Derek stared keenly at his little witch, while she refused to share the dream which had caused her to shudder some minutes ago, and while she chose to change the topic. He couldn't help but feel that his mate had started hiding things from him. And he didn't like it one bit. Was she onto something already? Did she know something that he didn't? Has she caught onto their numerous lies? Did Claire and her mother say something, out of the ordinary to her? He thought, his fear increasing by each question. If any of these questions going on his mind has a positive answer, then there would be a problem. His little witch wouldn't trust him again, and inadvertently, she wouldn't tell him any happenings either.
"Tell her about us, when there is still time." His wold, Maru, mentioned.
Actually this statement had been a mantra on Derek's mind since the last night when he had felt a strange presence in his mate's room. He had also noticed that his little witch had been acting strange since the night, always aloof or absentminded, and her smiles were no longer seen. Something must have happened. He thought, still staring at her. He noticed that she was also avoiding his eyes. What the hell? He screamed in his mind, forgetting that she had asked him a question a minute ago. His mind was already fogged with thoughts of her, and her untold troubles which she didn't want to share either.
"I wouldn't want to share either if I was her.." Maru, his wolf, opined; causing him to sigh deeply.
"I will tell her on my birthday then. I will explain everything about us to her." He said to his wolf through their own mind link.
"That is next week. That is procrastination." Maru mentioned, not pleased with his reply. It wanted to be revealed already to its beautiful mate.
"That is my choice." Derek replied stubbornly, trying to delay a rejection which he thought would come if his little witch knew of his identity.
"Well, I hope it won't be too late by then." Maru said, tired of being a convincing panel. Its human version would anything he wants after all.
"It won't." He stated, blinking his eyes rapidly when he heard his mate call out his name for the second time.
"Derek!" She had shouted, perhaps out of impatience, or if he was lucky, out of concern.
"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I had zoned out." He added.
"What were you thinking about?" She asked, and he smiled at the irony of the situation. Just some minutes ago, he had asked her about her dream, and she had told him not to concern himself about it, that it had been nothing. And now, she was asking the same question that he had asked then, expecting a reasonable reply. He wondered what would happen if he also replied nothing.
"Don't try it. It wouldn't end well." His wolf, Maru, mused; making him smile. Females and their wonderful but weird characters. He thought, remembering the scenario that had happened between his mother and his father some months ago.
His mother had been annoyed for some reason that he couldn't tell as he had just been returning from the pack's training. And when he and his father had questioned her about it, she had just replied that it had been nothing; and he remembered thinking that his mother had been funny, citing nothing as the cause of her annoyance.
But later in the day, precisely in the late evening, when his father had come out of the main conference room with his beta, looking all angry and worried at the same time, she had rushed up to him, inquiring about what had befallen his countenance. He remembered that his father had also replied nothing, wanting to pay back for her earlier misconduct towards him, but the resultant effects of that simple reply hadn't been funny. He smiled again as he remembered how his father had pleaded for leniency far into the night for committing no crime, even after telling her why he had been angry. Women! He thought, smiling again.
"Why are you smiling?" He heard his little witch ask, and folded his lips, beating himself up for zoning out again. That was two questions now with two lies to tell. He thought guiltily.
"I just remembered a play I had watched when I was younger." He finally answered, staring at her with all the sincerity he could muster, while threatening hail and brimstone on his cousin as he heard her cough.
"Okay." Emma muttered, not wanting to question him further on why he had been thinking of a play, instead of answering her question; or what had been the connection between the play and her earlier question. She also took notice of Maya's sudden cough at his statement. She knew he was lying, but that was the least of her concerns. She looked out of the window in the room, It was already getting dark. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go home and think; to strategize on how to deal with Claire, whom she was sure wasn't an ordinary human; perhaps a witch.
"Soo how long have I been out?" She asked, repeating her first question to him.
"Close to three hours." Derek replied, before turning around and beckoning on his cousin to come closer.
"Wow.." Emma muttered, trying to hold in her anger as she remembered what had transpired between her and Claire, Claire's mother too, in Clem's room. She couldn't still believe that the older woman had already been baptized with sheer hatred for her. What had she done? Was Derek that important or royalistic? And what the hell was the Luna? She thought, remembering the last statement she had heard before slipping into oblivion. Looking at the duo in front of her, she knew that they wouldn't tell her anything, even if they knew.. She had to make the research by herself, while waiting patiently foe her new friend, Zipfara.