Chapter 49: Chapter 49

"Could you believe those two? Could you believe my mother? I mean, I couldn't sleep last night because of them. If I could just get my hands on Jim," he said mimicking strangling him in the air. He was pacing back and forth, throwing his arms in every direction and fuming with anger.

Alice understood how Max was feeling because if she was in his position, she would've acted the same way or even did worse. Seeing Max this angry really scares her and makes her worried about him if his mother decides to actually marry Jim. Max never gets upset over anything. He's always calm and quiet. He never let things get to him. But seeing him this angry means he's really upset.

Jim's a good man. He lost his wife and only kid in a car accident years ago and he hasn't found love until now that he has met Shannon. In some aspects, Alice doesn't see any negative side of their union. Max isn't even giving them a chance.

"But... they seem so happy," Alice said, trying to lighten up the mood but it was as though she worsened it. He threw his head back and scoffed while walking back and forth the kitchen floor.

Alice sighed as she lowered her head. She had come to realize Max was sort of like her. Stubborn when he's angry.

"Could you please sit down first," she said, looking up at him. He pauses with a sigh and pulled a bar stool, and sat in front of her.

"Why are you so upset about this?"

He takes his eyes off her and scoffed, shaking his head. She knew he meant she'd never understand the pain he's in.

"Look at me, Max. Is it because he's human?"

"Of course, it is because of that. And she freaking told him everything about us. It's the reason why they decided to have the wedding in your pack and Fredrick agreed."

"My dad agreed to have their wedding in Scuris?" Alice asked dumbfoundedly. She lowered her head to stare at the blank space for a moment. She mumbled under her breath as she thought of how her father really agreed to have humans in his territory.

"I just can't believe she'd make that kind of decision without asking me first..." his voice was now soft and low.

Alice looks at his face as she tilt her head. "Oh Max," she said, massaging his shoulder. He exhales, placing his hand on hers as he shows his appreciation.

"I know everything is just too much for you to digest at once..."

"They're moving too fast," he said, clearly tensed. Alice squeezed his shoulder so he'd let her speak.

"But they're in love. And they've been together for like two year now. So, I don't think they're moving too fast. They're just in love and they want that to bloom. And the least you could do for them is be happy for them, okay?"

His eyes lowered as he sighed. He's hesitant to speak because he doesn't know if he could do that. He loves his mother so much and he can't get over the fact that his father was gone and he has to deal with seeing his mom with another guy. It's hard to think about it. He doesn't even want to think about it. He knows how much Jim makes his mother happy and how he'd done so much for them ever since they moved to New York.

"Plus, he's a scientist so, it explains why he isn't that much afraid of us," Alice added when he doesn't say anything.

He looks at her and she smiled at him. Her smile was contagious and he had to smile back.

"You're right..." he nods his head. "I know I'm getting worried over nothing. She'll be fine, right? We'll all be fine."

She gave him a tight lip smile because she knew what he meant by his last statement. He was talking about them and her current bad situation.

Max hasn't spoke to her about how he feels about her. But he knows that she knows. He just haven't confessed to her yet. Or maybe he wanted to but something always comes up.

"At the end, we're all going to have a happy ending. I can feel it."

He chuckled softly, nodding his head in agreement. "About that," he said, lowering his gaze, as if what he's about to say requires him not to look her straight in the eye.

He grabs her hand from his shoulder and held both of her hands. "Alice," he calls her name in a subtle way and she loves the sound of it. His eyes were fixed on their clasped hands as he caressed her knuckles with his thumbs.

"There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about," he said as his eyes closes briefly, and when he opens them again, he's no longer looking down. He's looking straight at her.

She meets his gaze, and the second she does, her mouth gets dry. He's concentrating on her, and the serious look on his face makes her feel uncomfortable and nervous and interesting, all at once. She nods his head to urge him.

He breathes out through his mouth and nod. "Do you remember the day we carved our initials together on the oak tree the day I was leaving?"

She nods her head, her heart was beating wildly in her chest but she chose to ignore it because she might pass out or not concentrate on what Max is about to say.

"I felt devastated. I wanted to stay but I knew my mother wouldn't leave without me. I thought of you everyday since we left and I hoped to come back to you one day and..."

There was a knock on the door but Alice wanted him to finish his sentence. He seemed relieved that someone interrupted him because he heaved a sigh and briskly got to his feet to answer the door.

She groans softly and followed him suit. It was her parents. She gives them a quizzical look because they weren't meeting until afternoon. It was only ten in the morning.

