Chapter Fourteen
Bryan's POV
When father asked the girl to go and bring Ciara to the dining room, I didn't know what his plans were and I didn't care, as long as he didn't insult her or try to demean her with his words, I was okay. And when she eventually showed up wearing that cute white number that left her legs on display and her shoulders on display as well, I swooned
She was cute and she was strong, if she wasn't she wouldn't be standing in this room, especially with the criticisms she must have endured while growing up as a child.
I was curious about why she had stormed off like that but I was even more irritated with Orion and his nonchalant behavior towards her. It was so disgusting the way he treated her.
Something my father said must have upset her because colour drained from her face after the announcement. I had been ready to pull her into my arms before I wondered how it would look seeing as her mate was sitting only a few feet away from me. I glared at my father who was staring at the door, fuming.
"Did you have to do that?" At his raised eyebrow, I scoffed. "Did you have to make her feel uncomfortable?" 6 pairs of eyes turned to look at me, two of them were an identical hue of sky blue while the other was black.
"Are you saying I was wrong for apologizing? I owed it to her to say sorry for my poor behaviour."
I rolled my eyes and rose to my feet, my appetite gone. You're a few weeks too late for that, don't you think?"
Sparing Orion, with the dirtiest look I could muster, I stormed out of the room in search of my mate. The thought of her crying alone just like the other day made me quicken my steps.
I walked towards her room and knocked on the door twice, hoping she would let me in. When she didn't respond, I leaned over and listened for her voice, my heart breaking when I realized she was crying.
Dammit.
My hands hovered over the doorknob as I contemplated whether to open it or not. She hadn't responded when I knocked so she probably wanted to be left alone.
With a sigh, I walked back towards the dining room ready to give Orion a piece of my mind. I caught sight of him from a distance and ducked, waiting patiently for him to pass by. He had been so invested in his phone he didn't notice me standing there until he was staggering back and holding his bruised jaw.
"Some mate you are," I spat, glaring at him. I would have grinned at the shocked and pained expression on his face if I wasn't so pissed. Orion groaned and flexed his jaw, glaring at me. That was going to be badly bruised but he would heal and fast since he was an Alpha blood. "What the fuck is your problem?"
I scoffed, closing the distance between us. "You are a pathetic excuse for a mate. You should never have gotten a mate, Ciara deserves better."
"Don't you ever try this again or you'll be kicked off my lands and banned from ever setting foot here again," Orion warned, his tone cutthroat and I chuckled, closing the distance between us.
I looked into his eyes and smiled. "You know you don't have the power to do that. Father would never authorize it."
Orion tried not to show how much my words affected him but he failed when his jaw and fists clenched in response. "Stay away from me," He warned, pointing his finger at me. "And stay away from Ciara." I laughed, throwing my head back.
"Or what?" I asked, my tone mocking him. "You'll mark her so she can't mate with someone else?"
Something passed in his eyes but before I could tell what it was, it disappeared. "You have been warned," And with that, he walked off, his aura scaring all the servants who passed him as he stalked towards his office.
The sound of his office door slamming shut rang through the entire house. I muttered a string of curses as I went to look for Ciara again. When I reached her door, I paused and leaned close to the door, trying to hear her but frowned when silence was all I got.
My hand hovered over the doorknob as I thought long and hard about whether or not I should go in to look for her. She had ignored me earlier when I had come to knock so she probably wanted space. Against my better judgment, I placed my hand on the doorknob and was about to turn it when I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eyes.
Turning, I glared at the girl from earlier who had been sent to get Ciara from her room. She squirmed and I sighed, turning back to Ciara's door again. "Luna went into town." She whispered in such a low tone that I almost missed it.
Thank the goddess for advanced hearing. I turned around to face her and she whimpered, her wolf submitting to mine. "I'm not going to hurt you. Where did she go and with whom?"
She relaxed a bit but still took a step back before she spoke again. "She went into town alone but I think Bruce went with her." I dismissed her and ran my hand through my hair trying to get myself together.
Ciara going into town could mean two things; one, she was okay or two she wasn't but she didn't want to dwell on it and needed a distraction. I was inclined to believe that it was the latter seeing as Ciara had been crying earlier.
Walking back to my room, I decided to give her some space even though my wolf was itching to see if his mate was okay. Hopefully, she would come to me when she was ready.