Chapter 7: Chapter 7

[Lucien’s POV]

Her hands felt cold as I held them, but thankfully, her heart had started beating steadily. I felt terrible. No one deserved to go through this much trouble, especially not someone like her. She was too pure and good to suffer this much.

“What are you thinking about?” Celeste asked.

I heaved a sigh. “I’m wondering if her life would have been any better if I had met her earlier,” I said, not even bothering to look up at her. I was still mad at her, but she was the only one I could think of that would make Eloise better.

“Once again, I am very sorry. You can hate me for the rest of eternity. I don’t deserve to be forgiven,” Celeste said.

“At least, you know that,” I said, then continued. “She has been like this for three days now. When will she regain her consciousness?” I inquired.

She had just opened her mouth to speak, when the girl stirred in her sleep. She soon began sweating profusely as she twisted and turned, panting heavily and whispering inaudible words.

“Eloise, Eloise,” I called, trying to wake her up.

Her eyes remained closed, but it was clear that she was having a bad dream. “Eloise, open your eyes,” I said, with urgency ringing in my voice.

Soon after, her eyes opened and I gave a breath of relief, while she just remained on the bed, laying on her back and staring with widened eyes at the ceiling.

“Are you okay?” I asked, and as my hand touched hers, she flinched and quickly darted her eyes over to me. She appeared shocked, and that increased the moment she laid her eyes on Celeste. She moved her eyes from me to Celeste in a random sequence, then looked all over the room and that was when she realised she was somewhere different from where she was used to. She quickly sat up on the bed.

“Who… who are you people? What do you want with me? And… and where am I? Am I still dreaming or is this a figment of my imagination?” she asked with a stutter.

“You’re not dreaming, child. We are people who care about you and all we want is for you to be okay and safe,” Celeste said in her deep, yet feminine voice.

“Child? You look just old enough to be my older sister. Why call me a child?” she snapped.

I chuckled. “So, of all the things Celeste said, that’s the only thing you could pick up. You’ve not changed, Eloise,” I said.

That was when she looked at me again, carefully. “You! You’re the guy I met the other day, not so? What do you want from me? Have you been following me?” she asked, looking really frightened.

“Think about your life, child. Who in their right senses would follow you when you have nothing to offer them?” Celeste asked.

I wanted to butt in and criticise her for what she had said, but Eloise said something that stopped me.

“That’s true, but he might think I am someone else who has something to offer. Let me make this clear. I am not Eloise, or whoever you think I am. I am Nivera! My name is Nivera Hayes, and I obviously have nothing to offer you. I am a cursed and possessed Omega who doesn’t even know her biological parents, so leave me alone and let me be on my way,” she yelled, almost at the top of her voice.

I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression.

“Why are you quiet?” she asked.

“I just don’t know what to say, Nivera, is it? You said I should leave you alone, and I wasn’t even holding you, and if you want to be on your way, the door is wide open,” I said.

“Really?” she asked, with her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

I nodded my head in the affirmative and pointed at the door.

She didn’t hesitate to jump down from the bed and hurry over to the door which she struggled to open for a good three seconds, and when she finally succeeded, she stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

“She’ll be back in one minute. I bet my Cheddar neckpiece,” Celeste said.

I stood up from the chair beside the bed and went to the fridge to grab a bottle of red wine. “She’ll be back in twenty seconds. You can have the bracelet I stole from Buckingham House two centuries ago,” I said.

“It’s been almost twenty seconds and she isn’t back yet. I’ll soon be the proud owner of that bracelet. You could never use it anyway.”

She had barely finished speaking when “Nivera” opened the door and came back in, with leaves sticking out in her hair and looking like a completely exhausted wanderer.

“Twenty seconds on the dot. When can I have the Cheddar neckpiece?” I inquired.

She fumed with rage. “I’ll get it from my cottage then bring it to you,” she said.

“When?” I asked, with a satisfied grin.

“When do you want it?” she asked.

“Now,” I said.

“Hello, can’t you guys see me? I’m back,” Nivera announced.

“Fine then,” Celeste said, completely ignoring her.

She then made some incantations, and a celestial ball appeared which enlarged into a portal and then she dived in, much to Nivera’s surprise and once she had vanished, the portal also vanished.

Nivera stood with her mouth open in awe, and just to tease her, I took the hamburger Celeste had just microwaved and tossed it into her mouth, jolting her back to reality. She took out the hamburger from her mouth and kicked me in the leg.

“Ow!” I grunted, pretending that it did hurt.

“That’s exactly what you deserve. But tell me, what just happened now? Where did she disappear to?” she asked, curiosity in her eyes.

“She went to get me something,” I replied, going into the living room and sitting on the couch as I turned on the TV and poured some wine into a glass.

