Chapter 146 - Signaling

Startled at his loud fierce reaction, both Antonio and Aelia were spellbound for a couple of seconds. Gawking at Ivory raising their chin up Antonio gulped in confusion and took a glance at Aelia who was already looking at Zeus.

Zeus seemed very baffled at her sudden proposal, as he jolted up from his seat and snapped at her viciously. He looked infuriated and glaring at her he whisper-shouted at her, "are you out of your mind? Do you even know what you are asking for?"

Ivory standing all fearless shifted her gaze towards him. Holding a small smirk on her lips, she murmured, "don't overreact, Zeus. I know what am I doing---"

"What the heck is going on here?" Snarling his face, Antonio straightened his posture over the chair and grumbled at them angrily. 

"Uncle Antonio, I know what am I saying. Both of you wanted us to get engaged as soon as possible, isn't it? Let's do that." She continued holding a witty smile.

"Ivory you---"

All of a sudden, before he could protest aloud, Ivory groped his arm tighter signaling him to keep silent through her facial eloquence. Confused at her absurd gesture, he was fuming in anger glaring at her intensely.

"What's with the sudden proposition?" Aelia reciprocated her words looking much perplexed as she stood up from her seat, looking at her intensively. "From his gestures, he clearly seems to be against your proposition, Ivory. It is very unexpected."

"Aunt Aelia, Zeus was with me from the past two days." Keeping a stern look in her eyes she boldly answered her. Her abrupt lie flinched him in surprise but she continued the grip on his arm tighter, signaling him to keep up with the act.

"What?" Antonio stood up from his chair and stared intensely at her furrowing his eyebrows. 

"Yes, Uncle. We were together for these two days. A small accident happened to occur in our way which injured his arm. But, I was there to take care of him." 

"Then why does he seem so reluctant about the betrothal? It seems that he is absolutely against your proposal, Ivory." He tossed a sharp inquiry looking a bit skeptical about them.

"He is just nervous about it, uncle." She was handling the situation quite wittily forbidding him to speak any objection regarding them. "We have been friends since our childhood. It's just that he is anxious to take our relationship to the next level." 

"But...don't you know about his emotional turbulence regarding that human?"

"It doesn't matter anymore uncle. I believe no one can care about him the way I do. And what matters to me is staying right by his side and supporting him with all my might. Together, we will be the strongest pair our pack ever had." 

Hearing her proud declaration, both Antonio and Aelia gaped at each other's faces with a perplexed look in their eyes. Watching Zeus breathing quite strongly with a fierce glare in his eyes towards Ivory, she gently tapped on his shoulder before asking.

"Zeus, are you really alright about it?"

Ivory clutched his arm tighter as soon as she finished her query, staring intensely in his deep bigger eyes. Slowly she tilted her head a bit indicating him to say yes to her question despite knowing that from his blazing gaze that with her each lies his anger was surging several folds higher.

"If you both are really fine with it, let's do that. After the upcoming lunar eclipse in the next 15 days, I will arrange your engagement ceremony in our holy Mountain God shrine." Before he could proclaim his answer, Antonio boldly declared it in a loud voice causing a sharp reverberation in the giant room, leaving everyone startled with his decision.

Unable to suppress his fuming rage anymore, Zeus gripped her arm back and grumbled furiously in a low pitch. "We need to talk." 

Before she could respond to his declaration, he almost dragged her infuriatingly marching out of the entrance with fuming tapping footsteps. Both of them were intensely gazing at them from behind as they dashed outside.

As soon as they left their sight, a sly small simper appeared on Antonio's proud face while Aelia looked very bewildered with the situation, shifting her gaze towards him before articulating her worries.

"Honey, you also have understood it distinctly, don't you? She was lying about everything! I bet... he was not with her for the past two days!" 

"Even I wonder...why does she want to be betrothed with a man who has another woman in his heart! But... I do know, she must have a specific reason to do it." Gazing firmly out of the entrance, he mumbled his response.

