章節 31: Away from him - Part 4

"Guess my time is up now," she said, holding her hands up, "It's time for me to finally rest in peace. Oh, don't tell anyone about this meeting we are having," she placed her index finger vertically over her lips.

"You are leaving? Like, right now?" I asked and she nodded, "Don't you want to meet Luke before leaving?"

"No. If I wanted to meet him, then I would have asked him ages ago. I don't want to see him being sad again. Once is enough," she replied sternly, which I grimaced at because I knew the feeling of losing someone all too well.

"Besides, I've taken a lot more time than what I was given to watch over him by being stuck here, though I can only do that when he is in this room. He is a pretty caring mate, isn't he?" she asked while bumping my shoulders teasingly.

"He is," I smiled bashfully at her question. There was no denying that he cared a lot about me. He felt more like a father to me than my actual father.

"You know that he is an Alpha, right?" She asked. "An Alpha tends to have stronger feelings for their mate than other werewolves. That means double the love, double the possessiveness also," she let out a tired sigh, but still smiled amidst it. "I have been through it. Not that I hate it, but it does get tiring sometimes when he gets jealous of the smallest thing. Please bear with him," she threw her head back, laughing.

"I will try my best," I stifled a laugh.

Up until recently, I still didn't know what the use of being mates with others was. I used to think that wouldn't it be better for people to live alone? But now that I have some time apart from Luke, I come to understand why. It was the feeling of togetherness, the feeling of someone's warmth, and someone's care. No matter what happens, we know that they will always have our backs. I didn't have it before, but now, maybe I do have it. Someone who will always be there for me, under any circumstances.

"I will also try my best to be a good Luna like you are for the pack," I assured her, though I myself didn't know if I was able to do that.

"I know you will," she gazed at me for some time and sent me another beautiful smile, "Time is up. It's really goodbye now," her hand made its way to mine and held my hand in a strong grip, "I can't really say much about this as I'm no longer in this world, but this is the least that I can say,"

She halted before she voiced another word, making me nervous at the same time, "Be careful. Not everything that you think is gone—is truly gone."

I was befuddled, but she spent no time explaining and sent me back to my realm right after it. "Goodbye," was her last word before everything changed back to normal. I was now back in my room, standing in front of the portrait of the same woman I had just met.

The thing was, there was something different about the portrait—very different, if I must say. Previously, she had been sitting placidly, palm under her chin in a relaxed manner. She was accompanied by her teacups, her eyes looking in the direction of my window with a smile on her face. But now, it was only a half-body portrait, drawn only up to her chest. She held no expression, a typical painting of royalty.

I was so focused on the portrait that I didn't even realize someone was coming into my room. It was when Lisa tapped on my shoulder that I finally noticed someone else's presence. "Violet?"

"Huh?" I looked over at Lisa with my eyes wide in surprise.

"Where did you go? I came here just now but you were not here."

"I, uh—I've been standing here all along," I quickly came up with an excuse to cover what had just happened, but it didn't seem too believable.

"Really?" she tilted her head confusedly, "Oh, well. Maybe I'm still a bit hungover after last night's drink. Anyway, I brought you your meal," she pointed to the tray atop the table, "You should eat it while it's still hot."

I thanked her for the meal, but my mind kept on drifting back to the portrait, so I asked her, "This portrait... has it always been like this?"

"What do you mean?"

"Isn't she supposed to be sitting instead of standing?"

"No," she shook her head, "It has always been like this since years ago. Why?"

Did I remember it wrong? I was sure that it didn't look like this before. Or maybe what I saw before was Ysabelle's soul instead of the original painting. But now that she's gone, it has returned to its original form. I guess that was why.

"Nothing. Maybe I mixed it up with another painting," an awkward laugh escaped my lips.

"It will soon change into a painting of you," she asserted excitedly, "Ahh... I can't wait to see you and Luke produce little pups."

"Y-you are thinking too far ahead," I replied and covered my embarrassment with another awkward laughter. I knew just like I was his mate, he was also my mate. But it never really crossed my mind to do the things a lover does with Luke. I could imagine how awkward things would be and how I would be desperate to run away from the situation.

"Why~" she teased, "Imagine a combination of you and Luke. An annoying man and a shy woman," she blurted out laughing.

I ignored her teasing and walked to my table, "Have you eaten?"

She nodded her head yes and furrowed her eyebrows while staring blankly at the ground. It must be another mind-link, I thought. I am now used to how these werewolves often suddenly stop doing things, focusing on the mind-link they are having.

