Page 151 of A Female Alpha for the Lycan Prince

IthoughtIwouldhave enough time to run to my car and make it home before the thunderstorm struck full force, but one glance at the black clouds tells me otherwise. Thick raindrops are starting to fall, and soon I can’t see anything beyond the wall of rain.

“Celine!” Marius yells, rushing back towards me through the heavy rain. We’d just bid our goodbyes—with me still second-guessing all the choices I’ve made today. I’m surprised to see he’s come back so fast. “Let’s get out of the rain,” he tells me. “You would be driving right into the epicenter of the storm if you left now.”

He’s right, driving back to Moon Blood would lead me directly toward the thunderstorm. “Did you just come back to tell me that?” I ask.

A strong wind picks up, howling around us. “What did you say?” He calls toward me. “I didn’t catch that.”

“Why did you come back?” I yell through the noise.

“There is no way I would let you stay here in the rain on your own,” he says, looking around frantically. Starbucks is overcrowded right now, and it seems like he is looking for an alternative. He points at the building to our right. “Come on, let’s get in there!”

“The indoor aquarium?” I ask, surprised.

“It’s the closest to us, aside from Starbucks,” he explains. “The next restaurant or coffee shop is further down the road; we’d be drenched by the time we reached it. Besides, who knows if there is even space there.”

He’s right. “Let’s go,” I agree.

We both take a deep breath, and I count down from three, before we take off and race toward the aquarium. The last time I visited it, I was still a child. It’s a beautiful place, with a huge indoor aquarium, and it’s a popular dating spot on normal days. It’s completely deserted though. “We are not open today,” the security guard at the entrance tells us.

Marius looks at him beggingly. “We have nowhere else to go,” he explains. “I will pay for our visit, but please let us in.”

I notice a few other people running toward the aquarium too. They must have had a similar idea.

The guy looks at us and then at the storm outside. “Yeah,” he mutters. “Can’t send you out there. At least you don’t look like serial killers.”

I smile at him. “Thank you, that’s very kind!”

He warms up under my smile. “No problem, missy. The restaurant is not open today, obviously, but there are vending machines.” He lets us and the small crowd of five people behind us in and leads us toward the main hall of the aquarium. It’s so weird to be in here now. While it’s completely indoors, we can see the weather outside. It’s a bit scary, almost like we’re surrounded by the forces of nature. “You a couple?” the man asks us.

Marius shrugs. “I’m working on it,” he states.

He has some nerve! I can’t help but snort. Once we are on our own, Marius makes his way toward a vending machine and gets us two cans of soda and two Mars bars. Then we sit down on one of the benches to wait.

“Looks like we won’t be leaving this place anytime soon,” he says, and he can barely hide his joy at that thought.

I sigh. What has gotten into me? One part of me feels giddy to be here with Marius, and to see him actually putting effort into this. Then another part of me still feels wary and disappointed by how he treated me before, and then yet another part of me feels so pissed about everything he had to endure as a child.

I decide to talk it out with my better half.I don’t know how to feel about all this, Danica…

That’s okay,she says.You don’t need to rush anything, and we certainly don’t need to figure everything out at once.

The mate-bond is exhausting sometimes,I mutter.

Could you leave him though? After everything he’s told you?

I shake my head.No,I admit, feeling how the fury inside me is growing again. Calvin. That vile creature. I knew something felt off about him, but to even try to imagine what he did… I have to fight all of my instincts not to get up and run to the dungeons of Silverlake and give him a fucking piece of my mind. How dare he hurt an innocent child. How dare he hurt our mate!

Danica growls.

Right then, the indoor aquarium is illuminated by lightning, reminding me that I’m indoors right now… surrounded by humans.

I can’t let her out right now.

We’ll make sure to make him pay,she huffs.

I nod, allowing my thoughts to calm down a bit.I didn’t give Marius a chance just out of pity,I finally admit. It’s… I can understand him better now. I can still remember how I was back when my brother and Mom died. Everyone handles pain differently. I just wish he wouldn’t have been such an ass to me before.

You know,Danica says after a while.You said you would give him a chance as friends. Start from there. There was a reason you gave him your promise to try. It’s okay to feel hurt, but don’t base your decision on your pride.