TAMING THE PLAYBOY ALPHA - Chapter 73: Chapter 73

: LOYAL DOG
FREYA'S POV:
"Why am I not surprised it's you, Lucas?"
I chuckle bitterly, wiping the residue of tears in my eyes as I glare at him, hoping my gaze is hot enough to burn into the side of his head.
He steps into the room, holding a plate of what I presume is a meal to eat.
My appetite is very much non-existent, plus even daring to eat that is admitting defeat to myself.
I do not plan on spending another night here.
"It's nice to see you too, Freya. You look... not as bad as one would expect."
I scoff, rolling my eyes
"Spare me the meaningless flattery."
"I thought you girls like things like flattery. I hear it butters them up, making them more accepting."
"Sadly, I'm not a piece of toast or the brainless chicks you go after."
"True."
He casually leans against the wall, wise enough not to come too close to me.
If he had, I wouldn't waste no time scratching out his eyeballs - love interest of my best friend or not.
"So, tell me, why all of this? Why go far as to drug me and lock me up in goddess-knows-where? Is this how threatened you are by me? Does a weak little girl scare you so much?"
He sighs, shaking his head slowly as he watches me. Everything about him, about this situation, just pisses me off so much.
"Freya, if it was left to me, I wouldn't go as far as locking you up in a cell just to make sure you behave before the mating ceremony. King Darius doesn't give baseless warnings."
I scoff, chuckling a bit to myself. I guess I was right.
This was all the Alpha King's doing, no shock there. He simply used his most loyal dog, Lucas, to carry out his wishes.
"You know, I didn't understand it properly when Xena talked about your obsession with responsibilities to the throne. I thought she was exaggerating. Boy, was I wrong." I laugh out loud.
"You'd ofcour find it funny when you don't know the full implications of what you've done."
"I'd love to see things from your perspective, but it's almost impossible to get my head that far up your ass, don't you think?" I quip back, glaring at him.
"Very funny, Freya. But your jokes aren't going to get you out of this." He responds dryly.
"Why? It's okay for you to be an ass, but not okay for me to point it out?"
This time, I actually laugh genuinely, enjoying the annoyed look on his face as he watches me.
My laugh is cut short though as the pain in my gut stabs me again and soon, I'm wincing.
Lucas walks ahead a bit, dropping the food on a table right in the center of the room and grabbing a chair I hadn't even noticed was there, pulling it up and sitting down right in front of me.
He waits for me to grow silent before he continues.
"Are you done taking this as a joke?"
I only glare daggers his way, clutching onto my throbbing belly while he watches.
"Good." He responds.
"So, you were the spy all along. How could you? Silas' own friend. I never pegged you as the back stabbing type. You seemed more... loyal."
"I am loyal. Silas and I are cut from very different fabric than most people. Right from birth, all these responsibilities weighed on our shoulders - responsibilities that keep the pack going that we cannot abandon for selfish reasons no matter how badly we want to. Everything I do is for Silas and our pack."
"And you think kidnapping me would help this noble cause of yours?"
"Again, this is not my plan or idea. King Darius ordered it, seeing as you didn't keep your end of the deal and stayed away from Silas."
I roll my eyes now.
Right from the beginning, there was no way I could have kept any end of that deal, seeing as no matter where I ran, he found me and stuck like glue.
"Do you think Silas is just going to sit still once he finds out I'm missing? He's going to find me."
Lucas sighs now, resting his head sideways against his palm.
"Do you really trust him so much with your safety?
"What?"
"Do you really have so much faith in Silas that you're so sure he's going to barge through those doors, armour and shield, and rescue you from the current predicament you weaved on your own?"
I remain silent, the question he asks hanging in the air.
"Exactly. Silas can be fickle with women. Even if he's serious about you, once the mating ceremony is done, his body and soul would belong to someone else. All this fussing you're doing would have been for nothing and you'd be released."
"Wait... you're holding me here till after the mating ceremony?"
He has to be kidding.
"This is just a precautionary measure, Freya, so nothing much worse happens before the date."
"Bullshit. So, my life suddenly doesn't matter anymore, just so you guys can fulfill your selfish intentions of forcing two people who clearly don't belong together."
"Is that what you think? The future of the pack is not a selfish intention."
"Yeah, of course..." I quip sarcastically. "...try and make kidnapping me a plausible excuse." My head drops low, looking down at my sorry state.
I'm exhausted and in pain, with residue after effect from whatever drug was used to knock me out and now, I discover that they plan on holding me for a few months.
Like telling someone they're locked up for just a few months would make the locked up part less terrifying.
And the thing with Silas...
Would he really forget about me after the mating?
Would he forget about me if I'm locked in here?
No, Freya.
You have much more bigger things to think of, like getting out of this place.
Silas is out there running free while you're locked up in a cell.
I should think of just myself right now, but when does the brain ever do what it was told to?
There's also Xena.
She'd be worried sick about me after not fully recovering from the news about Norman.
"What about Xena?"
I look up at him now.
"What will you do when Xena finds out about this?
She's going to hate your guts."
I watch him try to say something but fail a few more times, avoiding my eyes.
Eventually, he speaks.
"Xena will hate me, and that's fine."
"Bullshit." I say, my anger rising up again. "Don't act like you're not affected by it. I know you have feelings for her. I'm not so blind that I can't see it." "You don't know what you're talking about." He defends.
"The day of the picnic, you ate every single piece of burnt up chicken without complaints, and glared at Adam every time he wanted to make fun of it. Inspite of your break up, you still put in effort to remember how much of a bad cook she is and eat it 'cause you know she appreciates that shit." "That still doesn't mean..." "The day of the dinner, you got pissed with that guy for checking Xena out. You love riling her up just enough to annoy her a bit, so you can have the slightest chance of a conversation with her because the only way you can talk to her without feeling guilty is throwing words back and forth."
I pause now, watching him.
He still averts his eyes, unable to say another word as he mindlessly fiddles with his fingers now and nibbles on his lower lip.
"I know for a fact that you never cheated on Xena."
"Of course, I didn't..." He enters now, still not meeting my eyes. "...of course I didn't cheat on her. I would never and frankly, I was offended she'd even think that."
I'm taken aback shocked that he actually admits something like that and to me of all people.
I figured he'd be like the typical toxic masculine guy, too tough to admit their own feelings.
"I couldn't dare look at another girl, not when she's there." He whispers this part to himself, but not silent enough.
"Why did you let her jump to that conclusion on her own? Why didn't you ever bother stopping her, mending your relationship?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Try me." I prod further. "I just couldn't."
"I couldn't tell her. Someone like me could never deserve someone like her. I can't give her the kind of relationship she wants, the kind she deserves. I can't give her the assurance she needs that I would constantly be there for her because I'd always have to choose between her and everything I've worked for."
"Lucas..." I try to offer words but nothing more passes my lips.
My heart breaks just a bit on hearing him speak each word with enough hurt laced in them.
"And I know deep down that I would choose her every single time. But then, I'd lose myself."
"There has to be some other way." "There isn't, Freya. You can't eat your cake and have it. You choose between hurting someone so they can be happy eventually, or deluding yourself long enough before reality hits you."
I'm unable to say anything more as he rises from the chair.
"So... yeah, it's okay if she hates me forever. The farther she stays away, the better. Makes sure you eat something so you don't grow thin here."
He motions to the food sitting on the table, probably gone cold by now before walking to the door and slamming it shut behind.