Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose. Chapter 221: I never said so

Leilani.

My hand hovered over the screen of my phone while I contemplated calling Jarek to co pick up or not, but upon rembering that we were in the middle of practically nowhere, coupled with the fact that it was already so late into the night— it’s about 2:13am now—, I quickly decided against it.

Moreover, only the heavens know how he would feel if he walks in here and finds in the company of Zevran.

Only that sa heavens know how Zevran would react if Jay cos here to pick .

Just .

Lol and my car was the only available one right now!

Shutting off these thoughts, I threw my phone into my purse and turned away, folding my arms across my chest as I began to scan our environnt.

By the gods, I needed to bathe or pee or do both. I was hot— too hot— and also pressed. Moreover, there was a large body of water not so far off.

As if reading my thoughts, Zevran suddenly lifted his gaze from his phone. His eyes scanned my body from my head to my toes and then he asked; "Don’t you need to clean up?"

I didn’t hesitate. I rushed out. "Yes."

Again, silence.

Now, it wasn’t just scanning the area. He was too. He walked off a few feet away from to check how safe it was and when he returned, he simply walked over to the car, shut it off and after taking off his large coat and handing it to , he said; "Follow ."

And maybe I was just stupid, but for the first three seconds, I didn’t respond. I didn’t move either but simply stood there, staring at him like he was an alien from an undiscovered planet.

He turned to after realizing that I wasn’t following and snorted when he took in the confused look on my face. But I didn’t miss the small smile on his lips, or the way the corners of his eyes crinkled in that way it died whenever he was smiling.

Vague mories of how I used to sneak into the elite teen dorm back then at the pack to watch him and his brothers playing around all those years ago flashed across my mind...

—Or how my heart would flutter in my chest whenever any of them smiled like that...

Oh how stupidly in crush I used to be then.

Dismissing that mory, I grabbed his coat and tossed it towards him, my voice sharp— sharper than how I felt inside— as I snapped; "What’s this for?"

His eyes dropped to my hands then to my face, a bemused smile playing on his lips as he muttered; "It’s cold."

"And?"

"You’re about to take a bath, Leilani. It’s cold and your clothes may get wet in the process, so I am giving you my coat in case it gets too cold. Or is that a bad thing to do as well?" He asked, and at that, I gulped.

Goddess, I still wasn’t used to this side of him. I wasn’t used to being shown kindness, especially when it was coming from one of the three n the moon goddess had annoyingly paired with .

My hands trembled slightly as I picked the coat back up and in a small voice, I whispered; "Lead the way."

Zevran smiled. "Of course, my lady."

My lady.

Arggggjjjjhhh! My lady!

My face heated up as I quietly followed him through the quiet beach, my heart pounding in fear and whatever it was as he led to a secluded corner away from the lights and prying eyes.

When we arrived, he stopped, turned to and pointed forward. "You should continue from here. I’ll just stand here and keep watch for you. Is that fine?"

I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell him how uncomfortable I would feel having him standing a few yards away from wherever I was bathing... But I didn’t.

I couldn’t even bring myself to speak to him so I nodded instead and walked away, glancing behind a few tis to check if he was still watching .

He was.

I frowned. "Do you want to watch bathe?!" I yelled irritatedly.

"No!" He shouted back, "...but if you want to—"

"Shut up!" I snapped, interrupting him and hating the way my face burned up when he threw his head back and laughed.

"Now, turn around!" I yelled, ignoring how authoritative I sounded.

Zevran however, seed not to care about my tone as he only flashed a wicked grin then winked at , the corners of his cheeks deepening to expose his dimples. He shrugged; "So authoritative but I like it."

"Now!"

"Yes, my lady!" He shouted, then raised his hands over his head in a gesture of surrender as he turned around; but I didn’t miss the words he mumbled under his breath.

He hissed; "Such a spitfire!"

