Chapter 22: Chapter 22

"I was referring to the food Lenora!" He sighed and I suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment rushing through my veins as my face flushed in humiliation.

"Oh that, I'm good, thanks" I stuttered as I rapidly blinked my eyes In order to avoid eye contact but I could still see the smug smile on his face.

"If you say so, I'm full so just take it back to the kitchen, it'll probably be fed to some raccoons" he ordered and I found myself staring at him with my eyes wide opened in awe.

Was I some kind of his servant that he could just order around, besides if he wanted a maid in here all he had to do was to make a simple call.

"Why can't you just call for the maid?" I asked through clenched teeth but he was not even a bit attentive to me.

"Close the door behind you and return In 10 minutes!" He ordered and I felt my blood rushing through my veins as I kept on cursing him in my head. If only my thoughts could just end him once and for all.

I reluctantly obeyed as I found myself walking towards the tray of food that was still filled with some mouth watering food, he really didn't eat that much out of it.

I was starving barely at the sight of the food before me as my stomach finally decided to betray me by letting out a gurgling sound. It was really loud that I was sure Alaric had heard.

With the corner of my eyes, I tried to check if he was staring at me or probably minding his business but I immediately looked away when my eyes fell on his eyes. He must have definitely heard me.

Filled with embarrassment, I scurried away from the room and towards the kitchen. It was easier this time as most wolves were already in their classes, leaving just me alone in the huge hallway as I approached the kitchen.

On opening the door, I dropped the tray on the counter and immediately brought out a spoon to eat from the food. Alaric had requested me to be back in no more than ten minutes but to hell with his rules, there wouldn't be much he could do to me.

"Don't eat that, my love" a feminine voice called from the other side of the kitchen as I raised my head to study her face.

She didn't look familiar to me, but with the way she was dressed, one could easily tell that she was a cook but she definitely didn't look like any of the middle aged cooks I've come acrossed, she also smelled different. I hadn't seen her anywhere near me before now, perhaps she was the pack house chef.

"Why?" I asked with my eyes still fixed on the hot young lady with an apron and chef hat, even though her dyed red hair was left to flow down her back,I saw no reason for the chef hat.

"Because it has gotten cold and you need to eat some hot food. After all, it's cold outside isn't it?" She asked and I nodded in approval as I shoved the tray of food away from me.

"I'm Jenny," she said with a smile on her face. I took the time to notice she was really gorgeous and her smile fitted her perfectly. Her blue eyes shone even brighter when the rays of the sun hit her face and it was almost like the universe wanted her to be absolutely perfect.

"Lenora!" I said as I returned the smile back to her and it was actually genuine because I found interest in her.

"Oh, the girl who ran away yesterday?" She asked with a cocked brow. Just great, even the cook already knows too much about me but there was something different about the way she speaks.

"Yup, that's me" I replied with an awkward laugh but the look on her face was different from the rest, she wasn't trying to mock me or anything but she was actually looking at me with a different kind of eye.

"I understand, I've actually thought of running away too but I couldn't dare and if I was opportuned to have had a lover like you then hell,I don't care about anything else. I would definitely run away with him, so yeah I understand you" she responded and it made me feel a little bit relieved that someone understands how I truly feel.

"Thank you!" I said to her as she shoved my own tray of food in front of me but as I was about to take a bite out of it, I remembered Alaric's orders in my head and it was as if they were ringing hard.

"Shit! I have to go now" I cursed as I hurriedly stood up from the stool.

"At least, take your food with you" she yelled after me but as I was about to turn back and take the food, I remembered I had told Alaric that I wasn't hungry and I wasn't ready to let my ego down.

"I'll be back for it!" I yelled as I hurriedly ran back to Alaric's room.

"What took you so long?" Were the words that came out of his mouth the moment I came into his room panting like someone who had just escaped death.

"I'm sorry" I apologized but regretted apologising almost immediately. He doesn't get to order me around like he wishes.

He stared into my eyes for some while before closing the laptop on his lap,he shifted it to the other side of the sofa and stood up.

With my unsettled breathing, I stared at him as he took some steps towards me until he was finally in front of me. I tried to control my breathing so as to not look uncool but hell, I had run like a mad dog so why wouldn't I breathe this loud.

"Were you with him?" He asked before sniffing my body and I immediately understood who he was referring to. I felt a slight anger building up in me at his question.

