Chapter 12: Chapter 12

[Lucien’s POV]

“I look weird,” she said, eyeing the suit jacket I had given to her to cover herself up. She wasn’t wrong. The jacket was way too big for her and reached her knees, which made it quite clear that she had clearly borrowed it.

“What are you saying? You look good,” I lied.

“I know you don’t mean that,” she said.

I suppressed a chuckle as I took a right turn. “Are you okay?” I inquired.

She heaved a sigh, then shrugged her shoulders. “I guess so. Thanks for coming to my rescue. I will be in deep trouble if they find out before I return that I somehow got out of the prison cell,” she said.

“Return? Who said I’m taking you back?” I retorted in a gentle voice.

“I do want to leave forever, but I need to return in order to accept the Alpha’s rejection or he would hunt me down and kill me in order to be free from me. He believes the mate pull is a bondage,” she explained.

“He’s not wrong. No offence, but no one should be forced to be with anyone,” I said.

“You’re right, I guess… but he shouldn’t make me feel awful simply because he hates being mated to me. It’s not my fault that that happened,” she said.

I nodded my head. “You’re right. He’s a jerk, that’s all. Don’t worry, he won’t find you as long as you’re with me, and I’ll make sure you go back to accept his rejection during the next full moon, then take you back with me,” I told her.

She gave a small smile. “Thank you so much. I’m really grateful. However, if he does find us, just give me up without any protest. You’ve done a lot for me already, and I don’t want to put you in danger,” Nivera said.

I chuckled as I drove my car into a space in the parking lot and made the car come to a halt. “You’re really underestimating me,” I said.

She stared out the window. “Where are we?” she asked.

“This is a boutique. It has all kinds of designers stuff. You can get anything you want, and I’ll pay for it… be it clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, name it,” I explained before alighting from the car, and going over to open the door for her.

She struggled with the seatbelt for a while and I just chuckled while I watched her till she finally succeeded and stepped down.

“Wow,” she said, looking at the cars parked all over the parking lot. “There are all kinds of cars here. I was thinking yours is the biggest I had ever seen till now,” she said.

I smiled, then locked my sparkling black newly acquired G-wagon before stepping into the boutique with her. “You guys don’t have cars in your Pack?” I asked, handing over my membership card to the receptionist.

“We do… small ones. They’re nothing like this,” she said.

“It’s 2023. If your Alpha wasn’t so rigid and uptight, he’d have visited other places and embraced new inventions and technology. No wonder you were surprised when you saw a piano the other day,” I said.

The receptionist smiled, handing back my membership card to me. “Welcome, sir. We have new arrivals of Louis Vuitton shoes. I’ll get someone to show them to you,” she said.

“That can wait. I’m not here for myself today. I’m here for… for my girlfriend. I need you to give her the best of everything you have around. In fact, whatsoever she just stops to admire, I want her to have it,” I said.

“Wouldn’t that be too expensive?” Nivera whispered to me.

“It would be, but luckily for you, I have more than enough money lying around,” I told her, wearing a smirk.

“Okay, sir. Bridget would attend to you,” she said, and just then, the employee whose name tag showed she was Bridget came along, and took a small cart to help with our shopping.

“You should take the bigger one,” I said, directing her with a gesture of my hands.

“Yes, sir,” she said, then did as I had instructed.

“Wow!” Nivera exclaimed, coming across a classy white jumpsuit. That was immediately put into the trolley, and as we passed by every section, the trolley kept on filling up without her even realising it. Her eyes were just on the beautiful and attractive things that filled up the boutique.

“At this rate, she’ll buy the whole store,” Bridget noted as Nivera happily raced around excitedly like a child, touching everything and more.

“I want this bag,” she said, pointing to a cute Zara bag with feathers on it.

Bridget got a second trolley to help with the remaining things she wanted, and soon, we came to the end of the boutique, and a counter was cleared up for me so I could just pay at once.

I looked at Nivera and her jaw dropped open, seeing the amount of things she had just gotten within thirty minutes.

“I just thought some things looked nice. I swear, I didn’t mean to get almost the whole store. Let’s return some,” she said, and I could tell she was feeling guilty.

I smiled. “It’s okay. We’re not returning anything,” I said.

I was given the bill. “This is cheaper than I expected,”‘I muttered before handing the clerk my credit card which checked.

