Secret of An Alpha: Repercussions

Chapter thirty-four

When they retreated back to their room, they were exhausted. They took turns showering, and then ordered room service. They did all that in relative silence. Whether it was comfortable or not, Luke couldn't tell.

He did feel like Rolus was distancing himself. He steeled himself to be the bigger person and reach out. When they finished eating and their dishes were collected, Rolus remained sitting on the couch, even when Luke went to their bed.

Luke let a moment go before deciding to broach the discomforting atmosphere. "Are you not coming to bed?" he asked, staring at Rolus.

"I'll be there in a minute," he smiled, but there was something that Luke was missing.

Was it because of the Rossi family? He also did get disconcerting feelings from them. He understood that Rolus felt the need to eliminate anything that might pose as a threat to his mate, but he surely understood that Luke could protect himself, right?

When Rolus came to join him on the bed, he left some space between them. At least he didn't look away from him.

Luke didn't know if it would be overstepping or not, especially when Rolus was having moods, but he felt it would be alright to put his arm around Rolus. He felt a deep sense of embarrassment when Rolus looked at the arm on his waist.

If the ground was to open up, he would be the first person to volunteer to be swallowed. That's how embarrassed he felt.

Luke meant to pull his arm away, but Rolus put his hand on top of his. "I'm still processing the day. And I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I shouldn't have let myself get blinded by rage. I'm sorry."

Luke nodded, feeling slightly guilty for keeping his mate on a pedestal. "I'm sorry too. I promise we will have our alone time. You saw how the Rossi couple is. Do you still want to go hiking tomorrow? I understand if the couples we will be going with would be-"

"It's fine, Luke," Rolus snapped, but quickly realised his mistake. "Can we please not talk about them?"

There was a lot to talk about, especially the endless scenarios that Natalie put in Luke's mind, but that was a discussion for another day.

They were basking in each other's embrace and comfort when their suite telephone rang. Luke was quick on his heels to answer it.

"Good evening, Mr Clonmel. You're speaking to Bianca, your guide for tomorrow," the lady spoke.

"Oh, yeah, Bianca."

"We're hosting a barbeque in the garden. There are drinks and a few snacks. I'm inviting you to come join us."

Luke scratched the back of his head, unsure if it was the right time. He was sure that the Rossi were there, and knew exactly how Rolus felt about them.

"Mr Clonmel, are you still there?"

"Yes. We'll be right there. Thank you for the invite." He berated himself for agreeing.

"See you."

He put the phone down to find Rolus looking at him expectantly. He shrugged, "What was I supposed to say?"

"You could've made up an excuse. Let's just go."

Luke grabbed his phone from the nightstand, then they left to go to the garden.

Bianca welcomed them. She was quite tall, and seemed athletic. She showed them around the garden, introducing them to the other couples. She then left them to converse with other people.

The garden was serene, with the dimmed lights and hushed voices of people quite therapeutic. There was a barbeque stand next to the apple tree, and two men handing out food.