The Angel Within

Chapter 21: Bittersweet

The nighttime stars' light does not outshine Charlie's beauty. With cheeks tainted with my own tears, her flawless skin still manages to glow radiantly. However, she still seems to harbor a pale complexion. Her usual luscious, wavy hair seems crippled and frames her face limply.

Her undeniable perfection makes my toes curl. Albeit, it was her personality and buoyancy that lured me and had triumphantly stolen my heart.

My throat constricted at the mere thought of Charlie not waking up. But I knew she will, she had to. Though, I had only wanted her to stay alive for selfish reasons: so I can live a life with her that revolved around love and a reckless abandonment of caution. To have a relationship that was unencumbered by the Council's brutal favor and preference.

Everyone has a story. They can consist of regret, passion, horrific tragedies, and maybe even love if the beholder of the story was lucky enough. A lot of people left me because their part in my story was over. But Charlie? She was the climax; therefore, I refuse to believe she will be one of the people whose part has ended.

Together, we'll plunge into the oblivion and when we reach our dying days, we'll end our stories by being lovers instead of being lovers who never loved at all.

I was not going to let her go.

She bewitched me, the former player. I fell for her charm and I could only hope she reincorporated my feelings. And during that bittersweet moment in the Baring Ball, when her life was nearly spiraling into demise, I knew she did. Our infatuation tied us together like a knot.

Despite her state, I was happy to know she was going to wake up as mine. However, knowing there was a cord of unspoken love uniting the both of us; someone was going to try to cut it.

Suddenly, the sound of knocking descended upon the room. Dread itched the tip of my spine and I protectively hovered closer to Charlie. Before I got a chance to ask whose presence was looming near the entrance, the door flung open and in strode and uninvited visitor.

"Beta Derek?" I inquire, recognition swirling in my eyes. "What are you doing walking about at a time like this? Shouldn't you be with your family, caring for Daniel and Mrs. Sake?"

For less than a second, his eyes held a fierce spark of incredulity but vanished; making me believe that I had just been imagining it. He lowered his head in submission before his eyes flickered towards Charlie.

"You seem to have forgotten that I am Charlotte's adoptive father, as well." His voice was confident, almost as if he had to repeat the critical line consistently. "But I have Beta duties to fulfill, to answer your initial question, and I thought it wouldn't hurt to check up on her."

I've known Derek since the day I was born and I would by lying if I said he and I were close. His words were always too formal and he would wear an emotionless veil that cloaked his inner thoughts. But when the man before me gazed at his adoptive daughter, all of that shed away. At this very moment, he was merely a shell of what he used to be. He was just a caring father.

"I've always known she was different in a way I couldn't describe," he says, taking a seat beside the bed, oblivious to my penetrating stare. "Although, I never knew she was so different that it put her in peril."

I sucked in a breath and my eyes narrowed at the thought of the Council threatening her. I wouldn't allow tolerate separation now that I know she's everlastingly mine. If they ever felt the need to bring an end to my Charlie, I would not hesitate to charge forth with a motive to kill them.

"I will not allow the Council to punish her for what she is. Not now and certainly not ever," I vowed, my tone unwavering. He nodded appreciatively and glanced at her sleeping figure once more.