CHAPTER 20 - IN HIGH HOPES

LARA’S POV

I was alone when I saw Scarlet coming from the mansion.

She looked elated and I wondered what was making her so happy this morning. And waited for her to come over to where I was before asking to know the reason for her excitement.

“Hey, Lara, this is where you are,” she greeted.

“Yes,” I replied.

“I have been searching for you since morning,” she said.

“I am just coming back from going to pick some berries for the mansion” I responded.

“Oh, I see” she nodded.

“But then, what is making you this happy today? Please share the good news with me” I requested.

“Haven’t you heard?” she asked.

“Heard what?” I asked.

I became anxious and could not wait to hear what she was about to say. What was happening that I did not hear off? Scarlet has never heard any news before me and I was always the one to give her news.

“Come on, who doesn’t know that today is the full moon?” she replied.

“Of course it is the full moon, but that is no news” I responded.

“It would be held in Crystal Realms, don’t you know?” she asked.

“Yes it would be held in Crystal Realms” I replied.

“So, we must be there early for the event. I hope you have made your necessary preparations for tonight?” she asked again.

She was so excited and I was starting to feel guilty. I have deliberately avoided any discussion that had to do with tonight and I had hoped that she would forget all about it but I was wrong.

I could not bring myself to lie to her but would she be able to handle the truth about this with her fragile heart?

“But you are not going to go” I announced.

I was determined to stop her from going to this event. She has passed through much already and I was already glad that she was healing from all of it. Now hearing her come up with this right now was disheartening.

“But why?” she almost cried.

“See we cannot go. I forgot about it and I did not make any preparations for it” I lied.

I hate that I have to resort to lying to her but then there was nothing much that I can do at this point to restrain myself.

“There is still time right? We can start making preparations for you now and you can have one of my dresses. Everyone is going to be there” she appealed.

“I am not feeling too well, dear, I had a long walk in the woods today” I lied again.

“But then, you might meet your mate there,” she said.

“Meeting my mate is not an issue. There would always be another full moon and another after that, and another still. I can always meet my mate in any of those” I replied.

“You know why I want to go right? Ray has been very busy with the preparation and today I would be able to see him. Today he would have time for me” she begged.

“No, Scarlet, today he would even be busier. He is the alpha and he would be among the heads and would not have the time to mix with folks like us. See, just give him a few more days, and I will take you to him” I replied.

“No. I don’t mind if he does not see me. All I want is to see his face. It’s been a very long time and I don’t think I can stay a day longer without seeing him” she pleaded.

“But then the three Packs would be there and alpha Ray and the others would be far from us. The whole place will be full so how do you think you will be able to get to where he is?” I asked.

“I will find a way, Lara. Please join me in this and I will never forget this kindness” she requested.

“But then I am ill” I refused.

“Okay, we will not spend much time there. I promise we will return as soon as I see him. We will not have to wait for the full moon” she pleaded.

I thought about her request for a while before agreeing to it. “Okay, I will take you there. But not only to see the alpha but so that we can have all the fun that we can get” I replied.

She hugged me tightly for a few seconds. I saw the smiles on her face and I all I could feel for her was pity as I wished that everything was exactly as it appeared to be.

“Thank you so much for this, Lara, you are a darling and I will forever remain grateful to you” she beamed in joy.

“You are welcome, honey, and never forget that I am always here for you anytime any day” I responded.

“So, what do we do now? Follow me, I will go and look for something for you to wear” she offered.

“No, Scarlet, I can always look up something to wear” I refused.

“But then this is a great occasion and I have so many clothes that I am yet to try on” she insisted.

“Thanks, Scarlet, I know you mean well. However, I can’t accept your offer” I said.

“But then I want you to. It is my clothes, right? And you will be with me. So come have one of them” she persisted.

“Please don’t make me do this. I don’t consider myself worthy to fit any of your clothes, I am begging you, Scarlet” I appealed.

Seeing that I was not ready to bulge, she finally gave up and let me alone. “If you insist, Lara, I will not pressure you against your wish” she murmured.

*

It is the full moon ceremony and Scarlet and I are among the crowd. Everyone was in full spirit except of course for me who is praying that whatever happens, Scarlet should not have the chance to speak with alpha Ray, at least not tonight.

Scarlet was dragging my hands and taking me around for sightseeing as there were a lot of fun activities going on as we await the arrival of the full moon.

We passed through the group of dancers and Scarlet went over to one of the singers and collected the microphone from her and she sang along with the others.

Her melodious voice drew the attention of all those around and they turned to admire her. When the song stopped, they all cheered and clapped for her. Some people wanted her to continue but she refused and handed the microphone back to the singer.

