Conan rubs his cheek and groans as he looks into my angry eyes. He removes his hand from his face, exposing the bright red mark I had left behind. He exhales as he stands up straight.
"I deserve that..." Conan states.
My eyes soften as tears start to stream down my cheek. I wrap my arms around his neck and silently cry. He is in shock for a moment at my sudden change of emotions, but then he slowly wraps his arms around my waist, holding me to him.
"Why... why are you hugging me..?" He whispers.
"Because I'm just so tired of running and being alone..." I cry. "I'm so sorry--"
"Shh, it's not you who needs to be apologizing." Conan hushes. "All of this is my fault..."
I pull away from him and wipe the tears from my eyes. The rain begins to calm down and we stand there, soaking wet and looking at one another, unable to determine what the future holds for us. I cross my arms tightly over my chest in a nervous manner as I look away from him.
"You need to know why I left," I say. "I--"
"Delilah, I know why you left." Conan interrupts. "Part of it is because of me, I know that, but I know the main reason is because of what went down with the warrior from Alpha Caitriona's pack."
"So you know I killed him then?"
He nods and I sigh, "It was out of self-defense, he attacked Roze and I. I don't know what he was doing on another pack's land or why I buried him. I panicked! I had to leave."
"Leaving made you look guilty, Delilah." Conan states.
"And I am! I killed that man!" I yell. "Alpha Caitriona would demand my head on a stake, what was I to do?"
"You could have come to me."
"Then what?" I question. "She would declare war and even more people would die."
Conan holds my hand and sighs. He looks up at me, his green eyes staring into my own brown ones. My heart beats faster as he cups my face gently with his free hand. I lean into his touch and give a small smile.
"What do you want to do now?" He asks.
I take in a deep breath as I ponder over my answer.
"I need to face the music, Conan," I say. "It's time for me to come home..."
My eyes snap over to a woman carrying a black umbrella. I retract my hand from his own when I instantly recognize it was Elle once she was closer. She angrily glares at Conan not noticing me at first.
"There you are!" She yells. "What the hell is the matter with you?! Have you just been standing outside in the rain this entire time?!"
"Geez mom, relax." Conan jokes.
Elle groans and rolls her eyes as he laughs at her. Her attention suddenly shifts to me. She looks at me with shock as she is unable to think of what to say next.
"Uh... Hi." I awkwardly say.
"Delilah, I didn't think I would be seeing you here... or anywhere for that matter." Elle speaks.
"I didn't think I would be seeing a lot of people here either, but someone once told me I couldn't run from my problems, that they would always find me." I respond.
Elle nods and gives me a small smile. She closes her umbrella once she realizes the rain has stopped and held it at her side.
"We should get back to the gala before you both freeze to death out here." Elle states.
She begins to head back and we follow her in silence. The lights from the ballroom shine out through the window and light up the area around it. It was almost like a mini sun.
For a second, I thought I saw glowing eyes watching us from the shadows. I blink and they are gone. It must be all that champagne causing me to see things.
We enter the ballroom. The guest are quiet, only a few whispers and murmurs can be heard as they look up towards the top of the stairs where Jason stands waiting to make his announcement. Roze stands near him too, swaying a little.
"She looks a bit dizzy." Elle points out.
"Oh no." I groan. "How much champagne did Roze drink while I was gone?"
"I think you need to go get her before she falls down the stairs." Conan says.
I push my way through the crowd towards the front, ignoring the glares of the annoyed partygoers. I climb up the stairs, trying my best to not look suspicious and draw attention to myself and Roze. I walk over to Roze and hold her up before she could fall.
"Delilah! There you are!" She giggles.
"Roze, how many glasses did you drink?"
I watch as she attempts to count on her fingers, clearly a hard task for her. After a minute of this passes, she looks up at me with confusion.
"How much is seventeen?" She slurs.
"Ok! We need to get you out of here." I say as I start to drag her off.
"No! I wanna stay!" She whines.
This attracts the attention of Jason who turns to look at us causing some of the guest to look in our direction as well. Jason raises an eyebrow, clearly wanting an explanation to what is going on.
"Uhh... Roze is not feeling well." I say. "She just needs to rest."
"Bye Jason! I love you!" Roze giggles as she blows him a kiss.
This causes the guest to giggle and laugh as Jason blushes from embarrassment. He pinches the bridge of his nose but I can tell he is amused as well.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my mate." He announces the guest cheering and laughing in response.
________________________
I throw my things into the trunk of the car. I actually had fun last night at the gala. I will have to come again next year, though taking care of a vomiting Roze really ruined the rest of the night.
"I can't believe I said that..." Roze groans.
"I can't believe nobody recorded it." I laugh.
Roze grumbles as she rubs her head and adjusts the sunglasses on her face.
"Please, I need silence, my head is pounding."
"Well, that's what a hangover is, Roze." I state.
"I didn't even know champagne had alcohol in it." She whines.
I laugh again and close the trunk of the car once all my things are inside. I turn around and hug Roze, patting her on the head.
"I'll be back, I can't wait to see the Alpha Female you will become." I say.
I walk over to where Jason and Candice are watching us. Jason smiles at me as I stop in front of him.
"You know, I rarely see you smile." I state.
"I never really had a reason to until now." His eyes look towards Roze. His smile grows larger before looking back at me.
"I guess this is goodbye." Jason says.
"Oh no, you will be seeing much more of me," I state. "If you hurt one strand of blonde hair on my best friend's head, I will come after you."
"Noted." He gulps.
I smile and look over to Candice who is laughing with joy in her eyes at my words.
"Hate to see you go, you still had so much more training left, nugget." She says.
"Aww man, sucks that I will have to miss all that running and exercise." I say sarcastically.
She playfully punches me in the arm and I laugh.
"Take care, kid."
I wave goodbye and walk back over to the car. Conan is waiting for me outside the vehicle. I walk up to him and take in a deep breath of fresh air. He chuckles as he watches me.
"All set?" He asks.
"Yeah." I exhale as the cold morning wind blows through the trees.
"I'm ready..."