"Hey, Max, honey," Linda said, waving at Max and hugging Alice.

"Mom, dad, is everything okay?" She asked, looking at each of them.

"We're going back to Alaska today," Fredrick says, the words heavy in his mouth because he knew Alice wouldn't want that.

Her face falls as she shook her head. "I thought you'd be here until next week?"

"We thought so too honey but your father's been called and we have to head back."

"Oh," she mumbled, nodding her head. She exhaled, trying to hide her immense of sadness but it was hard to.

"We've already booked a flight and it's in two hours," Fredrick announced, making things worse for Alice.

"I'll take you to the airport. Let me grab my jacket," Max said and walked toward his room.

Alice folds her arms over her chest as she looks at them. She doesn't say anything but her face expression says it all.

She was thinking of so many things. She was thinking of following them back home. She was thinking of how she has enjoyed being with them for the past one week.

"You're coming for Shannon's wedding, right?" Linda asked and Alice nods her head, blinking back her tears. She enfolds them in a hug. They hug her back and it's the best feeling she's ever felt in a while.

"I'll go get my jacket also," she said and hurried to her room. Max was already out before she was.

They stepped out of the apartment and head toward the elevator. It opened before they reached it and Ryan appeared. He looks at Alice with a straight face and avert his gaze away.

He knew it was her parents because she looks exactly like the both of them. She has her mother's grey hair and blue eyes, and her father's point nose and thin jaw.

"Good morning," he greets them. Fredrick was skeptical at first. "I'm Max's neighbor and Alice's boss. She works in my coffee shop."

"Ah," Linda said, smiling as her brows shoots up the roof. "I remember you," she said cheerfully as she stretched out her hand. They shake hands. It's amusing how the way she talks even sounds like Alice.

"It's lovely meeting you both," she said and waved them off.

Alice rolled her eyes as she hit the ground floor button. They all enter the elevator and she could already feel her mother's nagging questions and her father's judgmental look.

"He seems nice," Linda began. They were at the back of the elevator while Max and her father stood in front. She noticed the way Max's back stiffens at the mention of Ryan being nice. She wanted to cackle up but suppressed the laughter. The smile on her face made her mother to think otherwise.

"You like him, don't you?"

Fredrick turns around swiftly to look at her. Alice shakes her head, her eyes gaping with a slight of fear that she doesn't even know the reason. If she wanted to be with Ryan, no one was going to stop her.

"I don't, I promise you. No human boyfriend," she said sternly. Fredrick smiled and nodded, making Linda to scoff.

"So what if the girl wants to be with him? He seems like a great guy."

Max cleared his throat and immediately stepped out of the elevator when the doors slide open. He's walking ahead of them and Alice knew why. She ignores him and said hi to Ben before they all walked out of the complex.

Their suitcases were already outside. Max helped them load it in his trunk before the left to the airport.

Half an hour they were at the airport, saying their last goodbyes. Seeing her parents leave made her feel guilty—like she just made the wrong choice of staying here. She felt like she shouldn't have left at the first place. She should've stayed with them because she's all they got.

Max noticed her mood and wrapped his arm around her shoulder for comfort. She leaned over his touch and relished it. "C'mon, let's go home." He guides them out of the airport.

**

In every direction there is a star, should she fly into the universe any way would be the right way. She tilts her head, gazing upward, eyes more open than they can be in the fullness of day, not looking at one star, yet somehow seeing them all at once.

She breathes out gently—this was serene. It was all she needed.

He stroked his hand up and down her arm and looked down at her. She looks at him and smiled. "Thank you." Her voice makes him to smile for no reason. Possibly because it's the only voice he gets forward to hearing every morning.

"I'm glad you're okay now," Max said to her. She'd been upset since they left the airport. She spent the rest of her Sunday in her room until Max decided to join her and met outside at the balcony.

She was staring at up at the gazillion stars, smiling at nothing but her imaginations. It's a beautiful sight to stare at.

She frees herself from his hold and moved to the ledge. She was now watching out to the city. Her eyes wandering from a building to the next. She seemed intrigued by whatever her eyes caught sight of even though she had seen it several times.

"What was it you wanted to tell me?" Her voice caught him off guard as he wasn't expecting her to bring it up.

His throat instantly went dry as a chill ran down his spine to his feet. He cleared his throat and moved closer to her. Her face was still facing straight but when he stood beside her, she turned to look at him.

