Chapter 66 : Westwood Lineage 1

Xavier

He stood next to her and looked down at her bowed head. He knew that she was feeling somewhat disappointed with their discussion so far and probably wanted to get away from him. He could see it in her body language. The way she half turned her face away from him, unwilling to look at him at all. No, damn it. That made him feel bad.

She wouldn't end it like this, for such an unnecessary reason. She was overreacting. Her body felt so weak right now. And even though he had to deal with the thing he hated most about humans or hybrids, he still wanted her. His body reacted just by being near her.

Xavier didn't know why. The logical reasons didn't make sense to him. Was it really so important to her that all their future offspring would look the same, without a different color than her?

He stopped. Blinked. Then smiled in triumphant satisfaction. He knew what he had to do.

He reached out and took her right elbow gently. "Come, Karenina. I have something to show you."

"Uh... okay? Where are we going?"

She gave him a curious look. All the while, Xavier kept his pace slow and leisurely. He wasn't in a hurry, but she could tell that this was important to him.

"Patience."

******

Karenina

She huffed at his answer. 'Patience,' she muttered to herself without rancor. If nothing else, the man's strange behavior helped distract her from the disappointing news he had just given her.

They walked through the main courtyard of the house, passing by other magnificent buildings as well as the house itself, with its beautiful architecture and landscaping. There were many well-dressed people she saw along the way, as well as many servants. The place must be about the size of a small village, but much wealthier.

How rich is this guy, huh, Lord Alpha? she wondered curiously. There was no way she could ask without being misinterpreted and her innocent question being interpreted as an interest in his bank account. She wasn't that kind of woman. Xavier was a very practical man. He might not understand the difference between curiosity and a serious question.

They discovered another building as well. The building looked like some kind of altar, at least all the statues and candles there made them think of a holy place. The building wasn't very large, but it wasn't small either.

A man, obviously a servant, stepped forward with a bow and opened the door for them without saying anything. Murmuring thanks, Karen stepped inside with Xavier at her side. What greeted them was a large, cavernous room filled with neatly stacked chests, boxes, folded tapestries, priceless gems and jewelry, and much more.

Piles of papers, scrolls, paintings, and books, this room had everything imaginable, or so it seemed. Weapons adorned the walls and full suits of armor were proudly displayed.

It made her feel like she was walking through a national park museum. Any collector would trade his right hand for an item found in this room.

"Wow," she whispered in awe.

As he looked around, Xavier had always been proud of his family's past glory, and seeing her impressed only made him feel more upright.

"This place was built as a memorial to the past generations of my pack, going back to my great-grandfather before this pack house was built," he explained.

"There are many priceless artifacts here," she said, her eyes wandering around.

She had always felt fortunate to be able to see history firsthand, and to stand in this room, surrounded by treasures even older than that, was mesmerizing.

"Come on."

As they walked further into the room and towards the neatly stacked crates and scrolls, Xavier pulled her around an impressive suit of armor with weapons strapped to the 'mannequin'. Then he stopped in front of a portrait. More than a portrait, actually.

As she stared at the magnificent work of art, she saw a lot of people with the same grayish-black hair. She held out her hand to a figure that looked very much like Xavier and asked in amazement, "Is this your father?"

Her heart was racing. Was she really looking at a picture of his father?

Surely Rylan would want to see it. And when he finally did arrive, this would be one of the first places that she would show it to her beloved boyfriend.

"No, this is my great-grandfather's. He had this portrait and others commissioned after the house was built."

Just before she was about to feel disappointed, another thought came to her mind. She would bet that the portrait of Xavier and Rylan's father was here somewhere, and she was determined to see it before she left.

As she looked at the portrait of a beautiful woman, Xavier said, "That's my great-grandmother.

In the portrait, the woman was sitting on a chair, facing forward with her eyes straight ahead, as if she could see out of the picture. The woman had light skin, blonde hair, and almond-shaped caramel-colored eyes. The dress she wore was stunning.

"And these are their children."

She looked at the family portrait of Xavier's great-grandparents standing behind the two children. Seeing their skin the same color as their father's only reminded her of her conversation with him earlier. Her mood plummeted.

But before she could dwell on her dark thoughts, Xavier made his move and led her to a neat pile of objects. They passed all the items that might catch her eye before he stopped her in front of a portrait of a man who was clearly Xavier Westwood's family.

"What are you looking at, Karenina?"

Confused by his question, she took a quick glance at the man's profile before looking back at the imposing figure of the man in the portrait.

"Um... a handsome man?"

When he frowned at her, she knew she had given the wrong answer.

With another attempt, she said, "Well, I can definitely see the resemblance between you two."

After a few seconds, Xavier answered. "And?"

Frowning at his persistence, she said with a slight pout, "I don't know. He has gray-black hair like you. Golden eyes, similar to yours. What am I looking for?"

He ignored her impatient tone and said, "Doesn't his face look familiar? He is one of the boys you recently saw in the portrait with my great-grandfather."

Surprised, she looked at the man more closely, taking in every detail.

"I don't know," she replied quietly.

"Did you notice anything significant about him?"

"Other than he's older?"

At his slight nod, she shook her head. "No, not really."

Without saying anything, he moved her back to stand in front of the portrait of his great-grandparents.

"Uh, Xavier? What are we--"

He interrupted her confusing question. "Look at my great-grandmother. What do you see?"

Sighing at the familiar question, Karen reluctantly scanned the woman's face again, scrutinizing every detail. At first, all she could see was how beautiful the woman was, how perfect her face was, but then her eyes narrowed.

"Her face..." Karen whispered, stepping closer to the painting and gently rubbing her finger across the portrait where the woman's face was.

Then she turned, removed her hand from his grasp, and hurried back to the painting of another man, one of his great-grandmother's grown children. Standing in front of the painting, her eyes studying his face closely, she spoke in a surprised but clearly pleased voice when she felt him move behind her.

" He looks just like her. I mean, he doesn't look like a woman, but his face... his face is like hers. The shape of his eyes... his bone structure..."

Wordlessly, Xavier showed her another set of photographs, proving to her that the mother had indeed passed on some of her likeness to her children.

It was only when they came to the last portrait of Alaric Westwood that she realized how wrong she had been.

"That's my father," he told her matter-of-factly.

His father, which meant Rylan's father too, she thought, fascinated.