Part Three- Chapter 50

"Only very few people can remain unruffled by trouble."

-Anuradha Bhattacharyya.

QUILLON P.O.V

Dad had come back home. Darya had got accepted as the Luna as since everything was fine in the pack now, she asked mom to remove the exile order and call him back home.

He is a changed person since he has returned. Doesn't talk much, doesn't interact with others much. I don't know if mom forgave him or not but he seemed happy... really happy these days. So, I think everything is fine between them too.

Dad also came to know the truth about what had happened really in that war, fifty-two years ago. He was ashamed and he had conveyed his apologies to Darya. She forgave him too. I know they won't ever be the best of friends, but they both have started respecting each other.

Two days had passed and Konrad hasn't made any move to attack yet. Instead of feeling relieved, I was actually confused. I expected him to show off, but he was still not coming front and that was fishy.

It was obvious he was planning something, but I didn't know what. The thought that he was one step ahead of me, annoyed me. On cue, my wolf growled nastily.

Even though I found it hard to believe, I had honestly thought Konrad was dead. However now... he was back!

As if one wasn't enough... there's now two of him!

I admit I was very much taken by surprise to hear it. I never could have thought cloning was his gift, but at the same time, I was curious to know more.

There has to be some way where Konrad can be killed without having his blood being shed to the ground. Strangling, hanging, poisoning, starving, drowning... many ideas were going on in my head, then again, Konrad wouldn't sit simply and allow me to do that.

No... I needed to think something so twisted that even he wouldn't have seen it coming!

The sound of chair being pulled back across the wooden flooring gets my attention and I turn to look at Quinn, who sat in his seat while busy texting.... Probably Sabine!

"Where is Darya?" I asked him because they were both sitting and watching T.V while I came to kitchen.

"She went upstairs" he murmured without looking at me as I kept plates on the table to serve spaghetti with tomato sauce and meatballs.

Before I could call her, I heard footsteps and soon Darya sat in her seat, beside me. Chewing her bottom lip, she stared at the food and then a smile crept on her mouth, which made my wolf wag his tail.

"So.... I have been thinking" Quinn began and we both looked at him questioningly. "About this current situation and I feel like I am a gooseberry; which is—"

"A what?" Darya asked him.

"You know... two's company; three's a pair of lovers and one gooseberry!" Quinn explained and I cocked a brow. "Well, that's why I have decided that I am going to move out."

The spoon slipped from my fingers and clanked against the plate as I frowned at Quinn.

"What?" I said and he compressed his lips. Did he just...

"I am moving out" Quinn stated and my eyes hardened.

"Moving out where?" I snapped.

"My apartment" he replied and I growled.

"What's the problem here?"

"Nothing... It just doesn't feel right" he said and I glared at him.

"You didn't have that problem before" I pointed out.

"Before it was just you and me, now Darya is also here" he muttered playing with his food.

"Of course she is here... she is my mate" I scowled at him.

"That's exactly my point. She must stay here because it's her house, whereas I... I will go to my apartment."

"Enough about this apartment crap! The deal was that you wouldn't move to your apartment until you are eighteen" I growled.

"Screw the deal. I am moving to my apartment on Saturday" he defied and I glared at him. "I told mom and she agreed" he added and my eyes widened.

"She did?" Darya spoke before me.

"Yes"

"You are lying"

"Ask mom" he shrugged.

I didn't bother because if he spoke so confidently, then obviously he was telling the truth. But why would mom agree?

'Because it doesn't feel right' mom replied through the link and I furrowed my brows. 'Your link is open... I can hear your thoughts'

'Why did you agree?'

'You have found your mate. He has found his. You both staying in the same place with your mates doesn't seem right. It might not be a problem now but we can't tell the same about the future. Since he does have an apartment of his own, I think it's good if he stays there. Of course, if we didn't have another apartment then we had to adjust but that is not the case here' mom reasoned and I sighed.

'You sure about this?' I asked her. 'Think he can manage? He has never been away from us' I told her.

Quinn has never actually stayed alone. While I joined college, I used to stay in a dorm and hence, I am used to staying away, but Quinn...

'It scares me' mom whispered. 'I will be worried about him! But sooner or later this would have happened right? While you moved out... I was scared too but look, how well settled you are in your life. I am sure he will be fine too.'

'Yes' I agreed with mom, pleased that she was okay with this whole thing.

When I asked Quinn to stay with me, mom didn't agree at first, but since I was also there with him, she gave in. My house was barely twenty minutes drive from my parents place and so mom would visit us every day. But Quinn's apartment, which dad had bought after selling a piece of land, is almost an hour drive from here.

Hence this was a completely different scenario. From now on, he would be on his own. No one to fuss about him 24x7! I don't know if he can manage or not, but I do know that we cannot always baby him. One day, he has to stand on his own feet.

"Okay" I said out loud and Darya looked at me in surprise.

'You are truly okay with this?' she asked unsurely and I told her exactly what I had been thinking seconds earlier.

"Alright" I announced loudly and Quinn looked at me in surprise.

"Really?" he asked and I nodded. Quinn seemed doubtful at first, and when he realized I wasn't bluffing his face curved to form a huge grin.

"Is Abi going to move in with you?" Darya queried curiously and the smile vanished from Quinn's face.

"No. Her parents said they would send her after she completes her high school" he sulked like a kid and I rolled my eyes.

"Then why this sudden decision?" she further asked him.

"Not a sudden decision. I have been thinking about this for almost a month now" Quinn shrugged. "Even before I met Sabine" he added and I sighed.

He really wants this and I think it's time we let him have his independence.

__

"Good morning sir" my colleagues greeted me and I repeated the same as I walked past them and into the waiting lift. While the lift moved up, I got thinking about Darya.

She was very wary among humans ever since Nancy's death and Wesley's betrayal. Doesn't interact with them at all! When her classmates spoke to her today, she just replied with a yes or no.

Snob... they had called her and I knew she heard it, but she didn't react to it all.

I could understand why she was apprehensive around them but what she is doing is wrong. She studies in a college where except for her and four more students, all are human. Ninety percent of her coworkers in the farm are humans. And she is there for nearly eight hours a day. So obviously she cannot avoid them. They are as much a part of her life as we are.

I scratched my head as I thought on how to make Darya understand all this.

The lift door opened and after I stepped out, more people greeted me.

The moment I entered my cabin, my wolf growled murderously and I stopped in my tracks. Slowly, I raised my lashes and saw him... Konrad, sitting in my chair!

He was invisible to others and I knew that because none of my colleagues would be this calm if they knew a stranger was sitting in their boss's seat.

He smirked as I closed the door shut and locked it, without taking my eyes off him. I didn't want any interruption in this meeting.

Konrad showed himself and leaned further back in the seat as I dropped my coat to a vacant chair.