Diana pushed him away. How dare he just kiss her as if they were married? She glared murderously at him.
"You have guts."
"O... Kay. This just took a dark turn and I kinda find it amusing." Julitta said. Diana turned to glare at her but it only made her chuckle.
"C'mon, who could have expected slings to turn out this way? The man is brave." Julitta said.
Calhoun smiled. He was happy to have gotten a taste of her even if it was unwillingly. He stared at Julitta and then at Diana but the small sound of giggles he heard reminded him of the child in her arms. His smile began to falter.
"It's not what you think-" Julitta tried explaining.
"Allow him to think what he wants to think. After all, he made no effort to stop me from thinking what I thought." Diana said.
Calhoun's brows came up. "You think so? I searched everywhere for you. I ran through every forest, broke every tree, searched every kingdom, and earned myself three and more enemies who tried to fight me based on the fact that I trespassed their kingdoms."
"Eh? How did you survive?" Julitta asked in surprise.
"Because he's King Calhoun, the cruelest Alpha king."
"Because I'm Calhoun Montego, the cruelest Alpha king."
After speaking, they turned to stare at each other, although Diana's stare was more of a glare than a stare.
Calhoun chuckled. Every sound of amusement he made got Diana pissed and she wondered why she had saved him. Calhoun could read her mind.
"Diana, you can't seriously be regretting saving my life." He said cockily. "You can't even regret it. You know how much you cared about me."
"What changed?"
"Uh... Do you want some privacy?" Julitta asked. "You know what? I think you do. Maybe take a walk outside and I will remain here..."
She snatched Coco from Diana's hands. "And take coco with me. Give mummy and da- the man that broke her heart, some privacy."
Diana was about to murder Julitta. The only reason she was bold enough to glare at Calhoun was that someone else was there. She could not trust Calhoun if she was to be alone with him.
But more than that, she could not trust herself not to easily forgive him.
Maybe the silent treatment would be perfect. If she could hold her tongue, she wouldn't be able to give him the pleasure of seeing her riled up. Or getting any emotions from her.
She stared at Julitta, silently begging her not to leave. She didn't want her to go at all. Julotta however understood what was going on and refused to be pacified so easily. She refused for her to be part of Diana's separation from Calhoun.
She pushed them out herself. Diana sighed in defeat.
"Alright, wait." She whispered. "J, can I talk to you privately?"
"That depends on if you are willing to take the walk with Calhoun."
"Alright, I will."
"Swears?" Julitta asked. She knew Dinaa well. The lady knew well how to twist words so she knew she had to make her promise. Diana was a firm believer in promises and the only way to make her do stuff was to make her promise to do them.
Diana smirked. "You have learned so much from me. How cute."
"Swear, Diana," Julitta repeated, not allowing her to change the subject so easily.
Diana sighed. "Alright, I promise to take a walk with Calhoun. Will you let me speak to you now?"
Julitta nodded. Diana glanced at Calhoun and he took the hint to leave. He was aware that Diana wanted to have a private conversation with Julitta. However, he knew that the conversation was about him.
Despite this, he respected their privacy and left the tent. Being a werewolf, he could hear them from a distance, especially since Diana was his mate.
Calhoun's decision to leave the tent was a mock demonstration of his respect for Diana's privacy. He understood the importance of allowing her to speak to Julitta without any distractions.
Besides, he could hear their conversation from a distance, which made it easier for him to give them the space they needed.
His actions were a reflection of his character.
He might be cruel and arrogant to others, but when it came to Diana, he was respectful, understanding, and considerate. His decision to leave the tent and give them the privacy they needed was a testament to the so-called change Julitta had been trying to tell Diana of.
Diana watched Calhoun exit the tent with suspicion. His willingness to leave without argument only heightened her doubts. Julitta, on the other hand, found Diana's continued interest in Calhoun's actions amusing despite her claims of no longer loving him.
As the seconds passed, Diana's suspicions grew. She couldn't shake the feeling that Calhoun was up to something. Julitta, however, remained unconcerned and continued to ponder about her lingering attachment to Calhoun.
Despite her reservations, Diana couldn't deny the lingering feelings she had for Calhoun. She knew she needed to stay vigilant and keep a close eye on him, but her heart was torn between love and suspicion. Only time would tell if her instincts were right.
"Diana, don't think too much," Julitta advised.
"Calhoun might have changed. He might not be as bad as you feel."
Diana scoffed. "As bad as I feel? I have known him! I do know him."
Julitta stared at her. "Let's ignore the issue of whether Calhoun has changed or not and just tell me what you wanted to tell me."
"You know all these thoughts and talk about him has made me forget about what I had to say earlier," Diana said.
Julitta smirked. "Did I hear you say thoughts?"
"Don't think about it, you heard nothing," Diana said. She could feel her cheeks turn warm in the cold and she was grateful for the fact that it was night and not day. Julitta would have mocked and teased her for the rest of the day.
"I'm pretty sure I heard you say all these thoughts and talk." Julitta returned.
