Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Fiona’s eyes opened, and she turned to her side to see Julian fast asleep. She spent the first few
moments staring at his face. She didn’t do this to see if there was something wrong with him physically
because there was nothing to find.
He looked the same as always. He also felt, talked, and laughed the same way. Hell, he even made
love to her the same way he always had.
A little better each time.
Their mate bond was still as strong as ever, and her senses didn’t pick up any change within him,
either. Yet she knew there was something wrong. A lot of things differed from how they used to be; it
was a subtle change, but it was there, and it caused her heart to ache.
Her heart ached not just for herself, but for the entire werewolf world.
Perhaps she was overthinking it.
Was she?
First, he spent more time in Bayland than he told her he would. Then Kenneth acted strangely the day
he came back.
After his return, he displayed much change, despite it being subtle. He spoke to himself. He wasn’t the
same with her sons. He forgot to pick them up and then claimed they were too big for him to lift. Their
parent-teacher meeting was this past Friday, and he called her at the last minute and told her he
wouldn’t make it. He apologised when he came home, but it was another thing she didn’t understand.
Something was wrong with him, and that meant that the entire werewolf world was in danger.
“You know, when you stare at me this way, I feel like I have been a bad boy.” Julian’s sleepy, h oa rse
voice said it, and it sent shivers down her spine.
“Well, have you been a bad boy?” She played along with him, tucking her hands under her head but
not breaking her gaze from him.
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His lips paused for a while as he gave himself a quick thought. “I don’t think I have been. I listen to you,
I apologise when I am wrong, and I fall short on my responsibilities. The S** is still good, but I don’t
know; I might be wrong.”
Well, he was right about that.
She got on top of him and said, “You have been a good boy, and good boys get
rewarded.” She ran her hand over his hairy chest and then trailed his shoulders and up his neck.
“Oh, I love the sound of reward.” He said, and his hand came to take hold of her waist.
She smiled at him as he penetrated and began thrusting into her slowly.
She placed her hand on his head, and her lashes fluttered. She tried to see if there was something
wrong with him. Something she could figure out.
Their bond would show her the truth if she focused, and if something was wrong, she could heal it. For
this to work, she had to concentrate, and he had to stay still, but she doubted he would want to do that.
She couldn’t do this while he slept because it wouldn’t yield the same result, nor could she tell him the
truth, so this was the best time.
There was nothing wrong with him on the surface, and that meant she had to go further. She didn’t
know how long she could keep her hands on him before he noticed what she was up to and stopped
her.
Darkness invaded her senses, and she thought she saw the face of a pretty blonde lady before his
hand took hold of hers and broke her concentration. Her eyes snapped open to see him.
“Turn around.” He said, but he didn’t wait for her to move because he flipped her so that she was on
her hands and knees.
He knew what she was doing, and this was his way of interrupting that.
She couldn’t stay concentrated on what they were having because the only thing on her mind was
figuring out what happened to the man beside her.
When Julian got ready for work, Fiona didn’t.
“Are you not going to the citadel today?” he asked as he wore his black trousers.
“No. I will stay home today. I do not feel too well.” She replied.
It wasn’t a complete lie; she didn’t feel well emotionally, and she didn’t want to go to the citadel and
zone out like she did last week.
“Do you need me to stay home with you?” he asked, coming over to the bedside where
she was. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
She shook her head and smiled. “I wouldn’t want that. We do not have that luxury.”
He k*ssed her lips and said, “You are my Luna; I can afford the luxury.”
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Her hand came up to stroke his face. “I do not want you to. I will be fine. All I need is
rest.”
Three hours after his departure, she summoned the movers. These, however, were different from the
ones that went to Bayland with Julian a month ago because she wanted secrecy.
She needed to go to Bayland if she wanted to find out what happened to Julian.
The movers arrived, and together they departed for Bayland. They arrived at the far cast, which was
Bayland, and to Fiona’s surprise, the entire community was in ruin.
Bayland wasn’t as prosperous as the other communities, but it wasn’t as ruined as it is now. The
houses were burned down, and the ones that were not burned down were abandoned. The fields were
dry, with barely anything growing. There was no trace of life there and the sun and earth were harsher
than she last remember.
Everything here reeked of death.
Julian told her he had restored the peace, but this didn’t look like a restoration. If the community was
now in ruin, it meant he had lied to her.
What did he do here? What did Kenneth do here?
Why did they stay longer than they were supposed to?
What were they hiding?
She returned home with more questions than she thought she would have.
She couldn’t leave her room or speak to anyone, and when it was time to pick the boys up from school,
she asked Ophelia to bring them home. The older woman obeyed without asking questions, and even
when her sons returned, she couldn’t go to meet them.
Julian arrived home, and she stood at the window, watching him drop from the car. She watched him
enter, and a few minutes later, he opened the door of the bedroom and stepped inside. The door
closed, and Fiona didn’t turn around to see Julian. She knew her eyes would tell tales of the horror they
had seen today.
“Welcome home.” She found her voice to speak after he tossed his suitcase onto the bed and stepped
towards her.
“Thank you. How do unwell this morning.
you
feel now?” He asked, and she remembered telling him she was
“I feel much better, thanks.”
He came close to her and k*ssed her hair while his hand went around her waist. “You are welcome,
and you do not have to ask me; work was stressful as always.” He released his hold on her and
stepped away to sit on the bed.
Now she wondered if the stress came from the guilt of what he did in Bayland. Or the lies he had told
her in the past month.
“I can imagine.” She said, turned around to face him, and saw him taking off his shoes.
His head lifted, and he saw her eyes, and worry took hold of his entire being. “What is wrong?” he
asked.
Was this an act? It looked genuine, but she couldn’t trust it; she couldn’t trust anything. with him.
She didn’t answer his question; instead, she asked, “What happened in Bayland?”
His eyes narrowed at her, and she knew he was going to play the clueless game with her. “I do not
understand.”
“Okay, let me rephrase: What did you do in Bayland because what I saw didn’t look like restoring the
peace? It was the annihilation of an entire community.”
“What you saw?” He repeated and rose to his feet. “You went to Bayland?”
She stepped towards him and said, “I had to; you have become completely different since your return,
and you lied to me. You told me everything was fine in Bayland, but what I saw told me nothing was
fine, and nothing will ever be fine there. The lives destroyed can never be gotten back. How did that
happen, Julian?”
His hand balled into a fist. “You do not know what you talk about.” He shut her down and turned away
from her.
“What is wrong? What happened in Bayland? Who is a blonde woman in your mind? You can tell me, I
will understand and we will figure it out together. Like always, I promise.”
“Enough!” he snapped, and his voice shook the entire room, making her jump in her stand.
It was clear he had lost it with her unending question. “The only thing wrong with me is you! You and
went behind my back; you undermine my authority and question me in my house!” he growled at her,
and she felt a shiver, and this was a terrifying sight for her.
How she was able to speak after that came as a surprise to her: “I am your Luna; it is my place to have
your best interests at heart. I have to ask questions when things are out of
place.”
His cold gaze lifted, and they locked on hers. “I need you to leave this room and don’t come back.” He
pointed to the door.
Her heart clenched in pain, and she covered her mouth in shock. “Julian…”
“Do not make me repeat myself!”