True Alpha’s Chosen Mate

Chapter 62 – Lover

"Hey! You rascals! Isn't Alpha Hugo the one you should prioritize?! There he is!!" 

I heard Reks yell his lungs out and point in the window Hugo and I were sitting on. His pursuers turned their head back only to see me waving with a smile. Hugo already hid inside, standing beside the window where they couldn't see him.

"Ah, shit!" Reks cursed loudly that it echoed and reached my ear, grinding his teeth as the knights chasing after him shouted to not let him off. 

"I can't believe Reks will actually sell you off," I murmured, watching him run away with tons of knights and wolves behind him. "But, will he be al –"

My eyes dilated when I felt an arm around my waist and lifted me back inside. Before I knew it, I was already standing. I gazed at Hugo, who stood in front of the window to close it.

"Hugo?" I raised my brows in confusion, staring at his broad back while he closed the door.

"It's getting late, my Bambi. I will walk you back," he explained, and I nodded, waiting for him to turn around and face me. Once our eyes met, I unconsciously clasped the blanket covering me. 

Hugo blinked, saying nothing as he gazed at me. He didn't also move before a shallow sigh slipped past his lips.

"Do you want to sleep with me?" he asked and tilted his head to the side. 

"Didn't you say you can't sleep tonight?"

"Yes, but if you don't want to return to my sisters, then there's nothing I can do."

I smiled and chuckled softly. "Cora didn't even return to Garrett to spend the night with us. So, it will be unfair if they wake up and I'm not there."

"I curse Alice for being born," he mumbled, but I didn't get what he said, so I asked, 'what?' and he replied with, "Nothing, Bambi. Let's go, then." 

I nodded and waited for him to take the lead. Once he passed by me, I followed close behind him. As we walked through the hallway in silence, I kept glancing at Hugo's back. I could not help but smile at how reliable his back looked, but something was off. I studied him for a while and was certain he was somehow annoyed at something. 

"Hugo," I called, hastening my steps until I was walking next to him. "Are you annoyed at something? Did I do something wrong?"

He quirked a brow and set his eyes on me. "Why would I get annoyed with you?"

"You look like you will kill someone tonight… is it, Reks? Are you annoyed that he tried to sell you off to save himself?" 

"No. He failed, after all." He shrugged arrogantly as if it didn't matter to him whether Reks would get caught or escape. "I'm just thinking about how I will aggravate Alice tomorrow."

I slapped his shoulder on instinct, frowning at his last remarks. "Sister Alice did nothing wrong," I defended, obviously siding with Alice even though I didn't know Hugo's reasons. 

"She did. Look at you, siding with her instead of your lover!"

My mouth opened and closed, but my words were stuck in my throat. In the end, I bit my inner lower lips and looked away, feeling the heat rising to my face. There was just something in the word, 'your lover,' that made my heart tingly. 

"Huh! Hand." I raised my brows and looked back at him, seeing that he had his palm open. "I'm sending my lover to my sisters, so we should at least hold hands, don't you think?"

Earlier, Hugo and I walked while holding hands because of my initiative. So why now that he was asking to hold hands, I had this strange feeling I couldn't comprehend?

"Come on. I'm waiting." Hugo wiggled his fingers impatiently as he slowed down his steps.

"Uh, sure." I cleared my throat, slipping my other hand from inside the blanket around me to clasp his hand. The side of his lips instantly stretched from ear to ear, curling his fingers around my hand. 

"Better," he mused, swinging our hands back and forth as he looked ahead. A subtle smile resurfaced on my face as I gazed at his charming smile and then at the hand that was holding mine. 

'Better, indeed,' I whispered internally as we walked while holding hands, slowing down as if we silently agreed that we both didn't want to reach the room where the girls were sleeping in just yet. 

When we're halfway to our destination, a question suddenly arose in my head. Before I knew it, the question already slipped past my lips.

"Is it possible for a werewolf to have a human as his mate?" my eyes instantly dilated as soon as I realized the question. Out of instinct, I pressed my lips together and gazed up at Hugo. 

His reaction wasn't strong, but he arched a brow and cast me a look. "Yes, it's possible, but those are rare cases."

"Why is it rare?" I queried cautiously while studying his demeanor. Hugo gazed ahead and hummed, pondering on how to explain it.

"Because werewolves usually meet their mates among wolves. If a werewolf had a human mate, then that will be troublesome since the world is vast. Who knows if their mate lives from across the globe? Not everyone had the time to travel the world just to meet their human mate, so those end up having no mate at all." 

"So it's not like taboo or anything?"

"Why would it be?" Hugo cocked his head to the side. "Having a mate is important. It's already a blessing for werewolves to have a mate destined for them. Also, once a werewolf meets its mate, it will make other things like previous relationships and affairs meaningless — that's what they said. The empire respects that nature of us, so they allow that."

"Oh…" I nodded in understanding, glancing at him, but said nothing further. Hugo explained with an intention to fulfill my curiosity, but what he didn't realize was that it slightly increased my concern about our arrangement. 

'Meaningless, huh?' A shallow breath slipped past my lips as I forced a smile, squeezing his hand that made him look at me. 'That doesn't matter now, right?'

"You're smiling and it slightly makes me worry." He narrowed his eyes, but I chuckled. "You don't plan on doing something, right?"

"You're overthinking. I just thought to enjoy every second of my life from this moment on." — because if werewolves' instincts, once they meet their mate, would make other things meaningless, I, at least, wanted to stay optimistic about it.

'I'll worry about that once it happens.'