Matthew Graydon
The sound of the wind as it hit the cliff in front of Matthew whistled through his ear. He narrowed his gaze at the correction facility that stood not far from him.
"What are we waiting for?" Baba stood next to him. "Everyone’s ready."
"Nothing." Matthew said.
"Matthew this is— wrong."
"I know."
"And yet you are still here. Trying to rescue her. This is a declaration of war against Trillium." Baba clicked her tongue. "This time, Ava was a bit careless."
"She had an opportunity. So she took it."
"You are awfully calm." Baba stared at Matthew’s calm facade. "What happened?"
"She planned all this."
"What?"
"The reason why she worked with Jude was because she wanted to see the layout of the prison. She studied everything from the perfect time to show herself to the arrest and to the place that they would take her."
Baba crossed her arms across her chest. "And the Shaman? He just tried to attack you. If I wasn’t there..."
"The Shaman wouldn’t hurt me. Maybe he wanted to render me... unconscious."
"Tsk! I can’t believe that she would do this without informing you in advance. This is very reckless and dangerous."
"That is the reason why she didn’t inform me."
"And you are not mad about that?"
Matthew turned towards her. His eyes had been golden ever since Ava was taken by that woman.
"Oh, I am mad," he smirked. "I am so mad, I want to kill people."
Baba lifted an eyebrow. Despite Matthew’s words, he was smiling. The man was awfully calm about everything!
"You are not mad at her."
"Why would I be?" he countered.
"She lied to you."
"She omitted... "
"Lying by omission."
"Who cares?" Matthew asked. "At least not me."
"You see her as your mate but clearly... she does not see you as hers."
"Does that matter?"
"So you are just going to forgive her?"
"Forgive what?" Matthew snorted. "If anything... I am mad at myself."
"Matthew— "
"I know you are going to tell me this isn’t my fault." Matthew turned his head away. "But you raised me better than that, Baba."
Baba pursed her lips in response. The man before her was more than a hundred years younger than her. And yet he was talking as if she was the one who was wrong. "You cannot blame me for feeling aggrieved. I raised you like my own child." Baba uttered in a low voice.
"You are not wrong. But we have different opinions on the matter. Did you really think I would have survived until now if I didn’t think things through?"
"Matthew, I did not say that."
"I know."
"The fact that— "
"The fact of the matter is that, Ava did this not just because she couldn’t trust me. She is trusting me to do the right thing. She did this because she didn’t want to drag me into this war."
"That—"
"A Lycan against Trillium. What do you think would happen?"
"It would be chaotic."
"Ava knew I didn’t want to go back to the Kingdom. But a war between me and Trillium could possibly drag me back to that place. So, she hid everything and trusted that I would understand what she wanted to say."
"You seem so confident."
"I am."
"Can you read her mind?"
"The reason why I am so confident is because I know she would never tell me about this."
"What?"
"She didn’t want to say that she cared."
"What are you talking about?"
"You just said it. She doesn’t see me as her mate. Perhaps, she doesn’t feel as strongly as I do. After all, the mark that I gave her... vanished."
Baba blinked.
"But the bond is there?" Baba asked.
"Yes."
"So there is no mark?"
Matthew shook his head.
"Matthew... I have never seen a mark disappear."
"Have you ever seen a witch who has survived being marked by a Lycan?"
Baba said nothing. That was because she hadn’t seen something like that before.
"I told you— "
"Let’s not talk about the possibility that she’s not a witch." Matthew interrupted her. "The probability is low."
"Is it?"
Matthew turned silent. Seeing him clench his jaw, Baba sighed.
"So, I am going to assume you are not going to attack the place?"
Matthew shook his head.
"I thought we were here to save her?"
Again, Matthew shook his head. freeweɓnovel~cѳm
Then he looked at Baba and smiled.
"I’m just here to show myself."
"What?" Baba frowned. But Matthew didn’t give her any time to respond. Instead, he lifted his head and let out a deep guttural howl. Then, he jumped off the cliff.
Before Baba could react, the rest of the Lycans that Matthew brought howled and followed him towards the cliff.
It was a scary sight.
Something that Baba knew she would never forget for years to come.
She eyed the new moon and sighed.
"How troublesome..." she uttered. "Are you going to just keep on following us?" She turned and stared at the old man who was now walking her way. No. He wasn’t exactly walking.
He was floating.
"Huehue..." Shaman smiled. "You are acting like a mother, Babaylan. It doesn’t suit you."
"I raised him and protected him myself. And now... look at him swallowing his pride for a woman!"
"Not just any woman Babaylan. They are mates... remember that."
"Mates or not... what she did is wrong."
"Is it?"
"What?"
"If Ava asked Matthew to help her. Do you think Matthew would refuse?"
Baba said nothing in response. She knew that Matthew would never refuse such request.
"So you are saying that she’s protecting him. How admirable! Now look at him! Is this really called protection? Or foolishness?"
"It’s both. Love... is both." Shaman Gaas put his hand behind his back. He stared at the darkness in front of him. "I can only hope that they realize it soon."
"Tsk. How troublesome. We are already old. How come we are still babysitting them? Aren’t they supposed to be adults?" Baba said.
"Babysitting? I only came here because I was curious."
"Curious?"
"I wanted to see Trillium’s reaction in front of... more than forty Lycans. That would be fun, no?"
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