"Sorry, I have to go," she clasped her hands together, "Some of the warriors are making trouble. This Beta-female needs to kick their asses."

"Do you need any help?"

"Help for what? Kicking their asses?" She asked, while giving me a lopsided grin, "Though I do appreciate your offer, I don't need any help. You should just focus on resting, okay? We don't want the Alpha to come home to his sick mate, do we?"

After receiving the answer she wanted from me, she marched out of my room. As I was now left alone in the room, my mind went back to the incident that had just occurred. I kept rewinding the things that happened, and what Ysabelle said.

One thing that bothered me was her warning. Not everything that you think is gone, is truly gone? What does she mean by that? What is it that is gone but is not really gone? I racked my brain the whole time while I ate, thinking about the answers to her warning. But no matter how long I think about it, I can't seem to find the answer. And I also couldn't ask about this to someone else because if I did, then I would have to tell them what happened with Ysabelle.

Foods that used to taste heavenly now taste bitter and unpalatable due to me being sick. I forced myself to finish my meal just to be grateful for what was given, and also to recover more quickly. After finishing my plate, I decided to sleep in as I was still feeling a bit dizzy and weak.

I tucked myself under the sheets, making myself comfortable beneath the warm quilt. But before I was able to fall asleep, the portrait caught my attention, again. How could it not attract my attention when it was hung on the wall right in front of me, straight into my sight? Even when I knew there was now nothing hiding inside the portrait, I was still pretty petrified of seeing how the eyes moved in my direction. Should I take it down?

The answer was yes. I didn't want another soul hiding inside of it and peered over me, which was pretty unlikely, but still. So I begrudgingly got out of bed, took the portrait off the wall, and turned it around before hanging it up again. Beautiful.

Satisfied with the result, I laid back down on my bed. Rolling over to the side, searching for a comfortable position to sleep in. Again, just before I fell asleep, another thing caught my attention. There was something outside my window. It was something small and black, some kind of a ball visibly sticking up at the bottom of my window. I couldn't seem to fall asleep without getting distracted.

For the second time, I moved away from my comfortable position to appease my curiosity about what was outside my window. I pushed the window open and looked down to see what was in front of me. To my surprise, someone was sitting on the ground with his back to the wall.

"Jack?" I called out, clearly surprised to see him here, "What are you doing here?" It turns out, that black little thing I saw was his hair, tied in a bun.

"I'm looking over you," he replied while standing up.

"Aren't you supposed to be with Luke?"

"Yes, but he had a change of mind and sent me back to be your guard," he explained calmly. Looking at my furrowed eyebrows, he added, "Andrew is with him."

"How long have you been here?"

"Since last night," I widened my eyes in surprise at his answer. He was sitting outside my window the whole night. It was almost the time of winter. Was he not cold? If he stayed there the whole time, did he see what happened with Ysabelle?

"Did you—did you see anything inside my room?" I stammered, gulping my saliva down my throat. How am I supposed to explain this to him?

"No," he shook his head, "I was told to guard over you, not to peek inside your room."

I exhaled the breath I was holding, relieved that I didn't need to lie or explain anything. "You shouldn't stay outside, you will catch a cold."

"Say you," he said with a straight face. Was he trying to joke or trying to insult me? "I'm fine, don't worry about me," he assured.

"Still," I urged, "You should head inside. You can guard in front of my door."

He sighed and gave in, "If you say so."

He finally left his position, so I closed the window to prevent the cold air from coming into my room. Now, nothing is stopping me from sleeping. I fell asleep right away after I hit the bed. It was a very much-needed sleep.

...

After what felt like hours, I woke up to the day dark and serene. I sat up in bed, feeling better after the slumber. I stretched my stiff body. My bones cracked here and there due to the stiffness. I was planning to go to the bathroom, but then noticed my window was open.

"Strange, didn't I close it before I sleep?" I muttered to myself. I closed the open window. No wonder it was so cold. I hugged my body in an attempt to warm my body.

"It's open because I opened it," a voice replied, surprising me. I stopped in my tracks and glanced at the source of the voice. An unfamiliar man was also present in the room. "Hello, sweetie," he gave me an eerie smile. Realizing the danger this man holds, I shouted for help.

"Jack—" I managed to shout, but he injected something into my neck in a flash and a sharp pain washed over me before I could scream even louder. Everything started to become darker until I was no longer conscious.