{8}
The next day had come around and I was still thinking about yesterday. From Luca's arrival to Lucio's compliment about my hair. I thought it was unfair of him to be sweet one second and cold the next, it only made me confused.
I got a call in the early morning, regarding the autopsy they did on the several rogues that were abnormally advanced. They had gathered enough results from the extensive research they had done, and wanted to share it with me.
I was going to immediately notify Lucio about this, getting used to sharing information with my new ally. I left my room, thinking I'd have to wake him up, since we wouldn't have time to visit the medical institution later on. It had turned out that he was already awake and was in our personal gym in one of the garages.
Already dressed, I hurried towards the gym room, following his scent. I had walked in on him bench pressing what looked to be impossible for many to lift. Sensing that I wanted to speak to him, he stopped and put the weighted bar back into its place.
He was breathing a little harshly, grabbing the towel around his neck and wiping his forehead. His dark hair fell across his eyes, drenched with sweat as he met my gaze. He wore no shirt, revealing the perfectly sculpted body he worked hard to maintain.
The garage door was wide open, letting in a nice breeze. His golden eyes revealed no emotion as he asked, "Can I help you?"
I tilted my head at his question, although he hadn't said it in a rude way.
"I don't need your help, but your cooperation." I told him firmly, placing a foot on a nearby box. "There is an autopsy report ready for us to review at one of my medical institutes."
Understanding what I meant, he stood up and nodded. "Alright, I'll get ready. I'll need to shower though, so I'll take a little while."
I headed to my car, hopped into the driver's seat and waited for him. I didn't have to wait too long, before I knew it he was out of the door, fully dressed. Following my scent, he tracked me to my car and hopped into the passenger seat.
"Is it far?" He asked, not bothering to put the seat-belt on. My annoyance flared up at his carelessness, but didn't say anything. He's almost as reckless as my mother, who also doesn't bother to put her seat-belt on.
I turned the engine on, suddenly not giving a damn about his safety and drove off.
"Somewhat." I responded curtly.
His hair was still wet from the shower, the scent of his shampoo and shower gel flooded my senses. It smelled really good, it was almost distracting. The journey was going to be roughly an hour long, depending on traffic.
Although, I doubted there'd be many people travelling this early.
He looked out the window on his right, while I gazed straight ahead with my eyes on the road. We travelled in silence for about ten minutes, before I broke the silence.
"Is Luca liking it here so far?" I asked, remembering our last encounter yesterday. I had decided not to join the dinner, because I wasn't feeling it and needed to work.
Lucio nodded in response. "He's complimented everything about this pack, from it's territory to it's leaders."
I glanced at him in curiosity, before looking back at the road. "Interesting."
He looked at me then, raising an eyebrow. "What?"
I turned to look at him and blinked. "What what?"
He rolled his eyes, before focusing those golden orbs on me. "That tone of yours caught my attention, that's all. I just thought you had something to say."
I shook my head. "Not really. Although, I'm curious about your relationship with your brother. You guys seem really close."
He gave me one last long look before chuckling. "Yeah, we're inseparable. He's my role model..."
I raised my eyebrows at that. "Really?"
"It's not surprising when you take into account that I grew up looking up to him. He is my older brother after all, I learnt everything from him."
He paused before carrying on. "I think I started to value and appreciate him more after...mum died."
I stiffened a little, remembering that that was a touchy, sensitive topic.
Noticing this, he angrily glared at me. "Uncomfortable all of a sudden, huh?"
I didn't miss the clear accusing tone that laced his voice. I took mental note of this, it supported my theory about something.
He looked away, his jaw hardening as his resentment grew. "He was right."
I caught that and immediately asked. "Who was?"
"No one."
His father?
Luca?
Enzo?
Maybe someone I didn't know?
My grip tightened on the steering wheel, getting frustrated at where this conversation was heading.
"I mean, you've lashed out every time your mother became a topic. You can't blame me for suddenly being cautious and wary." I reminded him, sighing heavily.
After contemplating about it, his anger lessened into nothing. He eventually scratched his head with a sigh, and closed his eyes.
You damn, hot tempered, bi-polar idiot ass wolf.
"I'm just...confused at the moment."
My head snapped towards him. "Huh?" I blurted, confused by his sudden confession.
He opened his eyes, looking up to the ceiling of the car.
"Would you believe your own gut feeling, or trust someone else's?" He randomly questioned.
Despite being confused, I still answered as I looked back to the road. "Obviously mine. What kind of question is that?"
He turned to look at me, his intense gaze lingering on me. "But what if that person was more trustworthy than yourself?"
What the hell?
I glanced at him with curiosity, wanting to delve deeper into this. "What makes you any less trustworthy than that person?"
Silence.
Unfortunately, he didn't answer my question. I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't have a reply or that he didn't want to. Nonetheless, I didn't push or pry by asking more.
