Chapter 58: What’s A Few Broken Bones, Right?
Silence enveloped the car as neither Lynsandra nor August spoke for several minutes. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but rather one where it felt as though there was simply nothing to say.
"Were you worried?" After the prolonged quiet, August’s soft voice sliced through the thick, cold air, only to receive an even colder response.
"Are you asking for the sake of conversation?"
He chuckled. "Yes. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time, considering I finally have you to myself, and the only thing we’d talked about would be this pandemic threatening Lunareth."
"I’m not worried about either Severin or Minnie," she said calmly. "Both of them are adults and can fend for themselves. However, I am thinking about these abnormals and..."
August arched a brow and cast her a sidelong glance. "And?"
"Gary Stone."
"You truly have a knack for catching me off guard, Luna." Another light chuckle escaped him as he returned his attention to the road. "Luna, may I ask if Gary Stone has done you wrong?"
"No." She glanced at him. "Does it look like that?"
"Yes," he replied. "It looks like you want him dead very early."
Lynsandra briefly furrowed her brows before realization dawned on her. "Ah."
"I don’t dislike Gary Stone, but I do notice him more than I notice Elias Hale," August said. "Naturally, in the harem, Elias Hale is the one I should be most threatened by simply because he is a strong warrior. The strongest in the North, from what I’ve heard."
"However," he continued in the same calm tone, "the attention you give Gary Stone hasn’t bothered me yet, but it may have already bothered others. He would have easily faded into the background if not for the attention you’ve given him."
She smiled. "I like him."
"Are you going to choose him as Alpha King?"
"I like him, but not in that way," she chuckled. "Actually, I don’t think I should be talking about him with you. He is, after all, your competition."
"Even if he is, I can separate my feelings."
"You are truly interesting." She leaned back comfortably in her seat, letting silence settle between them once more before speaking again. "August."
He didn’t respond verbally, but he was listening.
"You are unmated because you believed your mate had died early, considering your thread was broken," she said softly, eyes on the side mirror. "And before the Alpha selection, you were planning to have one."
Slowly, she turned and studied the side of his face. "If I had announced later, would you have been married by now?"
"Possibly." His answer came quickly, as if he didn’t need to think about it. "Though now, I am certain the selection will fail."
"And why is that?"
"Because..." He trailed off, glancing at her. "...there is only one Lynsandra in the world."
She laughed. "You really have a way with words."
"Compared to having a mate destined by the moon, choosing a Luna for a pack like ours is far more complicated," he replied calmly. "I don’t think I need to tell you that, considering yours is even more complex. For me, I needed someone fit to be called Luna, and someone I could live with."
He paused, raising a brow and shrugging slightly. "But since I postponed my own selection to join yours, I’m certain it would take someone like you to pique my interest and make me believe living with another person is possible."
Lynsandra quietly studied the side of his face. Half of it shrouded in shadow, the other half illuminated by passing lights.
He’s not lying, she told herself. Of that, she was certain.
"The feeling is mutual," she hummed as she leaned back, turning her gaze away. "I think you’re quite interesting, and if I were honest, I wouldn’t have complained about having you as a husband. Maybe... maybe not."
"However, you have the harem," he said casually, as if he wasn’t surprised or disheartened by it.
She hummed, resting her head against the window as she watched the road pass by. "And ambition greater than love."
August smiled. He had already sensed that the first night he saw her seated on the throne beside the Alpha King. Even without a word, without any expected display, he had known she was no ordinary she-wolf.
He had known she was extraordinary by the way she looked down on every male present that night. Not that her gaze carried disgust, but rather, it was a natural look of someone superior. It would’ve disheartened him if he were just a little less confident.
A She-Alpha was truly not easy to handle.
"Love, perhaps, is a complicated matter," he said, not dwelling on his thoughts. "Though I may be wrong, as I’ve never experienced it myself. Still, I’ve seen it through the many people I’ve met in different walks of life."
Lynsandra smiled faintly as she glanced at him. "No. Love is the easiest thing."
"Is it?"
"Mhm," she hummed. "It’s so easy... that’s why it hurts so much and so easily."
"That’s interesting," he said, slowing the car as the gates of the harem came into view. Turning to her, he asked, "Have you ever fallen in love before?"
She didn’t answer, though the curl of her lips remained. She fluttered her lashes toward the gate, watching it open.
"I wonder what kind of man he was," August mused. "He must have been extraordinary to make someone like you fall for him. Now I’m jealous."
Extraordinary, huh? she thought, chuckling quietly. Extraordinary shit, he is for sure.
"August," she said as she unbuckled her seatbelt while the car rolled into the driveway, "I believe people have different versions of themselves. Different seasons."
She smiled at him. "And there are versions of ourselves we loathe, and that version of me... is what I loathed, and a version I would never be again."
"Thank you for the ride and the conversation," she added with a nod. "As expected, I enjoyed it."
With that, Lynsandra reached for the door and opened it. But just as she was about to step out, a hand caught her arm and pulled her back.
She turned instinctively, only to freeze as something pressed against her lips.
Lynsandra blinked a few times before her gaze drifted downward. His breath brushed against the side of her cheek, his head tilted, his lips pressed to hers.
Though his lips didn’t move, it stirred an inexplicable feeling in her chest—like her heart felt ticklish simply from the sensation of someone else’s lips touching hers.
Meanwhile, August remained still, his eyes partially open as he felt the softness of her lips. It was strange. Lynsandra was cold—her aura, her gaze, even her presence carried that chill. And yet, her lips were warm. No, warm and soft.
Slowly, August drew his head back just enough to observe her reaction. As expected, Lynsandra simply stared at him without any visible response. Not that she looked lifeless, but it wasn’t the reaction one would normally have after being kissed.
"I do not want to be interrupted again," he said, his voice lower than usual as a glint flickered in his half-lidded eyes. "I hope you do not mind."
Lynsandra pursed her lips, then subtly licked them. "It was interesting," she commented. "The kiss."
"It was, indeed," he agreed. "Interesting... and a little strange."
"Haha." She laughed and nodded. It was the strangest kiss she had ever experienced. Not strange in a bad way, just... strange.
Little did the two know that while they were talking in the car, Elias had quietly pulled into the driveway and witnessed the kiss.
"That—" he ground his teeth, flipping his visor up. "Did he just—"
[See? I told you! Everyone’s making a move on her, and you chose to be modest when you had all the chance last night!] Draven snapped, clearly far more frustrated. [Of all times! You chose not to use that dick to good use!]
But Elias was utterly speechless. He didn’t know what upset him more: the missed opportunity last night, seeing August kissing her, or Draven rubbing salt into the wound every time Lynsandra crossed his mind.
"Screw it!" he hissed, yanking off his helmet aggressively. "What’s a few broken bones, right?"
For once, Draven was silent.
"Right?!" Elias shouted.
[Uh.]
"Screw you too," Elias hissed as he jumped off his bike. "You’re only good at berating the hell out of me."
He took a long stride toward the parked car, frustration flooding his thoughts. Nothing he had done today had eased it, not even a little.
The moment he reached the car, he saw Lynsandra about to step out. He grabbed the door handle and yanked it open.
Lynsandra flinched in surprise, but the instant she recognized who stood there, Elias had already seized her arm and pulled her out. Before she could react, she was already outside, the door slamming shut behind her, her back hitting it... and then his lips crashed onto hers.
"..."
She froze for a brief second, clutching his shoulder as he slid his tongue between her lips, deepening the kiss.