She stepped out of the podium and walked happily to me. She was in high spirit and I have never seen her this happy. She was a girl in love and was expecting to set her eyes on the love of her life after so many days and I understand her perfectly.

“The leaders are there, Lara” she announced and pointed to the right.

“What leaders?” I asked.

“And Ray must be there with them,” she said.

I exhaled, now I understood what she was talking about.

“Wait around here, Lara, I will find my way to their mist and as soon as I set my eyes on him, I will get back to you. Don’t worry, I will not take much time” she instructed.

“Be fast” I replied.

I was going to stop her, but I knew that would be an effort in futility so I restrained myself from doing that and allowed her to leave.

She left while I watched her leave with sadness in my heart. Maybe it was destined to happen and there was nothing I could do to stop it. But she was going to find out someday, my only worry was that day should not be today.

As I awaited her arrival, I walked around where I was in order to feed my eyes with all that was happening. But as I did so, my heart was heavy, filled with pains that cannot be explained.

“Hey, Lara” I heard someone call out to me.

I turned around and saw Scarlet staring at me. She was looking pale and her smile was no more. When I saw her standing there, I thought the worst had happened.

“Scarlet” I murmured.

My heart skipped a beat at the sight of her and I rushed over to hold her. “Are you okay, Scarlet?” I asked.

I used my hands to hold her face and looked at her eyes which were already looking dull.

“Yes, I am. And why are you reacting this way?” she asked confused at the way I was reacting.

“You didn’t see Ray?” I inquired.

“I saw him, but he looked at me and looked away almost immediately. It was as if he had never seen me all his life” she replied.

“Or maybe he did not see you,” I said.

“I know he did, I could tell that he saw me. But he acted as if I was not even there. It felt to me like I have become insignificant to him” she revealed.

“You know it is dark, and he is so busy. Maybe he didn’t even recognize you” I tried to make out an excuse for him.

“Okay,” she mumbled.

“But you wanted to see him and you have right? Now let’s go catch some fun” I suggested.

“Okay,” she forced some smile.

SCARLET’S POV

I know Lara was only trying to make alright, but I know what I had witnessed. I could swear that Ray had seen me; he looked at me for a few seconds and then took his eyes away like I was never there.

Or maybe Lara was right. Maybe he did not realize that it was me because he was very busy. Moreover, there was no way that he would be expecting to see me over there so he might not have known that I was the one.

“But you wanted to see him and you have right?” she asked.

I continued to look at her without saying anything.

“Now let’s go catch some fun” she insisted.

“Okay,” I smiled.

I decided not to think about it right now and have some fun with Lara. At least she had given up everything to bring me here, and so she deserves to be allowed to get enough of the fun going on.

“See you can always come back to see him after today. By then he would be less busy” she said.

“Thanks, Lara” I replied.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. From the firmness of the grip, I could tell that it was a masculine hand.

It is Ray. I said to myself. I knew he was going to come to me, I knew he would not be able to stay away a second longer knowing that I was here just to see him.

I smiled to myself and looked at Lara who had also stopped. However, from the expression on Lara’s face, I knew something must be wrong and it was definitely not Ray that was holding me.

I turned to the stranger and discovered that it was someone that I had never met.

“And what is your name?” the stranger asked very rudely.

“Scarlet, I am Scarlet” I replied with mixed feelings.

He chuckled when he heard my name, and I felt that was rude of him.

“What Pack?” he asked.

“Diamond Cut” I replied.

“I see you must be one brave fellow. I saw over there just now” he said.

“I had gone there to… to…” I stammered.

“I don’t care what you went there for, Scar, whose household are you from” he spat.

“Scarlet, I am Scarlet” I was beginning to get irritated by his audacity.

“I chose to call you Scar, what difference does it make anyway considering your appearance?” he made a mockery of the many scars on my body.

Hearing the insult, Lara wanted to charge at him, but I pulled her away and we both walked out of his presence.

“And who the hell does he think he is?” Lara cursed.

“I have never seen him before, but he does not look like an ordinary man” I murmured.

I was still feeling ashamed of the way that the stranger had addressed me.

“I know, but that does not give him a license to talk down on just anyone” she yelled.

“Sure it doesn’t” I murmured.

“See, Scarlet, please don’t let any of that get to you, you are more than you believe and I know that it will be alright someday,” she said.

“Do you guarantee that, Lara? Can you promise that it will be fine someday?” I asked in a feeling of dejection.

She took me in her embrace and whispered in consolation. “Only the moon goddess can do that, dear, and I know that she will not forsake you”