Chapter 25
Ella’s POV
“Tell me about everything back home.” Oliver abruptly asks, a nostalgic look overcoming his face.
My lips upturn in a smile when everyone’s face comes into my mind, but my smile widened the moment I realized he referred to my pack and family as home.
“Why are you smiling?” He slightly smiles, looking confused and cute at the same time.
“You asked about the home.” I shrug, still smiling.
“Because it is home.” He smiles while a distant look appears in his eyes.
“Tell me about everything.” His expression perks up as he excitedly looks at me.
Smiling at him, I nod my head and begin telling him about everything he has missed in the past years. By the time I am done sharing every story of the pack with him, his face is brightened with a big smile.
“I missed so much,” He says in a quiet voice, almost talking to himself. The hint of pain evident in his voice causes my heart to break for him.
I can’t even imagine being forcefully away from my family... my home. And here he has lived all these years between these people who have just caused him pain.
“Don’t worry, after all this ends, we will go home, and then you can make your own memories with us.” Linking my arm through his, I lean my head against his shoulder, “Everyone will be thrilled to have you back home.”
"But I can't guarantee that you will be safe from Elena and twins mischiefs." Raising my hands, I shrug as a matter-of-factly, "So it is best that you keep Elena on your side as then you will get twins support as well. Because they will always follow their Alpha." I laugh as number of incidents passing through my mind where the trio have made someone's life hell because they got on their bad side.
"And my Thea is the sweetest and purest child ever, and the only condition to be in her good books is to have a good heart which you already have. So you will not have any problem with getting along with her." Placing my hand over his heart, I smile at him. "Goddess, I can't wait to go home with you." I sigh already looking forward to have a life with him in back home.
He smiles at me and places a kiss on my head as he rests his cheek against my head.
“I wish we could stay like this forever, being away from everyone in our own world.” He sighs and drapes his arm around my shoulders. “With you, it seems so peaceful, like you have put all those chaos around me to silence. You are an angel, Ella. For me, you are nothing but an angel.”
I wipe the tear which gathers in the corner of my eye and tighten my hold on him.
I wish I could keep him safe and away from every pain because he deserves to be protected. For so long, he has been protecting me... protecting us, and I feel now it is me who should shield him.
Suddenly, I remember what Uncle Luca and Maya told how Oliver was separated from them, and no one knew about his whereabouts.
“Oliver, what happened with you when you were kept away from Maya and Luca, everyone else?” I ask, sitting up straight to look at his face. “And where were you because they told no one knew where you were sent to?”
A bitter expression mars Oliver’s face while his jaws go rigid.
“I was kept in isolation. Because apparently, I was too weak to be a guardian and needed special training to be worthy of my blood.” He absentmindedly runs his hand over the faint marks on his arm. “Being with anyone who I know from my life outside this campus would only weaken me more.”
My eyes notice the faded marks of lashes and other wounds on the exposed skin of his arms. And a shiver ran down my spine, thinking about what he went through during those days when he was being trained.
“For six years, I was kept in isolation and where I was trained almost every moment of the day. I don’t even remember anything other than training till I couldn’t stand any longer.” The impassiveness of his tone surprises me. For the first time since he has opened up to me, he sounds like the rest of the guardians.
Stoic, impassive, and cold.
His voice has no emotion, just like his face is clear of every expression.
“I wanted to be the best, so I followed every order and went through every training they put me through.” He glances in my direction, and the intensity in his gaze is astonishing, “Because I knew one day, I need to be strong to protect what matters to me the most.”
“It’s getting late, Ella.” Oliver lightly runs his fingers on the side of my face as I blink in confusion. It takes a few moments for me to realize that I have fallen asleep. “We have to return back to the grounds.”
Taking a deep breath, I nod my head, still leaning against his arm. Even he doesn’t show any sign of moving, as if he is delaying going back as much as he can.
I know we can’t stay here no matter how much we want because we need to go back and face whatever is waiting for us.
“Can I ask you something?” Slipping my hand into his, I lock our fingers in an attempt to memorize the way his hand feels against mine.
“You can ask whatever you want,” He replies quietly as his eyes move to me.
“That night, I saw a dream.” Leaning slightly away from him, I look at his face, “I saw you, but it never felt like I was dreaming because everything felt so real. Was it really a dream, Oliver?”
His eyes twinkle with a mischievous glint, suddenly making him look younger.
“It wasn’t a dream, right?” I laugh while shaking my head because somewhere, I already know it wasn’t just a dream, and he has something to do with it. "How?"
"How?" He raises his eyebrows and shrugs his shoulders, "Well, that is something which even I don't know."
"Oliver!" I push him while glaring at him, "You have to tell me, how did you do that?"
"I am serious." He chuckles while holding my hands in his so that I can't hit him, "It was something I was always able to do. Since you were a baby."
"I think it was because somewhere, we have developed a connection from the moment we have met or maybe because my wolf accepted you as his Alpha even though you were still an infant. As I always used to sense your emotions and even your wolf." He exhales a breath while a relaxed look is settled on his face, "I could feel when you were about to shift, something which I still find fascinating."
"You were my only friend, and I used to feel so happy and proud the way I was attuned to you and your emotions." He smiles, making me smile as well. "You and your wolf accepted me before anyone else, and that's why we feel obliged towards you, and my wolf formed an Alpha bond with you."
All this is so sweet and heartwarming. And the more I know about him, the more I have this urge not to share him with this world. I just want to keep him for myself.
"Then why haven't you reached out to me before?" I frown.
"I have a theory about it because so many years have passed, and we haven't met I was never able to establish this what should I call a dream connection. Even though the connection was there, but it was almost nonexistent." He looks as if he has thought about this a lot, "Till we were small, I could tap into your dream, but as the time passed, it became impossible."
"Honestly, I have almost forgotten about it until that night I have tried it. I was not even sure how I was going to develop the connection or was it still possible." He smiles to himself, then he looks at me, and an embarrassed look appears on his face, "I feel it has something to do with the jealousy."
"Jealousy?" My eyebrows pull together in confusion.
But before he could answer, my eyebrows shot up as I remember the way he was glaring at Brody that day.
"You were jealous of Brody?" I ask him.
"He can be with you and call you as his friend in front of everyone while I can't." His jealousy seems really cute to me, but I can understand the reason behind his reaction.
"I have noticed how he is around you, and even that day, he was being over-friendly with you. But when he touched you even it was an innocent touch, and I was seconds away from killing him." His eyes flashed as his wolf surfaced. "I realized that you were my mate when I saw you at Burton's office. Because maybe earlier, when I saw you for the first time when Emmet was trying to kill you, all I could feel blind rage, and all my other emotions were almost nonexistent. My wolf had this one thought in mind: kill everyone who is a threat to you as we have to protect you."
"Since the moment I found you, I feel like everyone around me was trying to take you away from me." His voice is almost a whisper filled with sadness.
"I am yours, Oliver." Smiling at him, I hold his face, "Even if we can't tell anyone now, but I know this truth, and I will never betray you."
"I know that, but this won't stop others from trying to snatch you from me." Turning his head to the side, he kisses inside of my palm, "I want the world to know that I belong to you. Just like you are mine."