She followed me out, looking around the house with immense wonder, and touching every single thing she saw, ranging from the picture frames, dining table, the television itself as well as the expensive paintings and sculptures. She finally settled at the piano table and sat down, running her fingers along all the keys.

“Whoa,” she said, hearing the sound it produced.

I gave a half-smile and went over to meet her. “You’ve never seen a piano?” I asked.

She nodded her head in the affirmative. “I have never seen most things I am seeing in this house. You’re sure I’m not dreaming?” she asked, looking up at me.

I swatted her on the back and she screamed aloud. “What was that for?”

I shrugged. “To show you that you’re not dreaming,” I said.

“You’re evil,” she said, furiously.

“If I am evil, how about those people that pounced on you and almost killed you in the process?” I asked.

That was when she seemed to remember the incident that had made me bring her here in the first place. Her expression dulled and I could see tears forming in her eyes.

She swallowed hard. “It’s my fault. I… I shouldn’t have spoken while she was speaking. That’s why they hurt me the way they did,” she said.

“No, El… Nivera. No, it’s not your fault. They’re the ones who should be blamed for what they did to you. You did nothing wrong, okay? Now tell me, what do you want me to do to them? Whatever it is, I will do it for your sake,” I said.

“No, it’s fine. You don’t need to do anything,” she said.

I sighed in frustration. “Even in this life, you’re like this. If you had let me kill Arthur, your life wouldn’t have ended so prematurely. When will you ever learn that you must strike first before your adversary does?” I asked, feeling slightly angry at her.

She stood up from the bench in front of the piano and walked towards me. “The Moon Goddess teaches that it pays to be good, and vengeance is her job, not mine or yours,” she said, taking my hands in hers.

“Unfortunately, Nivera, I do not believe in the teachings of your Moon Goddess,” I said.

She smiled with an optimistic disposition. “Well, that’s something you need to work on. In the meantime, tell me: how exactly were you able to save my life? I know it was you who spoke to Malia. How did you do that? How did you know I was in trouble? Who are you and what do you want from me? More importantly, who was I in my past life? Was I this Eloise you keep calling me? What was she like? How does she have anything to do with me?” she asked.

It was finally the moment of truth, and she deserved to hear nothing but the whole truth. I needed to find a way around it without causing danger to her, especially as I had been forbidden to open up my heart to her.

“Eloise was my first love,” I replied, even though I felt like I needed to say more.

She giggled. “And you’re still so hung up on her that you see everyone in her, right?” she asked.

I shrugged. “If you say so,” I responded.

She probably wanted to say something, but just then, we heard a thunderous voice yell: “Where is she? Why is it that none of you has been able to find her?”

“Do you hear that, too?” she asked.

“Yeah. I am surprised you can, too,” I replied.

“I should be the one who is surprised. The mate pull can make me hear his voice if he needs me.” She seemed overjoyed. “That’s Alpha Tyler’s voice. He needs me and that’s probably why I can hear him. He is even looking for me,” she said, happily.

I was annoyed. “He might be looking for you, but he doesn’t seem too happy about it,” I retorted.

“No. He’s just angry over the fact that he hasn’t seen me,” she said.

I rolled my eyes at her. “Are you that dumb? The dude obviously hates you and would do anything to get you out of his sight, so why do you think he would be angry that he hasn’t seen you? He would be overjoyed,” I said.

“Exactly, but yet, he isn’t overjoyed. Now, stop standing there and show me the way out,” she said, glaring at me.

I swallowed. “I already did.”

“No, you didn’t. That door led me to a frozen and chilly island and I couldn’t see anything through the fog there. Show me how to get back to my Pack,” she said.

“And why should I do that when your life is at stake?”

“Because that’s where my home is! That’s where I belong. And you’re wrong about my life being in danger. My people might be many things, but they are not murderers,” she strongly said.

I heaved a sigh. “You’re going to regret this,” I said to her.

“I will not. Now, let me go. You can’t force me to be here against my will,” she stated.

“Fine, then. Give me your hand,” I said angrily, and grabbed her hand before she even extended it to me.

“Close your eyes and imagine where you want to be,” I said.

“Thanks for your hospitality, but I do hope you don’t appear in front of me again. I’ll be fine without your help,” she said.

To say her words didn’t hurt would be a terrible lie. “Sure thing… but if you ever do need me, your blood calls to me. Always remember that,” I said.

She didn’t look like she believed me and just closed her eyes. The next thing I knew, her eyes were closed and she vanished out of sight. I looked at where she had just been standing only a few seconds ago and bit my lower lip.

I was not just mad at the creator anymore, but I was also mad at her. After all we shared, she just didn’t remember me, really? She didn’t want me to appear in front of her again, really? I was so done already. That wasn’t my Eloise. That was just someone that looked like her, and I was going to respect her wishes and leave her alone henceforth.