She shoots her eyebrow in a questioning way and he shakes his head. "It was nothing... I just wanted to tell you that I missed you so much when we were apart..."

"Max," she called him, her eyes were glassy and he knew that she knew it wasn't what he wanted to say.

He chew on the corner of his lower lips as he breathe out gently. His eyes were searching hers and it gave him hope even though he knows he's not getting what he wants.

She's looking up at the sky again and her eyes grew long. He doesn't look up but by the looks on her face, she was looking at something astonishing. "I felt a drop of rain," she whispers.

He raises his head up and the stars were hidden behind the grey clouds. He felt the drops also and more came. "We should go in," he said because this rain won't wait until they were done talking.

"I wanna watch the rain fall," she told him. He knew how much she loved the rain.

He grabbed her hand and guided her into her room. He doesn't close the glass door. They stood inside her room while the rain begin to fall.

There was a smile on her face and it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her orbs lightened up as her eyes wander in every direction the rain fell.

He wished he was kissing her rather than standing there, staring at her.

"He's so lucky to have you as his mate."

Her smile falls as her expression freezes, as if his words jolted her with a bolt of lightning. It kind of did because she wasn't expecting to hear that from him. She slowly turned to look at him and he's smiling at her already.

The room lights were off but the occasional lightening helps her get a glimpse of his face.

"Dominic. He's your fated mate..." That sentence seemed hard for him to say. His voice trailed off toward the end as though he was attempting to stop himself from finishing his words. The truth was bitter but he has to face it if he wants to move on.

"How... what?" She chuckled anxiously. It started from he wanted to tell her something to Dominic is her fated mate. "What makes you think that I'm going to take him back?"

Max looks out the balcony and shrugged. "Because you guys are meant to be."

She was taken aback by his quick decision. "What if I don't want him?"

"Oh, come on, Alice." He's facing her now. "You have to stop being stubborn and admit things to yourself. Being stubborn is what's making you have all these heartaches and confusions. It's what's bring Aaron back and Ryan pestering you." The shocking look on her face makes him to chuckle.

"Just because I don't say anything doesn't mean I don't know anything."

She lowers her gaze as her cheeks reddens for absolutely no reason. "I just..."

"Or are you going to date me?" He asked as she gasped, raising her head to look at him with gaped eyes.

"Exactly." He shoulder shrugs. "Do you know why I let him to come see you without hesitation?" He asked her and she shook her head. "Because I know he's the only man that loves you wholeheartedly and sincerely. And he's the only man that would put you first before himself."

She takes her eyes off him and took a deep breath. She chew on her lower lip as though she was about to cry. Her throat was burning with agonizing pain.

"I knew him before he even met his wife Larisa. He's been a good guy his whole life and I've always looked up to him. He's the only man I can trust around you other than me."

Alice chuckled, a very appealing, purely feminine sound. He smiled, staring at her smile while she's looking back at him.

"What's the problem?"

She folds her arms across her chest and heaved a sigh. "I don't know... I guess... I'm just scared." She sighs again, looking down but immediately bring her eyes back up.

"I think I did love him," she whispered under her breath. Her eyes were getting watery and he knew she was about to cry. Talking about Dominic always made her cry because she's messed up everything between them.

"It's been months and I think of him everyday. Sometimes I'm enraged at him for what he did and sometimes I'm thankful that he at least came into my life and gave me hope again." She looked out the open door and stared at the rain that fell in synch with her now falling tears. "It was the best thing I ever felt. I think that was love." This was the first time she had ever admitted to loving Dominic. She has never told anyone or even confessed to herself.

But now she believes it—all this while, she just needed someone to help her point it out.

Max expression was stoic. It's hard for him to hear her cry. He pulls her in a nice and tight hug, and she buries her face in his shoulder, sobbing quietly.

A long moment later she pulls away, smiling a little through her tears. "I ruined your shirt with my tears," she said, pointing at his stained shoulder.

He shrugs it off, smiling. "I like it that way."

She chuckled softly, hugging herself because she could still feel Max's arms around her even though he was standing few inches away from her.

"You're going to be okay," he told her, with a smile. "And he's coming back to you."

"How sure are you he hasn't moved on? I mean... I blew the man off after he travelled hours just to come see me." She rolled her eyes, annoyed at herself for what she did months back.

Max brought his hand to her forehead and brushed a lock of hair off her face to the back of her ear. "Trust me, there isn’t a word in the dictionary for how much he loves you.”