—

I may have spent about fifteen minutes bathing but five out of it was spent shivering from the cold, another five was spent bathing while the rest was spent keeping an eye on Zevran to ensure that he doesn’t turn around when I was least expecting... and surprisingly, he doesn’t!

Maybe he wasn’t such a creep after all.

By the ti I was done cleaning up, I quickly dried myself with my inner blouse and then put on Zevran’s coat; but despite how large and thick the coat was, I was still so cold.

My teeth still clattered whenever a cold wind blew into my face.

I walked up to Zevran after I was sure that I looked at least decent and without a word, we headed to my car where we got in, shut the doors and turned up the heater.

A mont passed and two...

Silence.

None of us were falling asleep.

None of us spoke or moved.

All I knew was that I was painfully aware of his presence beside . I was aware of the way he would turn to look at every now and then... how he would watch my hands to see if it still shook and if it did, he would turn up the heater a bit higher and higher... and higher...

"Zevran, you’d soon turn us to toast at this rate." I hissed after a mont, and bloody hell, he smiled again, his eyes twinkling with sothing I couldn’t na as he turned to eye slowly before looking away.

"I just wanted you to stop trembling."

"And you’re doing a good job." I answered.

At this rate, I just wanted morning to co by quickly. I wanted to be out of here... to not have to share a space with him. And no, it is not because I felt uncomfortable around him. It was because I was too comfortable!

It was because I felt like I was betraying myself by feeling so safe around a man that has shown nothing but contempt.

—until recently.

I turned away from him as these thoughts flooded my head, but as I did, he suddenly asked; "What do you think about those people?"

By saying ’those people’, I knew he ant the Lycans who had attacked us earlier. My heart began to pound in my chest at the thought and I turned to him briefly, shrugged and whispered; "I think they’re from Darius."

"You an that Lycan who claims he’s your brother?" He asked, taking aback for a mont before I rembered that he’d overheard our conversation that night.

I nodded.

"I don’t know why but it doesn’t seem so." He muttered after a mont, catching my attention. I turned to face him. "I’ve t the thugs Darius carries around and those people... those people were nothing like them."

It took a mont for the aning of his words to settle at the base of my mind and when it finally did, I cocked my eyebrows at him, asking; "So you an to say that—"

"Those could be different people entirely?" He snapped, interrupting . And before I could answer, he nodded. "Yes."

Hearing this, I didn’t know what to think or feel so I looked out the window again, admiring the way the water waves lapped against the shore, and wishing that my life could be just as serene as this mont even if it was for a day.

And then suddenly a thought struck my mind. I quickly turned to him so fast that my head nearly spun as I asked; "Do you know any guy nad Louis?"

Zevran frowned. "Louis?"

"Yes, Louis Hawthorne." I continued, not missing the way recognition settled in his eyes.

He nodded. "Yes. What about him?"

I contemplated telling him everything I knew but deciding against it, as I do not trust him fully, I settled for sothing else. So I said;

"He’s been asking around for information about and I want to know if you put him to it."

The look of dismay on Zevran’s face was palpable. He shook his head quickly. "No."

Then after a mont of silence, he added; "he’s been Chalice’s temporary bodyguard for the past few weeks. Also, Chalice recently dyed her hair silver..."

Now, that had stunned. My jaw dropped. "Huh?"

"She dyed her hair in the sa shade as yours."

"But she always said my hair was ugly." I mused under my breath before I could stop myself, and when I looked up and t his gaze, my breath hitched when I saw the anger in his eyes.

"She did?" He rasped,

"Yes, but that’s not my concern right now!" I snapped, "I’m only bothered that she dyed her hair at around the sa ti her bodyguard’s been stalking ... then there’s these Lycans..."

"You think everything is interconnected?" He asked softly and I found myself nodding before I could stop myself.

"You think she’s behind this?" He asked, and because I didn’t know if he was going to take her side or not, I snapped my lips shut and turned away.

"I never said so."

But deep down I did. I didn’t trust Chalice and there was nothing I could put past her.