about that...I never imagined something like that could be the reason. I'm sorry." "It's nothing to be sorry about. I don't hate him for it. I used to hate myself more than I was meant to hate him. He lost himself and went out of control for a while, so much that your father had to put him under special care. It seemed like seeing me only added to his pain. I was sent away to the training institute out of the woodlands. I grew up there." It was more than I imagined for a man like him. All through the time I listened to him talk, all I imagined was a man who grew up with the love of a parent who doted on him at every chance they got. A man who lacked nothing growing up. A man who I thought I was nothing, compared to him and all I had was the blood flowing in my veins and an Alpha blood and a title that is only a day old. "I'm sorry...who would have thought...."I trailed off. I sensed the moment he turned to look at me while I was looking at the lake. "You probably thought you had it worse that anyone huh...I'd say you do, we all know the story, everyone in the pack knows what happened before now but believe me when I say not everyone who acts like i do have their shit together.You don't have to feel like you are the only one who had a tough time growing up.You're not alone." His words spread warmth through my heart. It sounded like he was sympathizing with me and encouraging me all at once even when he pretty much grew up like me; without the love of a parent. I turned and smiled at him." "But hey! You returned didn't you?" "Yeah...he came for me. He came after all those years and he apologized. It was hard to let go of the pain and forgive him but he was my father and he made great efforts to get me back and well...here I am. Back home." He served me another smile at the end of his words and I couldn't help but smile back. I've been doing that a lot since I met him. My wolf was anything but smiling, in fact she kept reminding me of the last time I was star-gazing with a certain man who almost killed our true mate. But none of that mattered now. Now I just want to think of nothing and no one but myself. I want to be selfish for as long as I can. The lake's beauty kept me mesmirized slightly beating the beauty of the man beside me by a few points. "This is my favourite part of coming back." I said and then turned my head to look at him as I asked; "What's your favourite part of being home again?" He didn't hesitate. "You."