Chapter Twenty One

CHRIS

I stood there as I watched her leave, I didn’t know if going after her was a good idea so I stayed back. I blamed myself for not controlling my emotions around her. Now I wondered if I was ever going to see her again.

I stayed a while longer hoping that she might return but she didn’t and going to the rogue's pack wasn’t the best idea so I decided to return home. As I made my way down to the park, I felt I was being followed. but whenever I turned to see who it was, I found no one.

The scent of this person was so familiar, I could tell who it was even in my sleep. “Kayla, I know it’s you. You can come out now,” I said.

She creeped out of the woods with a smug on her face. “How did you know it was me? Here I was thinking I was doing a good job by watching you,” she chuckled.

“What are you doing here? Do you know how dangerous it is to be out here alone?” I frowned.

“I should say the same about you, what were you doing out here alone?” she asked, staring at me with those curious eyes.

“It is personal,” I said.

“So personal that you, the alpha will have to sneak out of the palace. Come on Chris, tell me,” she said.

“I already told you, it’s personal. Let’s go before it gets dark

“Fine, since you won’t tell me anything. Who is she? Don’t lie to me because I saw her,” Kayla said.

“She? What are you talking about Kayla?” I asked. If Kayla had seen Lucy then, I was in trouble because my mother was going to know about her too.

“The beautiful lady with you in the woods earlier today, who is she?” she persisted.

“Mind your business Kayla,” I sneered.

“Is she your mistress?” she persisted

“She is my mate!!” I blurted out. “Please Kayla, this is between us, promise you won’t say a word to anyone about this, not even my mother.”

“Why? You’ve found your mate, it’s time to prove to those councilmen that you have the right to the throne. Why do you want to keep her a secret from everyone?”

“I’m not ready yet and neither is she,” I said walking away from her. If the news got out that I’d found my mate, Lucy wouldn't be safe anymore especially because she was a rogue and I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that I, an alpha, was mated to a rogue. It sounded absurd and impossible.

Then it struck me. How did she know that I snuck out of the palace? She didn’t live in the palace to know all that happened within. “By the way, what exactly were you doing out here and how did you know that I sneaked out?” I asked.

“So that confirms that you actually sneaked out of the palace, don’t worry your secrets are safe with me,” she said curiously.

“Don’t change the topic Kayla, spill,” I sneered at her.

“Ask Lady Maeve, she put me up to this,” she rolled her eyes and stormed off.

I should have known that my mother had a hand in this, she was an inquisitive person. I got home and met my mother with Kayla already discussing, they were both beaming with excitement and I could tell that Kayla had let the cat out of the bag.

My mother rushed up to me. grinning from ear to ear. “When are you bringing her home?” she said.

“Kayla! I thought we had an agreement, you promised,” I squealed.

“I never did, besides I’m more than excited to meet her as well, bring her over,” Kayla said, turning her face from me.

“It’s not going to happen, it’s impossible,” I whined.

“What do you mean? I can talk to her on your behalf if you want,” my mother giggled with excitement.

Huffing a sigh, I left them, not because I wasn’t excited as they were but because it would create a fuss when they realized who she really was. There would never understand the pain I had to go through by keeping her a secret from everyone. This was the time to claim my spot as the alpha fully and I was faced with another problem, falling in love with a rogue.

I lay on my bed, lost in thought. Asides from keeping her a secret from everyone, I was also faced with the fact that I might never get to meet her today after the crazy stunt I pulled earlier.

“What is going on with you? You don’t seem so excited about having a mate,” my mother said as she walked into my chambers alongside Kayla.

“It’s nothing, mother, I’ll like to be alone now,” I said, turning away from them.

“Son, this is what you’ve always wanted, why have you suddenly lost interest in your quest to claim you're right?” she said. I noticed the concern in her voice but I couldn’t tell her anything about Lucy’s status and her history with my family which I still knew nothing about.

“We are not the same, mother. We are two different people and she can never be with someone like me. Mother, you can never understand.” I said.

“Then make me, I need to know,” she said

“I will, when the time is right until then I’ll like to be left alone,” I said.

My mother nodded and left quietly while Kayla stayed behind. “Do you want me to leave too?”

“Yeah, if you don’t mind.” I snapped. "You can't keep a secret so there's no point talking to you about it."

"I'm sorry, your mother cajoled me into this, she was worried about you," Kayla said, trying to defend herself.

"Can we talk about this later? I need to clear my head."

"Promise?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Just leave Kayla, we'll talk about it later," I said, faking a smile at her.

I slammed myself on the bed immediately Kayla walked out of my chambers and strictly instructed my guards not to let anyone in. My mind drifted back to our kiss, the taste of her lips still lingered on mine. That wasn't my first kiss but it was the most memorable even though it lasted for a short time.

One thing was certain, she liked me too else she wouldn't have kissed me back. I understood how difficult it would be for her to finally accept this fate that we share and lay aside all grudges she had against my father and my pack.

I didn't mind how long it would take for her to accept me, I was willing to wait as long as she wanted.