AllFreeNovel
Share Us
PART 3
THE CORE
*
"You cannot save people,
you can only love them."
-Anais Nin
Chapter 24
Zephyr
Shedidn'tgoback with him that night.
But he stayed the night. He stayed the night, just holding her, letting her cry, letting her hit him, but not letting her away from himself. She fell into an exhausted sleep and woke to his fingers gently stroking her back, her cheek on his chest as he lay awake, lost in some thought. And something shifted in their dynamic since that morning. Zephyr didn’t know if it was the fact that she’d begun to hold back, or the fact that he’d begun to give more, but things didn’t remain the same.
She stayed with her sister that night too, and he stayed with them, not leaving her side while she was awake, knowing she was vulnerable and letting her be. She emerged from her room with him in tow, to see Zen watching Criminal Minds, and plopped down beside her. Alpha took a seat on the other side of the couch, a silent conversation happening between her sister and him, and the three of them just watched one episode after another. When she fell asleep, he took her back to the bedroom and only left afterward.
The next morning, he was back not just with breakfast, but also the dogs, all leashed in one hand.
Bear, her special boy, saw her and his tail began to wag incessantly. The moment they were free, he attacked her with his love, pushing her on the floor and licking her hands as she hugged him.
“He was whining at home,” Alpha said wryly as he took a seat on the stool beside the kitchen counter. The other two dogs went around the apartment, investigating the new scents, Baron sniffing Zenith as she watched with amusement, Bandit giving her a customary lick.
Hector entered from the open door, checking Zen out before nodding at her.
“Yo, Zee. You doing good?”
She gave him a smile, petting Bear who put his head on her lap and began to make happy sounds like a rumbling motor.
“This was sneaky,” she told Alpha, hugging the dog. “You brought them to tempt me to come back.”
The unscarred side of his mouth twitched, his eye patch dashing in the morning sun.
Zen laughed from the side. “Well, as romantic as this is, I have to go.” She put on her silk scarf around her neck. “By the way, mama and papa want to talk to you. You better call them.” She looked at Alpha. “Brother-in-law.”
Alpha gave her a nod. “Sister-in-law.”
That was cute.
Zen left the apartment, and Hector followed, leaving them alone with the dogs.
“You should invite your parents for dinner,” Alpha suggested, a wicked gleam in his golden eye.
“You’re only saying that so I’ll come back.”
He didn’t reply, but he was right. She still didn't feel ready though, so she stayed away.
He persisted. Earlier, she'd been the one to his work in the evenings, now he waited for her outside the salon when she got done, driving her from there to the apartment, leaving her at the door with a hard kiss. Each day the same, their new routine. He brought her breakfast and the dogs, dropped her at work, picked her up, and repeat. Each day he tried to get her to go home with him, and each time she refused he didn't give up.
It was odd, this Alpha who doggedly refused to let her go, one who slowly let her in to this new heart of his. Day after day, to the point Zen told her to give him another chance. So she went home. It was the same, but it felt different. Maybe she felt different.
Leah was happy to see her, saying the house was too empty without her now. Nala was happy to see her, saying nobody appreciated her food as she did. And Alpha, he was happy to see her there, saying nothing but taking her bag to the master bedroom.
She called her parents and invited them for dinner over the weekend. She called Amara and gave her some updates. And then she went to her old room, and lay down in bed.
