Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Breakfast Banter and Burning Rage
RAMON’S POV
I sat on my chair at the head of the breakfast table, and watched Daisy and Liam exchange banter. The long wooden table was covered with plates of hot food. The smell of fresh bread, roasted meat, and sweet fruits filled the room. Morning light streamed through the tall windows, making everything look brighter than I felt inside.
"Last time I saw you, you had wrinkles. Did you drink someone’s blood to revive yourself, Daisy?" Liam teased. He leaned back in his chair, a big grin on his face as he picked up a piece of bread.
"You’re the one to talk to. Where are your greys?" Daisy shot back, laughing as she took a sip from her cup. Her eyes sparkled with mischief, the way they always did when she was around Liam.
With my mouth pinned tightly together, my head travelled back and forth between both. They always played this game where they loved to pretend they were old. If that was old age, I wondered what Fenris was. The thought of that bastard made my fist fold under the table. Veins hugged the grip of the fold, as I imagined ways of beating the life out of him. My knuckles turned white from how hard I squeezed.
"A mansion if you can guess what he’s thinking," I heard Daisy say. She pointed at me with her fork, her eyebrows raised in amusement.
"Well considering how tightened his entire body is, it would be Fenris," Liam guessed correctly. "Would I be right, Ramon?"
"Don’t bring me into your madness." I quickly steered the conversation away from me. My voice came out rough, and I picked up my cup to hide the scowl on my face. The warm liquid tasted bitter on my tongue.
"Why? You’re the reason we gathered here in the first place. I would say, I did think the festival of alphas would be one big dramatic show. Save for the presence of Fenris sons, there wasn’t much drama. Oh, and maybe Alpha Jake’s brief erratic display."
"Wait a second, Fenris sons attended the festival of alphas?" Liam’s eyes lit up. He sat up straighter in his chair, the wood creaking under his weight.
"Yep. They did. Not all of them, of course. Just Seth and the other one."
"What other one? And why did you act so weird around him?" I asked, remembering my curiosity from the other night. The memory of Cade’s cold stare still sat heavy in my chest.
The three of us in this room had known each other for quite a while. I wouldn’t say we knew everything about each other, but at least, we did know the important aspects. What I couldn’t understand was how Daisy managed to keep whatever she must have had with Cade a secret. Because I was almost certain they had history. The way they looked at each other last night was too loaded to be nothing.
"Wait, you and Cade?" Liam mused. He looked at Daisy with wide eyes, his fork paused halfway to his mouth.
"Do you know Cade? And how do you even know it was him?" Daisy asked, her voice a little sharper now.
I nodded my head in support of Daisy’s question. I did not mention his name, so there was no way he could have heard it from me.
"I do know a good number of the Fenris boys. Cade and I met each other at a business conference. Remember the one you said you wouldn’t attend because you just didn’t feel like getting out of the pack, some years back?"
"Yeah."
I remembered that whole ordeal quite vividly. My plan to kidnap Sonia was just blooming beautifully in my mind. Liam had called that morning asking me to attend a business meeting geared to cultivating successful business for packs. Of course I gave a middle finger to that request. I didn’t need anyone teaching me about business, when I was already very successful in it.
In hindsight, maybe I should have attended. Liam had bypassed me in the number of successful businesses our packs have, and he claimed he learnt all his secrets from the seminar.
"That was where I met Cade. But before then, I met Wolf the really big one at a festival. Everyone stood in awe when he walked in. They had heard about the giant before, but that was most people’s first time seeing him."
"Yeah, I remember the first time I saw Wolf. Scared me out of my mind, and not many people can scare me."
I scoffed. "I wasn’t scared when I saw him for the first time. In fact, I was more curious than scared."
"Yeah, you were. You just have a big ego problem where you never accept the fact someone could be stronger than you. I don’t have that problem." Liam shrugged as he took another bite of his food.
"Maybe you should. It would help you better."
"I’m already—wait a minute, we were talking about how you know Cade," he turned to Daisy who was already smiling at how easily she was able to escape their interrogation. "Don’t think you can escape it."
"I don’t need to tell you two anything. Where’s Sonia? I thought I asked you to bring her along?" She turned to me. Her eyes were sharp, demanding an answer.
"Why would I bring her along? You got what you wanted from her, what next?" I replied, my voice low and tight. The food on my plate suddenly tasted like ash.
"I promised her, Ramon. Don’t you understand that? Before she healed Tyler, I told her I would tell her everything I know about her mother. That’s the only thing she asked of me."
"You shouldn’t have promised her then. And I told you I don’t believe she healed him."
"You can’t say that!" She banged a fist on the table. The plates rattled, and the sound echoed in the room. "I saw it with my own eyes. That girl you’re treating like crap is special. You need to cut it out, and accept the truth!"
"I don’t want to!" I growled. My voice came out louder than I meant, the anger rising hot in my chest.
"Why?! Because of Lorena?"
I jumped to my feet in rage. She was the third person that had tied my desires to Lorena. I don’t know where they got this narrative from, but I wasn’t having it anymore. The chair scraped loudly against the floor as I stood.
"Ramon? Where are you headed?" I heard Liam ask. His voice was calm, trying to ease the tension.
"Somewhere far from the both of you," I replied, and banged the door shut behind me. The wood slammed hard, the sound ringing in my ears as I walked away.
I was furious. I could feel my insides squeezing from the absolute rage I felt. My fists were clenched so tight my nails dug into my palms. The corridor felt too bright, the morning light hurting my eyes as I moved past servants who quickly bowed and stepped aside.
"Alpha Ra—"
"Get out of my way!" I screamed at the servant who had stopped to probably relay a message. He scurried away fast, his footsteps fading behind me.
I didn’t have any direction in mind. I just wanted to be far away from the noise. My boots hit the stone floor hard with each step, the sound matching the pounding in my head. I walked past the noise, the salutations and greetings from people who knew better than to stop me when I looked like this.
The sound of the waters drew closer into my ears. Yeah, that was the direction I headed to. The path sloped gently downward, the air growing fresher with the smell of the river. Trees lined the way, their leaves rustling softly in the morning breeze.
I got there, and stood just watching the waves. The water moved steadily, sparkling under the sun. The sound was calming, but it did nothing to cool the fire inside me. Everyone only saw the punishment.
They didn’t see the burn. No, they saw it, but they had forgotten. They had all forgotten so soon what Bloodmoon looked like after Fenris was done with it. The ruined homes, the blood on the streets, the cries that filled the nights. I remembered every single detail like it was burned into my skin.
However, it wasn’t the only thing that made me bitter.
It was also the fact that standing in front of the water, I could see her. I could see Sonia. Her face kept flashing in my mind—those wide eyes looking up at me, her soft lips, the way her body had trembled when I touched her. And by the moon goddess, I wanted her. The need was so strong it made my chest tight and my hands shake. I hated how much I wanted her. I hated how her scent still clung to me. I hated that even now, after everything, my body ached to go back to her.
The water kept flowing, calm and steady, while inside me everything burned.
