Hearts Betray

Chapter 10- Deception

A/N:
Just a quick heads up; this chapter will have both Esmeray's and Theodore's POVs. Even though this story is mainly written through Esmeray's perspective, a few chapters here and there will contain other important characters' POVs from time to time.
Anyway, I hope you can still enjoy this chapter just as much!

Esmeray's POV

It felt as though the ground beneath my feet had rooted me to the spot after Zander's words caught up to me. Something about the situation made me feel extremely uneasy. I wanted to say something, but his words rendered me speechless for a few unfortunate minutes.

I looked at the two powerful men standing in front of me. Theodore looked as if somebody had just slapped him across the face, with force that could even shake a vampire. Zander, however, was the opposite. He resembled someone who had just won the lottery.

I caught Theodore's stare eventually. His confusion, and possibly even disappointment, radiated off him in waves. He looked at me warily, too warily for my liking.

Very unwillingly, he broke the eye contact with me and focused on Zander again. He took a deep breath and straightened up, standing elegantly like a Prince should.

"Of course, Alpha Ellis." He began slowly. He glanced in my direction again. "Do you have a preference on whose territory you want to discuss your urgent matter?"

His words were the wake-up call that I needed. I shook my head to get rid of the cloud that had been fogging up my ability to think straight. I had to act fast if I wanted to prevent any unwanted outcomes. I interrupted their forced conversation.

"Zander, what are you doing?" I asked in a tone that expressed my irritation as well as bewilderment. "Didn't we already talk about this?"

Theodore's eyes landed back on me as I questioned Zander's intentions. A flash of what seemed like hope appeared in them.

Zander whirled on the spot to face me, sending me a warning glare that Theodore behind him could not catch.

"Yes, we did talk about this, babe" he began. I was about to argue that he had no right to call me 'babe', but he quickly continued without allowing me to butt in.

"We've talked about this plenty, actually. But you know that certain elements could very easily be destroyed if this relationship isn't taken one step further. Surely you're not questioning my dedication to you after all that we've been through? I'm only looking out for your safety and happiness, dear."

His tone was light, but his stare heavier than a lead slab. Any bystander to this exchange of words could very easily have been fooled into believing that he meant what he said. But I didn't miss the threat in his short speech. The word "element" caught my attention and pure fear devoured me faster than I could take a proper breath. All remaining colours had drained from my already pale face in an instant.

Sol was beside me in the blink of an eye. She was clearly itching to start a fight with Zander. Physical or verbal, that I didn't know. My hand instinctively flew to her arm to stop her. She clearly missed the indirect threat in Zander's sentence.

Zander acknowledged that barely recognisable movement and smiled in approval. He knew that I received his message. Turning back around to Theodore, he proceeded to talk.

"I apologise, Sir de Krew. As with all relationships, there's bound to be disagreements." He paused at that and I could see him send Theodore a smirk. "I'll talk it out with my Luna later. As for your question, we can meet at your Palace. I won't take too much of your time."