Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Chapter 22- Lost hope

LUCIUS' POV

After Pamela left, I tried to spend as much time as possible with Maia. When Pamela was around, I had Neal keep watch of the whole floor where Maia was staying. I could not have Pamela meet Maia without telling her about it first.

I would spend my morning in the office and the afternoon with Pamela. Before I went to sleep, I would visit Maia in her room and watch her for a couple of hours. There were nights where I almost lost control of myself because Lucian wanted to lay down next to her in bed.

***

FLASHBACK

"When will you tell Pamela about Maia?" Neal asked as he sat on the chair across my table.

"I'm trying to find the right time, Neal. Just be patient and keep Pamela away from Maia as much as possible," I replied.

"I can keep Pamela away from Maia, but I can't keep Maia from asking where you are and when you will set her free," he said.

"Just tell her that I'm busy. You'll figure it out, Neal. I have so much paperwork that I need to finish, and I must keep Pamela company," I complained.

Being the King Alpha was not an easy job, especially when your chosen mate arrived unannounced and was staying in your mother's room.

I had been thinking night and day about how I could tell Pamela about Maia, but I could not seem to find the perfect speech for it. Even when I tried to find the perfect time to do it, we always got interrupted.

Just like the other day, I tried telling her about it while we were in my office.

"You know, if you had already announced me as your mate a couple of months ago, I would have been able to help you. Look at you now, working all by yourself," Pamela said, sitting on the sofa.

"Even if I had already announced you as my mate, you would not be able to help. This is not the job of a Luna," I said.

"Still. I can at least help you with going over the requests and tell you which should be accepted and which should be rejected," she replied.

"This is the reason why I canceled your visit last week. I have tons of work, and I don't want you all by yourself. If you only told me that you were coming, I could have prepared something," I said, partly lying.

"How would it be a surprise if I told you that I was coming?" she asked.

"You have a point," I replied.

"So, tell me, how are the rogue situations? More importantly, when will we schedule the ceremony? Mom and Dad are itching for grandkids," she asked, chuckling.

'If she speaks about the ceremony one more time, I will snap her neck,' Lucian growled.

'Stop, Lucian. She does not know yet, remember?' I said, trying to calm him down.

'Then tell her so that she can leave us the hell alone!' Lucian spat.

'Well, I was about to if only you did not interrupt me.' I replied before blocking him from the mind link.

"Lucius?" she called out, waving her hand in front of me.

"Oh, what was that? I'm sorry. Just zoned out a bit," I lied, shaking my head.

"I was asking you about the rogue situations and the ceremony?" she asked, repeating her question.

"Oh! Well, the rogue situation is getting a lot better. The numbers have gone down but not to zero. Speaking of the ceremony, I would like to talk to you about something," I replied, walking over to the sofa.

"What is it? Are we going to start planning for it? When is it going to be?" she asked excitedly.

"Well, there is something that you must know that will affect our future plans. During one of my rogue investigations, I met...." I said, but I was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said, irritated.

"King Alpha. Lady Pamela. I'm sorry to disturb you both, but there is an urgent matter that you must attend to, King Alpha," one of the guards said.

I turned my face towards him and looked him in the eye.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The rogue that we were interrogating killed himself. We did not know that he had poison tucked in one of his molars. It was already too late when we realized," he reported.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"I'm so sorry, Pamela. I have to take a look at this," I said, apologizing to her.

"Watch her and make sure that she has four guards with her at all times until I return," I ordered.

I left the office right away and headed to the dungeon.

As soon as I got there, the head guard, watching him, reported everything to me. I was pissed off because this was the only rogue that we managed to capture alive when we saved Maia. He was the only lead we had that could point us to who might be the witch or where their hideout may be. Now, it was all gone. We were back to square one. AGAIN.

Instead of going back to Pamela, I went straight to the gym and picked up the boxing gloves. I let out all my anger and frustration at the punching bag.

I did not know how much time had passed or how long I had been in the gym, but I only stopped punching the poor punching bag when Neal called me through the mind-link.

'Lucius, where are you? Is everything okay?' he asked.

'In the gym. Letting out some steam. Why?' I replied with another question.

'I heard about the rogue. Don't worry. We will find another lead,' he said.

'He was the only lead we had for months,' I spat.

I kept throwing punches to the bag until Neal stopped me.

"Give that bag a break, Lucius. You must have been punching that thing for hours. Relax. You won't be able to find a solution if you are exhausted," he said, handing me a towel and a bottle of water.

I sat on the bench and drank.

"I was starting to have hope, Neal. Now, I just lost it. Everything that I was hoping for is gone," I complained.

"Hey. One step at a time, okay? Tell me, have you already told Pamela about Maia? I saw the guards outside her room. Is that a precaution for Maia or what?" he asked, changing the subject.

"No, I was interrupted when I was about to tell her," I replied, annoyed by the fact that I did not accomplish anything today.

"Well, you have to tell Pamela before she finds out about Maia," Neal said.

***

I buried myself again with paperwork after Maia snapped at me. She wanted me to apologize for what happened when we first met. Was it not enough that she was no longer in the attic? Instead, she was in my mother's room.

A few hours later, I had already finished a lot of work for next week. I was working on the last request I had for the day when I heard a knock on the door. Just by the smell of the scent, I already knew that it was Neal.

"What do you want, Neal?" I asked, irritated.

He opened the door and entered.

"Did you two fight or something? I just passed by Maia's room to check up on her, and she seemed sad," he said, asking for details.

"What were you doing in her room?" I growled, jealousy getting the best out of me.

"I was checking up on her like I always do," he said.

"Why do you have her painting?" I asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"She gave it to me," he answered.

"Put it down. You are not taking it," I said.

"Why would I? She gave it to me. She told me to pick a painting, and I chose this. There is no way I'm putting this down," he replied.

"Are you defying your King Alpha?" I asked.

"Are you seriously jealous of me, your Beta?" He asked, laughing.

"What's funny?" I asked.

"Something happened between the two of you for you to be this cranky. Is your pride getting in the way again, or did you underestimate her again?" he asked.

"Shut your mouth! You don't even know what happened!" I exclaimed.

"That is what I have been asking you since I got here! Have you forgotten that a full moon will appear tonight as well?" he said.

Shit! The full moon. This curse was really ruining my mind more than my own self.

"I know what day it is, Neal. You don't have to remind me that I will turn into a demonic beast in a couple of hours. It's not like it will ever change," I spat.

"Hey, talk to me. What's going on? Let me help," he said.

I let out a sigh and looked him in the eye.

"I'm tired of this life, Neal. Will I ever have the chance to become normal again? Will I have to lock myself up every full moon for the rest of my life?" I asked, sitting on the sofa.

"Don't lose hope now. After years of looking, you finally found your mate. There's a miracle every day. You just have to believe," he said as he sat next to me.

"I really hope so," I sighed.