Diana rolled her eyes. "And you chose to rest on the word thoughts and forgot that you must have also thought about him?"
"It doesn't change the fact that the thoughts we think about him are different. Does it?"
Diana's face went stiff. She refused to answer her. She simply turned and walked out of the tent. How could she just forget what she was about to tell Julitta? Did such a thing happen too frequently?
Julitta watched her leave and a small smile appeared on her face. If it was Calhoun that Diana's heartbeat then it would be perfect if they came back together. She wished she could affect Diana's thoughts of Calhoun but since she couldn't, she could only root for them from afar. And that was exactly what she was doing.
Diana walked out of the tent, her boot sinking into the snow. It had fallen more and had covered the ground. All the unrecovered bodies would be forgotten about until it was spring. Nobody would dare to dig up anything during the Wisteria winter.
Calhoun stood afar off, waiting patiently, pretending as if he hadn't heard their entire conversation and heard her footsteps approaching him. His figure was enthralling under the moonlight. His hair swayed in the night breeze and his skin reflected off the moonlight, making him look like a god. Diana was carried away, she stood there, staring at him.
"You should take a picture, it will last longer." He said. "But then again, it would be way better to just have me back and then we can remake all memories together. You get to relive in every one of them, rather than just reminiscing."
Diana scoffed. "Who would want to see your ugly face every day?"
Calhoun turned instantly. Did she just call him ugly? She called him ugly! How could she call him ugly? He was anything but ugly.
"Ugly?!" He demanded.
"Yes," Diana replied with a smirk, folding her arms across her chest. "You're ugly."
"I find that very hard to believe." Calhoun refuted. "Nope, I could never believe that."
"That's also your problem, not mine," Diana said. "I don't recall the importance of this midnight stroll under the harsh snowy weather. As you can see, it's snowing too hard and I'm undercover."
Calhoun stared at her. She wouldn't be affected by the cold. She was just bluffing. But why did she seem to forget things so easily too? Was there something he needed to know?
"Diana... Look, I'm sorry about the past." Calhoun said.
Diana turned her face away. Why was he so nice? It was easier to hate him during this battle if he had remained so cocky. How come he was so confusing? He would act so cocky and then return to being a soft baby that needed his mother's cuddling, just like Coco.
Coco would act nice to others, quiet as if he could not make any noise or show any expression. But the moment he saw her, he would begin to smile and chuckle and even fight for her attention. Oh, they were so similar and it pissed her off all the more.
"You don't believe I've changed?" Calhoun asked softly.
"You never answered my question," Diana whispered. "What changed?"
Calhoun stared at her for a few seconds, then he turned his gaze away from her and focused it on the distance. His gaze seemed lost and Diana hated that he looked so good.
"Diana... The day you left, my eyes were opened." Calhoun said. "I understood that love comes in the most unlikely places. I would have never thought to love someone like you."
"But it just happened, seeing you care for me all the time, it got to my heart. The strong walls that had protected my heart from the other females were too receptive to your kindness and generosity."
"Generosity?" Diana asked in surprise. "Did I ever give anything to you? Do I even have anything? Did I ever have anything?"
Calhoun chuckled. "You would not understand now. But then again, you might not probably understand in the future too."
Diana found it annoying. "What do you mean by that? Why are we standing in one spot? It's freezing, I have to return. Coco will be sad."
"Diana, you have given me three reasons for one action," Calhoun said.
Diana hummed silently. She did not want to bother too much with Calhoun. Although she came here because of him, accepting him so easily would be trouble for her. What would be the proof that he had changed?
"If he can prove to me that he has changed, I would accept him back. That too with open hands." She whispered subconsciously.
"Who?" Calhoun asked softly. Somewhere his heart broke that she was thinking about someone else while with him. But it didn't change the fact that rather than let her go, he would kidnap her and force her to stay with him until she loved him again.
"You, Calhoun."
"What?"
"If you can-" she suddenly realized herself. "Do you always manipulate people to do your bidding?"
Calhoun was taken aback. "Manipulate people? Since when do I do that?"
"All the time?"
"Eh?" Calhoun asked. When did he do that? Even if he had done that, when had he done that to her? Okay, even if he had done that to her, when had he done that to her since she returned? Okay, he had done that to her since she returned, but he wasn't going to allow her to know that. He would never admit it.
"Yeah!" She scoffed. "and didn't try to act innocent. You're such a manipulative person."
"Is that a good thing?" Calhoun asked very well knowing that it wasn't.
"What sort of a dumb question is that?" Diana returned. "Is that a good thing? How can that be a good thing?"
"Well, imagine I'm in a scenario where I'm about to lose my head, don't you think a manipulative skill would help?"
Diana couldn't believe that she had imagined what he said. When she realized that she was imagining it, she stopped and glared at him.
"Let's go in, Diana. The night is long and cold.
We need each other for tonight. Let's set our differences aside and love each other tonight."
"When the morning comes, we shall know what to do with this crazy feeling we share."
Diana was torn. What if she allowed him and then forgave him so easily? What if she refused him and then lost him permanently too? What could she do?