Chapter 11

~Eliana~

It was a Friday night, and I had been invited to a dinner party for the most influential businessmen in Los Angeles. According to Alistair, it was the first time he was going to be attending the dinner, which happened every year, with a date.

When he had asked me to be his date, saying that I was happy would be an understatement; I was overjoyed, and everyday, since Sunday when he had asked me out, I had looked forward to the dinner, which was going to be held tonight.

Finding out that Alistair was truly not a human being had been scary at first, but sooner or later, I had learnt to get used to having the knowledge of that. I couldn’t just tell anyone, not even Carrie, that half-human half-beast truly existed. Although it was something I had been sure of, now that I had the evidence I needed, I just didn’t know what to do.

How was it possible that a human being born to fellow humans was a werewolf? Did he come from a family of werewolves? That wasn’t possible. If he did, his parents definitely wouldn’t have died in a car crash. They’d have somehow managed to heal themselves, and they’d be fine.

My head was telling me that it was possible that the healing I had seen taking place could probably not have been a healing, and maybe I had just imagined everything because it was what I had hoped I’d see. However, deep down in my heart, I knew that I had seen Alistair heal immediately with my very own eyes six days ago, at the beach. I was just trying to be rational, and the truth was that inasmuch as I had prayed for evidence to prove what I had seen ten years ago, I still preferred it when I had believed Alistair was human.

It all just felt so unreal, as if I was having a dream which was just so hard to wake up from. I had written scripts, articles, and books on werewolves, but now that I knew that they really did exist, and I had one even sitting beside me right now, it was terrifying and hard to believe.

How was it that I, who was a staunch believer in the supernatural realm, was skeptical now that I had been confronted with the reality of things? Maybe all along, I had just been deceiving myself that I believed, or maybe I was just refusing to believe what was the obvious truth.

If the healing I had seen taking place wasn’t enough reason to conclude that he was in fact a werewolf, then, the injuries he had inflicted on my ass and neck were enough, since it had been confirmed that such injuries could only be sustained from a wolf’s claws. The only suspicion I had had that hadn’t been confirmed was the fact that he had probably heard his fellow wolf howling in distress that day at the eatery, and maybe I’d prove that somehow.

“Eliana, sweetie,” He called, nudging me on my arm.

I looked up immediately. “Um...? Yes?” I stuttered, having gotten jolted from the thoughts that clouded my mind.

“You seem rattled. Are you fine?” He asked, staring at me deeply with his ocean blue eyes.

I nodded in the affirmative. “Yes, I am,” I said.

“Then, why have I been calling your name for the past one minute and you’ve not shown any response of hearing me call you, until this moment?” He asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t realise you were calling my name. I got carried away by my thoughts,” I replied.

“It’s fine. I wanted to let you know that we’ve arrived at our destination. So, tell me, what are you thinking about? You of all people shouldn’t have anything to worry about, and I don’t mean that as an insult, trust me,” He said.

I shrugged. “I don’t know, Alistair. Maybe I won’t fit in. The reporters and paparazzi would be around me, trying to capture when I do or say something stupid, so it would read on the news headlines tomorrow that I was still insane, and hadn’t yet recovered from the trauma from the last ten years. That is why my parents don’t let me go for exclusive dinners like this. They aren’t even aware that I’m going to attend it today,” I told him.

“Well, don’t fret, honey. You’ll be attending the dinner with a young and good-looking man, who is the dream of every girl by the way. The news headlines tomorrow will be about Eliana Venator, being the dinner date of Alistair Duke. Just focus on me tonight. If you pay too much attention on what you think people might be saying about you and try to get it right, you’re going to end up making mistakes,” He said.

I nodded my head. “I’ll focus on you this night then,” I told him, wearing a small smile.

He gave a nod to Mr Coleman, his driver, and the man alighted from the driver’s seat, and opened up the door for Alistair, then quickly turned around to open the door for me. I sat in the car, waiting for Alistair to turn around, as I grabbed my silver clutch bag, made of small beads.

Alistair came over, held out his hand, which I took, and led me inside the luxurious hall which was owned by The Raymonds, another wealthy Californian family, based in Los Angeles.

He put his arm in mine, and I held onto him tightly as we walked slowly into the hall, walking past the waterfall.

I was wearing an halter neck silk royal blue dress, which was long all the way down to my ankles, and on my feet was a pair of silver heels, which matched my outfit. My hair was tied up in a bun, and on it, were silver hairpins. I definitely didn’t want to sound like I was boasting, but honestly, I looked really beautiful.

“Thanks again for the dress,” I told Alistair, expressing how grateful I was for the dress which he had had delivered to my house yesterday.

“You’re welcome again,” He said, wearing a small smile.

“How’d you know my size though?” I asked.