“Thank you, Mr O’Hara, for your usual patronage. As a gift, we would be giving a free makeover to your girlfriend,” the clerk said.

I looked at Nivera. She really did need a makeover. “When would that be?” I asked.

“Whenever you want, Mr O’Hara,” she replied.

“How about now? Let her wear one of the sexy dresses she just got. I’m taking her to a fancy restaurant after this,” I said.

“Okay, sir. You can go upstairs. I’ll call the Beauty team,” she said.

“Thank you. Please, ensure the items we bought are safe,” I said, then left hand-in-hand with Nivera to the elevator.

“Where are we? I hate confined spaces,” she nearly freaked out.

I chuckled. “Calm down. It’s just an elevator. This place is more than just a boutique. They have provisions for Beauty, Spa and Makeup on the other floors, and that’s where we’re headed to. You need a makeover,” I explained.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“You’ll see,” I said, and at that instant, the elevator doors opened then I got out with her tagging along.

“Wow. Are we still in the same building?” she asked.

I nodded my head. “Yes. We’re just on a higher ground,” I responded.

“I just realised I never asked for your name till the clerk called you Mr O’Hara. It sounds lovely. I’m sorry, I should have asked earlier,” she said.

I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. However, it is true that we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Lucien O’Hara,” I said, extending my hand for a handshake.

She chuckled, then shook hands with me. “I am Nivera Hayes. It is a pleasure to meet you for the third time,” she said, and her smile widened.

“The pleasure is all mine,” I said, then lifted her hand and pressed my lips to it.

“So, tell me, Mr O’Hara. Who are you? And why do you keep showing up in front of me? You already know I am an Omega, and I know you aren’t an ordinary human being. What exactly are you?” she inquired.

I already knew she was going to ask that question. “You tell me. What do you think I am?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I really can’t wrap my head around it. Are you a ghost?” Nivera asked.

I shrieked with laughter. “A ghost? Seriously? That’s all you could think of?” I asked.

“You appear and disappear. I don’t know what else to think,” she said.

“Well, then, you have all the time during your makeover to think about who I am,” I said, opening the door to the Makeover room and pushing her into it gently.

“Welcome, Mr O’Hara,” the girls inside squealed with excitement.

“Thank you. Please, do a good job for my girlfriend. I’ll be in the waiting room,” I said.

“Sure thing,” they responded and I left, closing the door gently, but not before I winked mischievously at Nivera.

I could hear the Alpha’s thunderous voice yelling and demanding where Nivera was. I was surprised that he had found out so quickly that she had gone missing. I heaved a sigh, hoping she didn’t hear his voice as well. The last thing I needed was him confusing her and getting in the middle of what I believed was a good thing we had going on.

I wanted Nivera by my side, and no one was as eager as I was for the next full moon. Perhaps, if she truly did accept his rejection, she would be free from him and things could go back to how they once were.

Chapter Twelve

[Lucien’s POV]

I headed to the waiting room, scrolling through TikTok and laughing to myself, but not because of what the TikTok creators were busy doing, but because thoughts of her kept dancing in my head and it just made me happy that she was close to me now.

I was a little bit scared because of how Celeste had described the mate pull, that she might end up leaving my side, but just for now, I wasn’t going to let the thought of that eat me up.

An hour went by, but I didn’t even realise it until the door opened and she stepped in. I looked up, pausing the video I was watching about a cookie recipe I knew I was never going to try, and my mouth flew open as soon as I laid my eyes on her.

I stood up in awe of her. She was the prettiest woman I had ever seen, back then and even now, and her beauty radiated throughout the entire room.

With fair skin which glowed like milk, long blonde hair which had been let down and touched her waist, and rare green eyes that sparkled adorably, she definitely was the star in the room. She was clad in a long sleeveless satin royal blue dress which accentuated her slender figure. The dress had two slits running from each end of her thighs and an open back. It hugged her curves greatly and matched the silver shoes and silver purse with earrings she also had on.

“Why are you looking at me that way? I look weird, don’t I?” she asked, appearing nervous as she fiddled with her fingers.

I got a hold of myself and walked towards her. The makeup was a simple natural one, and didn’t do much to her appearance. She was already so beautiful, she didn’t need it.