"Then should we follow her proposition? What if Zeus runs away again--"

"He won't, Aelia. I believe, no one in the whole world will be ever compatible with Zeus in every aspect compared to power and strength. And this time she must have a reason for which Zeus was bound to keep his silence throughout the discussion." 

Furrowing her eyebrows, she was squirming her fingers anxiously. "Then...should we just act accordingly?"

"Of course, Aelia." A dubious wide smile escaped his lips as he declaimed it aloud. "Right now after us, if anyone has the gallant audacity to smash that human bug out of our son's life is only... Ivory. I trust the holy alpha blood she bears in her veins. She is chivalrous enough to fight any danger for his sake. I know and I have witnessed...how devoted she has been to our son since their early childhood. Where would we ever find such a noblewoman for our alpha who will hold the future of our pack? Even you too have faith in her, don't you?"

"Yes." Politely she nodded her head lowering her gaze down at the ground, scrunching her eyebrows. After a moment of absolute silence between them, Antonio boldly walked out of the room heading straight upstairs holding a meek smile on his face. She stood still for a while and took a deep sigh out, looking outside the entrance perplexedly.

"I guess...history is repeating itself again... We alphas are born for the sake of others...not to live for ourselves. Hope you would understand it soon, son." She murmured on her own.

...

"Zeus, loosen your grip it's hurting me!" 

Snapping at him with a vexed gesture, Ivory scowled her face at him while he fiercely dragged her out at the giant yard of the mansion. After walking away a bit far from the building, he unleashed his grip from her wrist and viciously turning his face towards her. 

"Hey, do you want to die?" Immediately he snarled his grimace, shrieking out aloud at her. His dilated pupils transformed into dominant red color as he started clenching his fist, unable to contain the wrath in himself.

Watching him getting all hyped up, a small bold smile escaped her roseate lips as she took a small step closer to him. "Do you want to kill me now for the sake of that darn human?" She charged him back.

"You have crossed every limit today, Ivory! How...Just how could you blurt out the ridiculous proposal in front of mom and dad? Have you lost your mind or you are intentionally provoking me that much?" 

"So...should I have blurted about your lady love right before them? Should I have let you speak out everything so that your father will crumple her entire existence? Have you been blinded by your ignorance that you can't even realize that all I did was to protect both of you! Why can't you ever discern my emotions for you, Zeus! Why are you always skeptical of everything I ever do for you?" Swirling her wolf-like blazing eyes at him, she vexed further. 

For a few seconds, he stood still and tossed out a heavy sigh of frustration stroking his hair above his forehead. "Ivory...I can't accept this! It's impossible for me to accept this betrothal when I have Eva in my heart! I can't...I absolutely can't!" Holding a sad gaze, he fussed his objection towards her.

"So are you gonna keep waiting for her till eternity?" Offended at his proclamation, she asserted further. "That human abandoned your real self heartlessly and you are gonna keep suffering inside for her sake? How can you become so naive in love, Zeus?"

"It was my choice to stay by her side despite knowing how things would come to an end! It was my fault to hope for a happy ending even though we had our own faults in the stars! We both are suffering today but...we are too helpless to admit it! I...I don't want to cause more trouble in her life but...how can I forget the woman I loved with my whole heart and give you her place? If you would stand in my shoes, won't you have done the same?" His eyes returned the usual black color, glistening in tears as he whined his painful verdict.

Ivory stood still like a rock, staring deep down in his eyes and squirming in anxiety. She took a huff of breath and reciprocated her reply, "do you think anyone would ever accept the daughter of a traitor of our own pack? Aren't you aware of the kinds of danger a hybrid has to bear in the world of werewolves? Then why didn't you step back first from the moment you knew her truth? If I was in your shoes...I would have stepped back for your sake!" She reverberated in a low, intense pitch.

Startled at her response, he swirled his pupils in awe. "How...How do you know about her truth?" He murmured.