“Do you really want to know?” He asked, in a sexy deep voice.

“Of course,” I replied.

“I just looked at the outfit and knew that it was going to look good on you. I’ve felt you a lot, and I’ve carried you to the bed as well. How wouldn’t I know your clothing size?” He asked, wearing a wide flirtatious grin.

“You’re cunning,” I told him, and he just gave a dry laugh as a response to that accusation.

We got inside the hall, and immediately, everyone started staring at us.

“You know what’s going through their minds? It’s how they’re stunned that two good-looking people came in together,” He said, giving me a reassuring smile, which calmed my nerves.

Alistair was putting on a royal blue tuxedo, a white shirt, a royal blue and white striped necktie, royal blue pocket square, and a pair of Louis Vuitton black body print laced shoes. He looked so ravishing in his outfit, and he looked even more handsome because the outfit complimented his sparkly blue eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I heard my mother ask angrily, even before she got to where we stood, and were about to slow-dance.

“Keep it down, will you?” I hushed her gently.

My father, too, then came out of the blue. “What would you gain by embarrassing us? Soon, one of those stupid reporters would come and ask you a foolish question about the incident that happened ten years ago, and you’d tell them things from your imagination. You know what they’d do after that? They’d say we’re probably bankrupt and can not afford to take our daughter to a mental health care facility,” My dad, a robust brown-skinned man, said.

“If you wanted to come here, why didn’t you just say so? We’d have had you come with one of your cousins, who’d monitor you and make sure you don’t go off spilling nonsense, and acting like a crazy person because no one believes your stupid made-up stories. Instead, you came in here with this man that disrespected me the other day. What are you trying to do? Finally tarnish our family’s reputation?” My mother fired at me, angrily.

I wanted to scream out loud and yell that they were being insensitive and annoying, but that was going to just prove that the speculations and rumours that I was out of mind, were all true, and I really didn’t want to have Alistair also thinking in that direction. I just stood there, staring at them, with tears welled up in my eyes, clenching my fists and digging my nails into my palm, in order to maintain a cool composure, and to stop the tears that were threatening so hard to fall.

“You call yourself her parents?” Alistair suddenly asked.

“What are you trying to do, Alistair? Don’t make things worse,” I said, taking his hand.

“Eliana is one of the sweetest persons I’ve ever known in my life, and no, she’s not crazy. In fact, she’s sensible, thoughtful, kind, intelligent and friendly. She has a beautiful smile which can melt your heart, and make your day better even if it was going wrong before. She also has a beautiful soul, and that is why she still respects people like you. You’re not fit to be called her parents. Family won’t do this to you. Even when the world says you’re wrong, family is meant to stand by you, and see the best in you.

“You’ve condemned her before the public, and if her family also believes the worst of her, how is she supposed to cope? However, for ten years, she has coped and survived all by herself, without support or trust or encouragement from anyone, and you know what? That is so admirable, because she may look weak, but she is a strong woman. Finally, Mr and Mrs Venator, permit me to say that you’ve failed terribly in your duties as parents,” Alistair concluded.

“And who are you?” My father asked.

Alistair brought out his complimentary card from his wallet, which had been in his back pocket, and handed it over to my father.

“I am Alistair Duke, CEO of Duke Group,” He said.

My father looked at the complimentary card, and looked back at him in awe. I could tell that he was surprised as to how I knew such a hot shot. Everyone in the country knew of Duke Group, but since the CEO was a private person, no one could tell who it was if he just walked along the street, except if they looked at Wikipedia, where there was only a single photo of him. Duke Group was only in the news for good, and the CEO was never mentioned. He had never gotten involved in any scandal or controversy, and that’s why my parents also hadn’t known who it was.

“Oh, dear, I knew your parents. I didn’t know...”

“...that I was wealthy? If you had, maybe you’d have been nicer and would’ve even called the paparazzi over to have them capture your daughter with me, right? Tch. Let’s go, Eliana,” He said to me, put his arms around my waist, and walked out on my parents.

It was the first time anyone had stood up for me, and I felt safe for the first time in a decade, because now, I had Alistair with me, and he was the best thing that had ever happened to me in the course of ten years.

“You want some champagne?” He asked.

“I'm not in the mood for that right now,” I responded, with a smile.

He was about saying something, when shouts from several guests filled the air.

“What’s going on?” I asked, already shivering with fear, as Alistair and I looked around.

“Oh no!” Alistair exclaimed, in a worried tone a few seconds later.

I traced the direction his eyes were focused on, and a scream escaped from my mouth the moment I saw the same creature I had seen ten years ago. If people were shouting, it meant that they were also seeing it as well, and no one could say that I was crazy this time around.

“It’s here for me,” I heard Alistair say.