ARTEMIS' POV:-

　　We walked towards the study room in Alpha Elijah's apartment. I was biting my nails nervously. I had lied to him so he would not yell at his pack anymore. But now I was in trouble. "You are not in trouble, Artemis. Just relax. As I told you before, male werewolves are like puppies. Just smile at them and they will come running after you." I heard Tracy's calmed voice. Of course, she would be calmed. She was inside of me, resting peacefully. While I was outside. So I was supposed to bear Alpha Elijah's anger. I didn't know what I would tell him once we would be in the study room. On top of that, I had seen his anger. I had no idea what calmed him suddenly.

　　"Easy for you to say. I am out here. I am supposed to bear his anger. I am worried if he would yell at me. Or punish me." I replied to Tracy in a panicked tone. My heart was drumming erratically inside my rib cage. I was not sure if it was because of this fear inside my chest or if it was because of this electric current running through my body. We stepped into the study room. Alpha Elijah turned to look at me. He raised one of his eyebrows at me, as if asking for the reason I brought him with me.

　　"Which book do you want me to get for you, baby girl?" Alpha Elijah asked me in a low and calmed tone.

　　My heart skipped a beat as he called me baby girl again. I didn't know why it always happened. Something was different. And I could feel it. "Just calm down. You are sweating too much over nothing. Just tell him that you didn't want to be left alone. You were scared so you called him." Tracy gave me yet again a trashy idea.

　　"You are asking me to lie to him again. What if he found out that I am lying. If you were in front of me, I would have straggled you by now, Tracy." I replied to Tracy in a panicked tone. I had no idea what I was supposed to say to him. I was scared of his anger.

　　"Just say whatever I told you to tell him. Say it now." Tracy yelled at me out of annoyance. Alpha Elijah was also staring at my face with a confused frown on his face.

　　"I um… I was scared of being alone in this room. So I called you." I had no idea how I was able to blurt it out. But as soon as I had spoken what Tracy asked me to tell him, I covered my mouth with my palm. My heart felt like it was going to stop any moment. I narrowed my head and waited for him to start screaming at me. Just the way he was screaming at his peck members. I knew I had ignited the anger in him again.

　　To my surprise, instead of cursing words and screams, I heard him chuckling. With a shocked look on my face, I raised my head to look at him. He wrapped both of his arms around me and hugged me. "You don't have to be afraid of anyone or anything here. You are under my protection. I will no longer let a single fly hurt you. I promise you that. So just relax and be yourself. No one is asking you to do anything you don't want to do. You are not forced to stay in one room. You can roam around, you know." Alpla Elijah whispered in my ear while rubbing my back gently. I was speechless as I heard his words.

　　"Puppies! I told you so. Just ask him to read a book for you. He will be on cloud nine for the rest of the week. Trust me. I know all about them. Men are puppies." Tracy spoke again in my mind and I rolled my eyes at her. She was speaking as if she knew everything about men. I hardly knew how to have a relationship.

　　"Will you stay here and read me a book? If you are not busy. I don't want to be a hurdle between you and your responsibilities." As her ideas were actually working, I decided to give it a shot. I asked Alpha Elijah what Tracy asked me to do. I was not sure if it would also work like her other ideas.

　　As soon as the words escaped my mouth, he pulled away from me. My breath hitched as I thought he might have caught me this time. Then a bright smile appeared on his face. A smile that made my heart melt inside my rib cage. I didn't know why but I liked his smile. "Well, today is your lucky day. It's Sunday. So I have nothing to do. Which book did you want me to read for you?" He replied to me in a low tone then asked me about my choice. Biting my lower lip, I looked around for the perfect book for him to read for me. His taste in books was exactly like mine. All of my favourite books were in his library.

　　"I really can't make a choice here. All these books are my favourites. How about you choose your most favourite?" I replied to him after a few minutes. I failed to choose one book for myself. He chuckled again and nodded his head. He went towards the left shelf and grabbed a book from the fifth row. He pulled me towards the long wooden satty. It was covered with blood red velvet fabric. He laid down on the satty and opened one of his arms for me. My heart nearly stopped as I saw shining hope in his eyes. Biting my lower lip, I sat down on the satty. I kicked my shoes off and laid down on the satty with him.

　　Alpha Elijah wrapped one of his arms around me. With his other hand, he opened the book and started reading the story. It was a novel about two lovers who lost in two different realms. I was hardly paying any attention towards the words he was saying. I was more interested in listening to his voice. I wanted him to keep on speaking while I would keep on listening to him. My head was on his chest. With one ear, I was listening to his words. While with my other ear, I was listening to his uneven heartbeats.

　　The pace of his heartbeat almost matched my own heartbeat. It almost felt like I was not the only one who was feeling these things. A signature that I was not going crazy. His calmly beating heart started to sound more like a lullaby. Because my eyelids started to feel heavy. I wrapped both of my arms around his torso while I forced my eyes to stay open. I was staring into his eyes. It felt right. Everything felt beautiful. While I was with him, it felt like I was in my dream land. I didn't know when I gave up and fell asleep in his arms. But I must say that it was the most peaceful sleep I had had after my mother left.