"And what if I was with him? You don't get to tell me who I should or should not be with. Afterall I'm only here because of the promise I made to you so as to save his life. Remember that!" I growled but then I could sense my wolf not getting angry like she used to whenever he said something ill of Asher.

Rather than her growling in anger, she was rather hiding herself at a corner, whimpering in confusion. She didn't like the way I talked to Alaric and that is definitely strange.

"Don't raise your voice at me, little wolf!" He said in a gruffed tone but his hands on my arms were still soft like he was being careful not to hurt me. I liked it, hell I was calmed immediately by the soothing feeling but I had to not let it show on my face.

"Don't touch me!" I managed to say after summoning up my courage. I didn't want him to leave me but at the same time I didn't want him to think I liked it.

"Okay" he shortly replied but I wasn't expecting him to just give up like that, I had wanted him to put up a fight like he used to, I wanted the heat and argument but he just gave up and said "okay".

I was speechless and didn't know what else to do as I stood still in the middle of the room with his hands still gentle in mine and his eyes indulging every detail of my body.

His head was appearing to be closer to mine, no i wasn't hallucinating but he was actually leaning for a kiss. My body didn't restrain as much and stood waiting for my lips to be covered In his but some seconds passed by and I realized he wasn't going to kiss me as his head was now buried in my neck before he slowly pulled away with a cocky smile on his face.

"You should shower, you stink " he said and walked back to his seat with his laptop on his lap. I was dumbfounded and rather ashamed at the fact that he had to call that out.

"Scum!" I cursed under my breath with my fists clenched beside me as I stormed out of his room not caring if he had heard me.

On leaving the room, I heard a soft chuckle that must have been coming from him and to be honest it was kind of cute but I wanted to be mad at him. Why the hell am I like this around him and why isn't my wolf bursting out in anger whenever he is near us anymore?

While walking towards my room, I kept on repeating those questions in my head, searching for an answer but there weren't any logical answers I could come up with so I ended up shoving the thought aside.

"Where were you?" A familiar voice questioned immediately I entered my room and I lifted my head to see Asher sitting on my bed and beside him was a tray of food. My stomach immediately grumbled at the sight of the food.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I roared back at him with my eyes furrowed in anger, after seeing him with Tala earlier on I wasn't in the mood to be happy with him.

"I was asking you a question Lenora, and I demand an answer. Don't tell me you were with that bastard of a beast?" He asked and I found myself scoffing at his stupidity.

"You seemed to have just forgotten about everything and my sacrifice for you when you were busy in Tala's bed!" I yelled as I tried as hard as possible to hold back the tears from pooling in my eyes.

I didn't want it to get to me but there was still nothing much I could do since he was my mate.

"Lenora!" He sighed as he stood up from the bed and made some steps towards me.

"Forget about Tala, would you? She means nothing to me and I was just using her to satisfy my urges because I didn't want to touch you just yet until I finally marked you but then, I can't do that here."

"I love you and that's why I sincerely care for you, so just shove her aside in your mind " he cooed into my ear.

"No, I don't like this, you're my mate and you can't just go around sleeping with other wolves. It really hurts me, Asher!" I yelled as my eyes finally betrayed me with tears streaming down from it.

"I'm sorry baby, please don't cry" he pleaded and wiped the tears off my eyes with his thumb before placing a soft kiss on my lips and my body instantly felt relaxed with the feeling of his lips on mine that I wanted to just take the time to savor his taste, but something wasn't right somewhere. My wolf wasn't happy or satisfied and I didn't feel those sparks I used to feel.

After some time, he pulled out of the kiss with a smile on his face, "you should eat your food before it gets cold " he gestured towards the food and this surely made me happy as I hadn't quite eaten anything lately.

"Thank you" I said with a smile and dug the fork into the delicious pancakes with syrups that were almost too much, just how I love it.

"Asher!" I called out his name as he was about to leave the room.

"Yes love?" He said as he halted. If it were to be on a day before now, I would have felt butterflies dancing in my stomach but right now I really didn't feel anything at all.

"About the sacrifice I made and why I was with Alaric" I trailed on my sentence as I took the time to study his reaction but shortly afterwards he gave me a reassuring nod to continue.

"Back in the woods, Alaric wanted to kill you and I had tried to stop him but he made me make a promise to him"

"What promise did you make?" He asked with cringed brows.

"I promised to obey every of his rules as long as he never lays a finger on you" I said and gulped the pancake that was stuck in my throat with the orange juice beside me.