Chapter 194: A while ago
(A while ago...)
Christian was busy fixing his bowtie when two familiar figures walked in, “Look at you, the blushing groom” Ava teased.
“It’s the brides who blush” Christian corrected her.
“I know, I was just messing with ya” She chuckled.
“I thought you guys won’t be able to make it” Christian prompted while sighing in frustration for the nth time as he failed to tie the bowtie.
“Do you need help with that?” Ariel offered.
“Please” Christian agreed. Ariel took the bowtie and tried to tie it properly. Meanwhile Ava decided to engage in a conversation.
.....
“I wasn’t going to make it, due to exams. But I dragged Ariel and caught a last minute train and hopped in here.” She informed him.
“You were that excited?” Christian chuckled.
“Of course” Ava beamed. “How can we miss the union ceremony of our future pack Alpha” she smiled and Christian laughed at her excitement. “You don’t seem so excited, on the other hand” Ava frowned.
“I am just tired” Christian brushed it off.
“You’re agitated,” Ariel prompted. “I have seen you wear a bowtie, never have you ever struggled with this”.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Christian scowled.
“Of course it does. We often express big emotions via small gestures, however subconsciously it might be. Our emotional state is often conveyed by the little things we do” Ariel explained.
“That’s...” Christian fumbled. “Whatever you’re reading on those psychology books, stop taking it so literally” he mumbled. “Reality is different”
“It’s not from one of my books. It’s from my personal experience”. Ariel smiled.
“Can you believe her” Christian turned to Ava for help.
“Yep, she is good with this stuff. Trust me. She is my go-to girl for any emotional stuff” Ava snorted while a smug smirk appeared on Ariel’s face.
“Whatever” Christian shook his head.
“And... done,” Ariel announced. “See, it looks good enough.”
“Yeah.” Looking at the mirror Christian agreed. “Thanks”.
“You know, we met Delphine. She seems really excited to be with you” Ava prompted.
“That’s...good” Christian mumbled, not bothering to look at either of them.
“But you don’t feel the same” Ava mumbled.
“Well.. I still haven’t..”Christian began to speak but Ava cut her off
“Oh stop it!” Ava groaned. “I don’t know whom you’re trying to fool but it’s not gonna work on us”.
“Yeah, we’re very perceptive,” Ariel tagged.
“Okay, let’s assume for a moment that what you’re saying is right” The twins suppressed their giggle as soon as Christian said that prompting Christian to add quickly, “It’s not, but let’s assume. What’s the big deal?”
“Have you ever had any unrequited crush?” Ava asked. She didn’t miss the flutter of Christian’s eyes and how his shoulders tensed slightly at the mention of it. “Well, I have. And it sucks not to be reciprocated. Trust me”.
“What has that got to do anything with me?” Christian frowned.
“Remember how I told you that Delphine likes you. Imagine what it will be like if you actually get through with this. How high her hopes would be and how it would crush her when you actually don’t reciprocate her feelings” Ava explained.
“I know you think this is the right thing to do, but how is hurting her the right thing?” Ariel asked.
“Who says I am gonna hurt her? Who knows, maybe I will end up liking her” Christian challenged them.
Both the girls looked at each other before snorting, “you don’t see the irony in your statement do you? If you are marrying someone you don’t even like, if you’re aiming for ‘like’ in a relationship like mates, do you really think that’s gonna make her happy?” Ava asked.
“You’re already agitated. Imagine living a lie for years to come and how miserable it will make you. And I know that you feel that your feelings don’t matter. But if you’re miserable, you’re gonna make your wife miserable and it’s gonna affect the entire pack.” Ariel added.
Christian remained quiet as he kept staring at the mirror contemplating upon the words. “I need to go” without further ado, he vanished into the hallway.
....(now).....
“...After that, I had a little chat with Delphine when you kept interrupting me by trying to link. She and I agreed to not go through with this.” Christian explained.
“For what it’s worth, I think you made the right call” Caleb smiled and so did the twins who stood next to them. Meanwhile Connor stayed wide eyed the entire time as he failed to comprehend a few things.
“Yeah, I can’t believe it took me this long to go through with it”. Christian snorted.
Smiling at Christian, Caleb turned to the twins to finally greet them. “Ava! Ariel! It’s so good to see you” Both the girls gave Caleb a hug before taking turns hugging Connor who was pretty excited to see his favorite aunts. “I missed you guys,” said Caleb.
“I missed you a lot,” Connor admitted upon seeing them and gave them a faint smile.
“I missed you too Connor” Ariel hugged her nephew tightly to the point of suffocating him.
When Connor murmured, “Ariel, let me breathe” is when Ariel finally let him go. Taking his hand Ariel disappeared into the crowd while Ava stayed back to chat with the brothers.
“So, do you regret running here? Now that I am actually not getting married?” Christian asked Ava.
“Well, this party has booze” She smirked. “Also, who knows, you might actually end up with your special someone thanks to this party” She teased and glanced sideways for a minute before looking back at Christian. Christian frowned and followed her gaze and once he realised she was talking about Sebastian he simply shook his head.
He gave Ava and ‘óh really’look before moving away. “Everyone knew” Caleb murmured from the side suppressing a smile while Ava took a sip from her glass smugly.
“Just so you know, I am good at telling who has a crush on who. When I first saw Caleb, I knew instantly Ashton liked him” She boasted. She somehow missed the subtle change in Caleb’s expression
Christian however didn’t so he prompted, “I am not your brother”
“I have known you for more than a decade now. You might as well as be. Caleb is like a brother to me, why not you”? Ava smirked.
“Whatever,” Chrstian sighed and disappeared.
That was the moment she noticed that Caleb looked a little down than he did a few seconds ago and upon recalling her conversation, she could guess correctly why. To take Caleb’s mind off of it, she decided to tell him something else, “Can I tell you a secret? Promise me you won’t tell anyone”.
“What?” He frowned.
“I found my fated mate” She declared trying to suppress her smile but unfortunately the blush on her face gave her away.
“Really” Caleb’s eyes widened. “When?” He asked with utter excitement.
“....Now” She mumbled after hesitation.
“Now”! Caleb almost ended up screaming from excitement.
“Shhh”! Ava shushed him immediately.
“Sorry”. Caleb mumbled. “But, who...how?”Caleb fumbled.
“See that guy over there” She pointed at a red-headed guy who was talking to the head Alpha’s son.
“Whoa, who is he”? Caleb asked.
“No idea.” Ava shook her head and took another sip while slyly looking away.
“What? why? He knows you are his mate right?” Caleb frowned.
“Of course, it’s just.... He did try to talk to me a few times, but I am playing a little hard to get” She admitted sheepishly.
“But why?” Caleb asked, clearly baffled by her actions.
“What, I am not that easy” Ava cleared her throat. “Just because I am a wolf, and he is my fated mate doesn’t mean I will go running into his arms. That era is prehistoric” She snorted.
“Yeah” Caleb nodded sarcastically. Bringing his face closer to her ear he said, “You do realise that he is a wolf and he can hear everything you just said”. The moment Ava heard those words her eyes became double the size of it’s original. She took a quick glance at her mate and saw a shy smile on his face which only seemed to confirm Caleb’s theory.
“Oh shit” She uttered.
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