“You look stunning,” I said to her, and a smile appeared on her face.

“Thank you,” she said to me.

“We saved this, so you can wear it on her,” one of the girls who had brought her in said, giving me a jewellery box.

I smiled and collected it from her. It contained a silver necklace with a small diamond pendant, which I took out and leaned closer to her to wear it.

The veins on her neck seemed even brighter and more obvious as I wore her necklace and they appeared to be calling unto me, as though they were inviting me to have a taste. My fangs begged to be let out, but I bit my lip to restrain myself from drinking from her blood and quickly hooked her necklace, then withdrew from her.

“What took you so long?” she asked.

“Nothing. It’s just… the veins on your neck,” I heard myself say.

“What?” she seemed shocked.

“Never mind,” I said to her, then turned over to the girls.

“Thank you so much for your time. We will head out now,” I said, then took her hand in mine and led us both out.

There and then, she accidentally hit her finger against the door and the injury from the needle opened up again, thus making my hunger increase.

“Why do you bleed all the time? Please, take care of it. I’ll be downstairs,” I said, then made to leave in a hurry as I didn’t want to be around her while she was bleeding.

She held my hand and stopped me from leaving. “Why? I can’t go down in that elevator thing alone. I wasn’t lying when I said I hate confined spaces,” she said.

“I… I don’t want to be around you right now. Usually, I can control it, but Celeste interrupted my meal earlier on and now, I am so hungry and I don’t want to do anything I would end up regretting,” I blurted out.

“What are you taking about?” she asked.

I swallowed harder as the blood kept dripping from her finger. “I’ll explain later. Please, just let me go,” I said, biting my lips and restraining my fangs.

It seemed like she understood immediately as the next thing she did was dangle the bleeding finger in front of me. “It’s my blood, right? That’s the reason you can’t be around me right now, and your thirst for it is what makes you appear whenever I bleed. You’re a vampire, aren’t you?” she asked.

I swallowed hard and began to walk away as quickly as my legs could carry me. I would have teleported, but we were in a public place.

“Don’t walk out on me, please,” she said, hurrying after me.

We got to the elevator and a few other persons were there, so she kept quiet and just stayed close to me. I dipped my hands into my pockets as my claws were starting to spring out from my nails.

“Do something about that injury, will you?” I asked in a huff as the doors opened.

“Am I right? Are you truly a vampire? Wow, this is amazing. I have only heard stories about your kind and read books about you guys. So, you actually do exist? Wow!” she exclaimed.

I stopped right in my tracks and turned to face her. “You think it’s amazing? Is that really what you think?” I asked, and no, I wasn’t smiling this time around.

“Yes, of course. You get to live forever, that’s literally the best thing ever,” she said, not as excited as she sounded before.

I scoffed. “I can’t really blame you though, you’re a child and you know nothing. The ability to live on earth for centuries isn’t a blessing, but a curse. All your loved ones will eventually die and you won’t forget a single person’s death. And you know what’s worse? You might end up meeting someone you love again because they’ve been reincarnated, but they won’t even have a single memory of you. It’s fucked up, and no, I don’t think it’s amazing,” I stated in a firm voice.

“Still…”

I cut in. “Trust me, you won’t think it’s amazing when I give in to my hunger and feed on your blood,” I said, then walked out on her, leaving her with a perplexed look on her face.

Thankfully, my anger lessened the hunger I initially felt. I couldn’t feel too many things at the same time, and that wasn’t a vampire thing. That was a Lucien thing.

The employees helped me carry all the items we bought to the trunk of my car, and when they were done, I opened the door for Nivera to go in, but she just stood there looking at me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she replied in a soft tone, then stepped in.

The anger I previously felt turned into guilt. I hated the fact that I had gotten mad at her over something that wasn’t her fault and I didn’t like how she looked now. Sometimes, my anger got the best of me and I often didn’t mind, but not when it came to her.

The goal had been to keep her by my side and get her to fall in love with me again, but I had literally just threatened to feed on her blood. It was a mystery as to how she had still gotten into my car instead of running far away from me.

I wasn’t always this way, but perhaps, four hundred years of loneliness had turned me into an irritable being. I shook my head, blocking out the excuses that kept popping up. There was no excuse for my actions, but I could still make things right, and that’s exactly what I was going to do.