"Mum?" I called out into our telepathic channel.
There was a little delay before she responded with. "Yes?"
"I want to ask you about something, do you have time?"
"Yes, I have plenty of time actually. What is it?"
I paused briefly before going for it. "Eight years ago, Lucio's mother had been killed. I remember it happening when she was leaving our pack to go back to Italy. How and where did she die, do you know any specifics?"
"Well, I don't know the specifics of what had happened that day. It didn't happen in our territory nor was there an official story released. Apparently, no one knows who the murderer was. Even after extensive investigations, that carried on for six years, there is still no clear answer."
"Interesting, no real culprit..." I mused thoughtfully.
"Two years ago Alfonso Silvestro closed the case, concluding that it was the work of rogues. However, he was probably just tired after actively investigating nonstop for six years. I don't know how he's made it this far, if I'm going to be honest." My mother continued with wonder.
Usually when one mate died, the other would pass away shortly after from heartbreak. Sometimes that didn't happen, those people are considered to be the strongest people in our society. Alfonso actually addressed this once, saying his sole motivation to live was so he could raise his sons.
His mission in life was to raise his sons to be great people, that can one day rule his pack.
I respected that so much. Everyone knew it was extremely painful to lose a mate.
"Remember how Lucio kind of despises our pack?" I mentioned hesitantly.
"Yes. He needs to get over that."
"It has crossed my mind that maybe he thinks our pack has some involvement in his mother's death." I told her my theory.
She paused briefly, making my heart increase a little. "Mum? We weren't involved, right?"
She chuckled at that. "No, silly. It's just that that has never crossed my mind before, and it's quite possible he may think that. Although, he should be well aware that his mother's death has nothing to do with us. His father has looked into every possibility, leaving no stone left unturned."
She paused and said, "I promise you that no one from our pack was even in the same area as her that day. I remember that day like it was yesterday. She had died on unclaimed territory. He has no real reason to suspect us."
I felt the earnestness and realness behind her words, finally feeling reassured. I let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, thanks. That's all I wanted to talk about."
"If you think that's the reason why he's not committing to be your mate, make sure you talk about this." She told me seriously. "Misunderstandings are a waste of time when communication is the straight forward solution."
"I will talk to him, mum. Thank you." I thanked her before cutting the connection.
I spoke out loud to Lucio. "We're almost there."
He nodded at that, not bothering to say anything.
I glanced at him, wondering if I should bring it up now. I took a deep breath in, it's now or never.
"Do you think our pack was involved in your mother's death?"
In pure Maya style, I asked in the most straight forward way. His head slowly turned towards me, as his golden eyes widened slightly. He stayed quiet for a couple more seconds, keeping his intense gaze glued onto me.
His silence was deafening.
It spoke loud volume. He really did think my pack was involved in his mother's death...
How absurd.
And...
How sad.
My grip on my steering wheel tightened even more, feeling a rush of mixed emotions course through me.
"Do you really believe that?" I gritted out, my eyes suddenly feeling prickly. "If you do, I'll tell you right now. Her death had nothing to do with us."
"How can you be so sure?" He murmured quietly, slowly looking away.
"I asked my mum." I replied, in a much softer voice. "I had just mind-linked her, she wasn't lying. She was baring her clear thoughts to me."
A bitter smile creeped on his face, looking almost amused.
"I trust someone else more than I trust your mother."
I couldn't help but glare at him. "Who's that?"
He shrugged in response, making me suddenly step on the brakes. He raised an eyebrow at me, annoyance etching his handsome face. "Why stop the car?"
"The way you're annoying me right now, I can't guarantee safe driving." I snapped, pulling over and turning the engine off. "It's even more tempting seeing you not wearing any seatbelt, I'm not playing around."
"What do you want from me, Maya?" He asked tiredly. "To change my mind?"
I threw my hands up in response. "Yes! Unless you have evidence to back your claim up, I suggest you don't accuse us with your mother's murder!"
He stares at me before saying, "Considering you're the Alpha of this pack, I shouldn't be surprised you care so much about it's reputation."
I gaped at him in disbelief. "Reputation? Alpha? We're not talking about that, Lucio! Don't you get it? I'm hurt that you'd think so lowly of us, we respected your mother."
An unrecognisable emotion flickered through his face. "You're hurt? Fuck outta here." He snarled with a dismissive tone.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to be patient. "Okay, lets get things clear. Do you think my pack was involved in your mother's murder?"
He hadn't actually answered that question earlier.
He looked me in the eye and confidently said, "Yes."
Hearing him say that had hurt me more than I was expecting. So much so that I couldn't say another word, let alone carry on. I looked down at my lap to gather my emotions. From the corner of my eye, I saw him, almost anxiously, run his hand through his hair.
"How can you say that with so much confidence?" I asked in a whisper. "Do you have evidence, proof? That's a reckless, dangerous accusation to say."
