Chapter 128: Chapter 128; Hidden affection
Ragnar’s POV
The screen of my phone illuminated my face, the text message from Aiden burning itself into my mind.
Aiden: Stay the fuck away from Lucian and his inner circle for the next few weeks if you don’t want to get caught in the crossfire. You’ve been warned.
A heavy dread settled into my gut. This meant one thing—Aiden was planning an all-out assault, and it was going to be catastrophic. I needed to warn Lucian and the others immediately.
I sprinted toward the pack training grounds, my eyes scanning the field in hopes of catching Lucian. Instead, I found Boca and Daniel near the equipment sheds.
For some entirely irrational reason, a sudden flare of pure irritation hit my chest when I noticed how close Boca was standing to Daniel, hands firmly on his hips as he helped him stretch out his legs. My jaw clenched.
Boca’s gaze suddenly drifted over Daniel’s shoulder, locking onto me. He blinked, adjusting his posture. "Ragnar? You alright there?"
"Of course I am," I muttered, crossing my arms as I walked closer, trying to keep my voice completely level. "What exactly is going on here?"
Daniel let out a breathless laugh, casting a teasing glance between the two of us. "Your boyfriend here is just helping me stretch out a tight muscle."
The word boyfriend sent a violent jolt straight to my heart, but Boca didn’t even hesitate. He dug his fingers sharply into Daniel’s calf muscle with an aggressive squeeze.
"My goodness! My leg!" Daniel shrieked, wincing in absolute agony as he scrambled backward.
A tight half-smile broke across my face, the irritation instantly vanishing.
"I’m completely done with you. You can leave now," Boca told Daniel, utterly unbothered by his dramatic groans.
"Thanks, man," Daniel grumbled, rubbing his calf thoroughly as he quickly walked away from the training field.
I remained standing in place, my throat suddenly going dry as I watched Boca reach for a bottle of water. He threw his head back, his throat expanding as he drank. I unconsciously bit my lower lip, completely frozen. To me, I was looking at the most beautiful man on the face of the earth.
"Ragnar?"
Boca’s deep voice instantly shattered my fantasy, pulling me back to reality. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, eyeing me curiously. "Do you need something?"
"I... I think Aiden might be preparing to attack again," I stuttered out, my face flushing slightly as I tried to regain my professional composure.
Boca let out a sharp, cynical scoff, shaking his head. "That man is really not afraid of a single thing, is he? After everything he just pulled with Lucian’s estate, he still has the audacity to plan another assault?" A dark, humorless laugh broke from his chest. Then, his eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to me. "How exactly do you know about this?"
"My... my informant passed the message down to me," I replied quickly.
"Good," Boca stated, his expression hardening into pure warrior calculations. "Then we attack them before they even have the chance to cross our borders."
"I don’t think that is a good idea, Boca," I countered automatically.
Boca’s brow furrowed, his chest puffing out slightly. "What do you mean it isn’t a good idea?"
"I don’t trust the source completely," I explained, stepping closer into his personal space. "What if Aiden purposefully ratted out his own plans? What if he made the informant tell me this exact piece of information so we would launch a reckless preemptive strike, allowing them to ambush us when we least expect it?"
Boca went completely still, processing my words. A slow look of genuine respect crossed his features. "That is actually incredibly smart, Ragnar. That might definitively be the case here." He reached out, his large, warm hand clamping firmly onto my shoulder. "Don’t worry about it. They won’t ever be able to catch us off guard."
The moment his skin made contact with mine, a violent wave of goosebumps erupted down my arms. A breathless, involuntary smile touched my lips. Boca gave my shoulder one last squeeze before turning and walking back toward the pack house.
I let out a long, ragged breath I didn’t even realize I had been holding.
Whatever the hell I am feeling for Boca... it is intensifying ten times more every single day, I thought, running a trembling hand over my face. I was becoming completely terrified of my own emotions. Should I just come clean? Should I just tell him the truth about how I feel so he knows, and I can finally be free from this agonizing weight? But doing that might completely ruin our friendship. Or worse... Boca might literally beat the shit out of me for crossing that line.
I aggressively pushed my hair backward, feeling completely frustrated and trapped by my own mind.
Later that evening, the atmosphere inside Lucian’s strategy room was thick with tension. Lucian and Boca were hunched over a map, aggressively discussing the tactical layout of what we would do to Aiden’s forces.
But my attention was anchored on Boca. I was completely tuning out the military jargon, my eyes tracing the sharp lines of his jaw and the movement of his lips as he spoke.
"Ragnar."
I didn’t move.
"Ragnar, did you hear a single word I just said?" Lucian’s voice broke through the fog like a clap of thunder.
I jumped slightly, stuttering over my own tongue as I looked up at the Alpha. "Of course! Yes. We... we kill Aiden, right?" I offered an incredibly stiff, awkward smile.
Lucian leaned back against the heavy mahogany table, crossing his arms over his chest as a knowing, incredibly dangerous smirk settled on his lips. "Ragnar... is there something you want to say? You know, something you desperately need to get off your chest? You can say it right here."
My heart dropped straight into my stomach. My eyes widened to the absolute limit in complete, unbridled shock. Fuck.
"What... what do you mean by that, Lucian?" I squeaked out, the sweat suddenly pooling at the back of my neck.
Lucian tilted his head, his smirk widening as he glanced directly between me and his Beta. "I don’t know... maybe you want to tell Boca exactly how you feel about him?"
The room went entirely, deathly quiet.
Boca slowly turned his head away from the map, his dark eyes locking entirely onto my trembling form. "Ragnar?" he asked, his voice low and utterly confused. "You want to say something to me?"
"I..."
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