Chapter 77
1134words
"A little birdy told me you took a walk yesterday. But it just so happens that, you took that walk, and ended up being with Paris."
"I feel like most little birdies, talk a little bit too much," I said stiffly as I sat across from him in the living room.
"I get the feeling you hate talking to me, by the way," he said and I eyed him curiously, and then sighed,
"I don't hate talking to you, I just felt that wasn't something you would be open to talking about. Ashley didn't like it at first, and I knew you would like it a whole lot less." I said quietly,
"I never said it was Ashley who told me."
"I never said it was Ashley who told you either," I said, raising a brow, and he smiled in guilt,
"don't worry. I'm not angry."
"it fell out. She just worried about you."
"mmm."
"Well?"
"Well?" I repeated,
"won't you tell me where you both are at, right now, then? Since you're meeting up so close to home?"
I gave it some thought, then shrugged. It was best he knew sooner than later, what it was that I had planned,
"I suppose, with all that has been said and done, it is safe to say that I think I'm interested in being Paris's Luna once again."
I watched his face grow void of expression as he took in the things I had just said, and when a whole full minute had gone by and he hadn't said anything, I wondered if maybe I had broken him.
"Axel?"
"I'm going to kill him." he blurted out rising from his seat, and began to pace,
"Kill who, Axel?"
"Kill who? Kill that son of a gun who is trying to take advantage of a vulnerable period in your life!"
"vulnerable- what? No. No, Axel. This isn't about Paris taking advantage of me and how I feel right now. This is about me and how I feel. This is something I want. After all, that is why I rejected, Jean." I said carefully.
He stopped and turned to look at me, " you really do want this, then?" he asked, and I slowly nodded,
"Yes, Axel. I really want this. "
"but… why?"
I shrugged as tears filled my eyes, "because I love him. I never stopped loving him."
"what if I killed him?"
"uhn?"
"out of sight would be out of mind, and you would be finally free."
"Axel, killing Paris or hurting him in any way would by no means make me happy or free, or give me any kind of peace. So please, quit on that thought."
He balled his hands in fists and sat down angrily, but he didn't bring it up again,
"he's not the good guy in your story, Em," he said after some time
"He's not entirely the bad guy, Either." I said wearily, "So please… please, could you just let go of the idea of wanting to hurt him?"
"I wish I could, to be honest. But, don't worry, no harm will come to your beloved Paris. But your project isn't over yet. I believe the plan was that, if he couldn't prove himself by the end of the project, then he had to sign the divorce papers, am I right?"
I nodded slowly, "but the thing, I already decided, "
"you're going to want to undecide, I believe."
I raised a brow, and he scoffed, "Don't think I can do that, I'm sorry."
"a leopard never changes its spots. So, I have reason to believe that he's only going to ruin it eventually. "
"maybe. But maybe he actually won't. maybe this one might actually work."
"maybe." he said and his face grew thoughtful, "who knows."
Axel's POV
"You seem to be all out of sorts. But then, I actually didn't come for you today, where's ember?" William said without preamble when he came over the next day,
"aren’t you cute? But Ember isn't in. She went to work today."
"mm." William said and turned to look at me, "she's feeling more like herself then?"
"I suppose she's feeling less gloomy," I said, and William eyed me curiously,
"For some reason, you don’t seem to be glad about this, or am I misreading this ?"
"Perhaps I'm not too thrilled about the reason she got this way, or the reason she actually might be feeling better."
"care to elaborate?"
I sighed in exasperation and heaved myself onto a chair, "she's planning on being that son of a gun's Luna, William." I barked, but William only looked confused,
"whose?"
"Who else? Paris, of course. She has no plans on going forth with that divorce, William. She wants to get back together with him. With everything she's been through, she actually wants us to get together with that scumbag."
"wow." William said and ran a hand through his hair, "I had hoped that he would change her mind. I guess I did a lot of wishful thinking."
"you're giving up then?" I asked, flabbergasted, and he shrugged,
"haven't you?"
"I don't want to. And you shouldn't even be thinking about it either. For heaven's sake, William. We need to do something. You need to do something."
"me? Why me?"
"Yes, you. Especially you. Because you're her friend."
"If she didn't listen to her brother, what makes you think that she's going to listen to me?"
"Because you're in love with her. And if it weren't for Paris being so damn consistent, then perhaps she would be in love with you too. You need to do something about this, William. At this point, I feel like you're the only one who actually can."
"she rejected her mate for that man. She allowed herself to go through all of the pain she endured for that man. Do you really think I can make any significant difference now, given the fact that her mind is already made up?"
"It's worth a try, do you not think?"
"Perhaps. But we need a backup plan, in case whatever I plan to say, in case whatever conversation I may have with her does not suffice."
"I already have a backup plan. But it's sort of like a follow-up to whatever you might say. And trust me when I say that it's going to be foolproof."
"Should I be worried?"
"Now, but I guess I'm a little worried, myself. I worry that things could go so wrong to the point where Ember might never want to speak to me again."
"But, will it keep her from ending up with a man who might only hurt her again?"
I nodded slowly as the plan took root in my head, "Yes. I believe it just might."
