Xo Novel
Chapter 348
Chapter 348
EMILY
The following day, I somehow managed to successfully avoid
Axel.
Actually, I can’t say if it’s just me avoiding him, or if we’re avoiding
each other and that’s why it’s been so easy.
As promised, he didn’t lock me in my room last night.
Well, I should say this morning, actually.
It was after dawn by the time Jessica and I came back from helping at Roberts pack lands.
After speaking to several survivors, it sounds like the vampires raided the Roberts mansion and territory searching for any files or
information about the missing software.
So much for giving Aaron and Leah two weeks to hand the tech
over.
However, I know the secret my brother and his Luna are hiding
from the vampires.
That the Al tech got destroyed, and they’ve got no intention of
handing a weapon that dangerous to the vampires when there’s every chance it could be used against wolves to simply wipe us
out.
It’s probably what the vampires were planning to do anyway.
I know Leah mentioned something about recreating the tech, but I can’t imagine she was serious, or that Aaron would even agree with such a risky plan.
But anyway, although I’ve heard Axel’s voice from a distance a few times, or caught glimpses of him, so quickly rushed off in a different direction, I haven’t properly seen or spoken to him since
he walked out of the bathroom at the medical annex on Roberts
pack lands, leaving me desolate and confused.
I’ve been trying to sort through my feelings, but I can’t get
anything to make sense, and it hurts too much anyway, so it’s honestly easier not to think about it.
So instead, I throw myself into taking my role as acting Luna far
more seriously than I have been to this point, helping Jessica with
some follow up matter after the attack last night.
Around mid–afternoon, when I’m mulling over the senseless violence of the vampires raid, and wondering if they actually
found anything before torching the Roberts mansion, I suddenly
realize I might have a source to get these questions answered.
Ronan.
But our friendship is so new, and I don’t know where the
boundaries are.
Will he be annoyed or insulted if I ask him what he knows about the vampires who came onto Roberts territory last night?
Before I can talk myself out of it, I get out my phone and send Ronan a message, asking if he wants to meet at a diner or coffee
shop in town.
He quickly responds with an affirmative, and I’m happy to have an
excuse to get away from the mansion–away from the threat of
seeing Axel when I’m not yet ready to deal with him and how he
hurt me again so I tell Jessica I’m going into town to get some
supplies.
She doesn’t bat an eye, though she does half–heartedly tell
me she’ll come along if I want, but it’s clear she’s only offering
because she thinks she should, not because she wants to.
I tell her I’ll be fine and take one of the other guys if I need to, but
then quickly snag keys to one of the SUVs and drive myself down
the driveway and out of Rathborn territory alone.
Axel would probably say I’m breaking this new trust accord we were supposed to have reached.
But I would say he did that first when he walked out on me last night after making love to me like I actually meant something to
him.
I feel tears pricking my eyes, and I quickly blink them away and
turn my thoughts to other things.
I hope Ronan won’t think I’m using him by calling him, asking
to meet like this and then demanding he give me intel on the vampires, which is probably technically betraying his own people.
All I seem to be good at is ruining relationships these days, but this is important.
And I think that if Aaron were here and he knew I was doing this
for the pack, he would agree.
Of course, Aaron would probably murder me if he knew I had
become friends with a vampire, but that’s a whole other story.
I arrive at the coffee shop to find Ronan already waiting out the
front for me, and after everything that’s happened, I’m glad to see
him.
He smiles as I approach, and then I’m surprised as he pulls me into
a hug when I get closer.
I hug him back and think it’s weird how natural this feels.
There’s nothing sexual about it.
It feels more like hugging my brother, but for some inexplicable
reason, I have this innate trust for him, and all I feel is relief, like
coming home, when he takes me into his arms.
“I’m really glad you messaged me, Emily,” he says as we part.
“I’ve been wanting to see you again.”
“Then why didn’t you message me?” I ask with a laugh.
With Ronan, it just feels like I can be myself around him in a way I can’t with literally anyone else in my life right now.
“Didn’t want to push too hard,” he replies with a quick shrug.
We head inside and sit at a booth in the back.
It’s the middle of the afternoon, so the place isn’t very busy and
there’s no one sitting at the tables nearby. We’ll be able to talk
without fear of being overheard.
“So,” Ronan says once we’ve ordered and the waitress has
wandered off. “Was this a social call, or a business call?”
I give a quick laugh, feeling my face get a bit warm, like I’ve been
caught out.
This isn’t just a social call, and I feel bad, because it’s kind of like Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
I’m using him.
“I didn’t realize we have a business kind of relationship,” I tease in
reply.
He smiles at my quip.
“I don’t think we’ve figured out what kind of relationship this is yet,
to be fair,” he responds good naturedly. “But I’d like to think we’ve
at least reached the stage where we can be honest with one
another.”
I swallow down a sudden swell of nerves, hoping Ronan won’t be insulted or upset by my request for information.
“In that case, there is a reason I called. Something I need to ask
you,” I tell him truthfully.
He nods, as if he expected as much.
But then he surprises me when he says, “And I have something
important I need to tell you.”
Curiosity gets the better of me, and for a moment I’m diverted from my quest for information.
“What do you need to tell me?” I ask, hoping it’s not something
bad.
Ronan sends me a weighted look. “Emily, I know what you are.”