"I agree it's a dangerous accusation, it's the reason why no one has outright said it."
I took this in and nodded. "So you're not the only one who thinks this, huh? And I'm going to assume you don't have evidence against us. If you did, I'm sure your father would've done something by now."
His expression hardened, showing absolutely no emotion.
"So your father is out of the question, which brings me onto the next person." I said, crossing my arms. "Luca."
His golden eyes met mine, before looking away with a smirk. "Nope."
I frowned at him. "What?"
I was sure that my deduction was right. Thinking back to yesterday, I remembered Luca's words. 'I'm glad you know your priorities'. It was like he didn't want Lucio to hang out with me, to which he explained was because he wanted to eat with his brother. But something told me otherwise, and now it made sense.
Or so I thought.
"Luca." I said confidently, trying again. "He is the one, along with you, who is convinced we were involved in your mother's death. He was against you hanging out with me yesterday, kind of like I was an enemy."
Lucio took one long look at me and laughed, really hard. "You couldn't be more wrong, Maya. Luca genuinely values food over everything, there's no mysterious explanation behind what happened yesterday."
I glared at him, nothing gets by me. "You looked guilty yesterday, when he caught you with me."
"Because I promised to hang out with him yesterday." He shot back in annoyance. "I actually felt guilty, for fuck sake."
Was I wrong?
"Luca is the most carefree guy I know, he's not the accusing type." He carried on with a sigh. "You've met him, the guy couldn't care less about an unsolved case of the past."
"Yeah, an unsolved case of the past...about your mother's murder." I deadpanned, being extremely blunt. "I find it hard to believe you, Lucio."
He put his hands up in surrender. "Believe what you want. Unlike you, I don't have an issue with people's beliefs."
I snarled at him. "You're being childish."
"You're right, the case is about our mother. But her damn mate, my father, had given up on solving the case. What makes you think Luca is interested?"
"Because you are. It's not a far-fetched argument. Not to mention, how defensive you are about clearing my suspicions about him."
He stared at me in disbelief. "Only because I don't want him to be misunderstood and accused of making dangerous accusations like I am."
He growled in frustration as he took in my unconvinced expression. "I give up."
We sat in the car in silence for a couple of minutes, gathering our scattered emotions. This was such a heavy conversation, I literally didn't know what to do. Taking a deep breath, I calmly turned the engine on and drove off.
"So will you publicly announce your accusation?" I asked seriously, shifting into Alpha mode. "It will affect the alliance we currently have, and would most likely damage both packs."
"No."
My guess is that he'll investigate until he finds actual evidence. After that, who knows what will happen next.
"So our potential relationship as mates is almost non-existent because of this hunch you have?" I whispered, feeling a wave of bitterness overcome me. "That's so unfair on me, I didn't wish for this."
Silence.
"Is there any chance of changing your mind? Even if you think it'd take ten years?"
Silence.
I bit my lip and asked, "Will we ever actually be mates?"
No comment from him, and that hurt me...so much.
No consolation whatsoever.
I stared straight ahead, chanting in my head to not cry.
Don't cry.
Maya, don't fucking cry!
He's not fucking worth it.
My wolf emerged to the front of my mind, also feeling extremely hurt. "I don't know what to say. Can't we make it work, somehow?"
"Something tells me, that isn't possible..." I told her, my voice breaking. I could already imagine people telling me to keep trying and communicate, but look where it got us.
I'm tired.
Maybe it was the mixture of hurt, frustration and anger I was experiencing, but tears started to fall from my eyes. I didn't want them to, but sometimes the body doesn't listen to the mind. I didn't even bother to wipe them, as I unapologetically held my head up high. I sniffled a little, unfortunately sounding very defeated.
He just made the biggest mistake of his life.
I'll make sure he realises that.
Then...
I heard a sound I would have never expected to come from him.
A sob.
I stilled suddenly in surprise, unsure if I heard correctly. Did I just hear him sob? I slowly turned to face him, to find him completely turned away from me, covering his face.
What the fuck?
My shock slowly started to be replaced with confusion. did I hear right? Had I just imagined that? My gaze moved away from him and onto the side view mirror on his side, giving a clear view of his face.
His expression was full of hurt, guilt and pain.
Droplets of tears were streaming down his face, his golden eyes were narrowed with determination in efforts to stop them.
I stopped paying attention to the road, I had never felt more confused in my life.
He had basically rejected me, and he's the one crying?
What was going on?
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Hehehehe ><
Hope you enjoyed this one! They finally properly talked things through, although Maya probably has more questions now.
If you did enjoy it, please VOTE and COMMENT! I really appreciate your love on this story, it keeps me motivated to keep updating honestly. Thank you!
Second question of the story - what's your analysis on Lucio's character?
Love you guys, I really do <3
Yasmine xx