Chapter 154 - His Approach

Hearing the sudden familiar voice at such an absurd hour in that desolated night street, Eva slowly raised her chin up from the ground. A person wearing black shimmering shoes was standing right in front of her and slowly she looked up above, only to become frozen in shock.

Czar was gawking at her intensely, holding a small canny smirk on his lips. His eyes were glistening in the dark and putting his arms inside the pocket of the oversize coat he was wearing in, he took a step forward.

"Should I help you, little duckling?" He whispered again in a bold voice, fanning himself.

With a heavy jolt, Eva jumped up from the ground and retreated a few steps back from him quickly! Her eyes and expression looked appalled enough, gulping anxiously.

"Wh-What are...you...doing he-here?" She was stuttering in fear peeking a glance around the street which seemed absolutely desolated at such a late hour.

Watching her getting all panicked, he smirked uncannily and stared deep at her before tossing his blunt query. "Now that you know we are the werewolves...are you scared of me too?" 

She couldn't give a straight answer to his question and frozen in fear, she continued gazing at his dark eyes. Czar was approaching closer to her slowly but he didn't want to give her any more trauma than the ones she was already enduring. Halting his motion, he stood at a distance from him, smiling meekly.

"I know...I have threatened you a few times, purposely, in our last meeting too. That time you weren't a bit scared of me but now circumstances are different. However, to be honest, I had never intended to hurt you. Or in other words...I don't want to hurt you, little duckling." He assured her.

Peeping at him with her dubious eyes, she was silently gawking at him without uttering a single word in response. Battling her inner turmoil, she took a deep huff of breath wondering inside, "my heart wants to trust him...but...he is a wolf too... What if...he always had motives towards me? Or...his emotions are really honest towards me? What should I do?"

"I can understand your palpitations, little duckling." While enunciating his words, he slowly raised his head up gawking at the night sky with a blank gaze in his eyes. "Standing in front of the animal whose lineages have destroyed your entire family... any human in your place would exactly treat us with extreme bitterness, or loathe us from their core.

But...I am thankful enough, that you aren't at least screaming or running away from me. I saw you baffled badly in your inner conflicts and thus came forward to offer my help. That's all." He sounded much tender than his usual hoarse tone.

His answer sounded much impulsive and comforted her anxiety a little. Taking a deep breath in, Eva mustered up a bit of courage and slowly took a step forward towards him. "Wh-What kind of help you want...to offer me?"

"Should we sit somewhere and talk? I don't think this is a suitable place to discuss all that stuff. I can teleport us to somewhere fitting--"

"There is a public park a few meters away from here. We can talk there." She interrupted his suggestion quite intensely and pointed her finger in the opposite direction towards the street. A bit startled at her intervention, he didn't try to object anymore and obediently nodded his head.

...

Soon after an anticipated walk of 10 minutes, both reached the park which was indeed desolated at that time. While strolling, she had kept her constant distance from him being overly cautious. After arriving at the venue, both of them sat on a wooden public bench. While hoping on, Eva sat on the extreme end of the seat as she kept much distance in between them. Her mind was still skeptical around him and she seemed much fretful.

Czar noticed her gesticulation and a wide smile appeared on his face. "Don't worry too much, little duckling. It's not like I am gonna attack you here."

"The police station is just near the park, it's not exactly desolated. If something happens, I can easily scream out for help." She was lost in her thoughts, fidgeting on her own.

Czar peeked a small glance at her and indeed, sitting under the endless murky sky along with her seemed much soothing for him at that moment. The calm night breeze was waving her fine hair threads over her face and unknowingly, he was absolutely lost in her that he forgot to speak for a moment. 

"You...wanted to say something, Mr. Czar?" She sounded a little perplexed, glimpsing at him.

"Ah, oh yes." Hearing her dense voice, he cleared his throat and quickly averted his eyes away from her to avoid eye contact. He didn't want to get caught in the act by her and deliberately tried to act much composed while responding.

"I...saw you that time, squatting down on the ground and regretting about painful memories... So I guess, things have really ended between you and Zeus, isn't it?" 

Flinched at his intense question, she hastily glanced at his straight face gulping anxiously. Her arms were quivering and nervously, she lowered her gaze down. 

"Don't worry, I can assure you that whatever will be discussed between us won't be conveyed to Zeus. Your answers will be safe with me." He murmured taking a small peek at her while she was squirming.

She stared at the ground for a few seconds holding her anticipation in. Gathering a bit of courage, she chose to break the silence persisting between them.

"I... I was the one who ran away from him... Zeus... didn't leave me and...kept standing there, all alone." She whispered in a broken voice, sounding remorseful.

"Do you regret it now?" 

"I don't know... I am just running away from my emotions and I do know it well...how much it must have wrecked him to watch me leave. Sometimes...my realistic situation seems unrealistic to me... I don't understand why...and how did all these happen to me? I...do...not regret my decision but...it...it shatters me from inside whenever I think of it. I...I don't know how long I will keep running with these painful memories condensing my mind! I am just...puzzled." She stroked her hair, sounding extremely thwarted.

Czar was continually gazing at her silently and watching her getting all perplexed, it indeed hurt him too. He lowered his eyes down, choosing to be silent at her response.

After a momentary numbness, she impertinently shifted her gaze towards him and asked first, "is...Zeus...doing well? How he has been?"

"He is just badly broken like you." A cold, sullen voice escaped his lips as he continued his answer, raining his chin up at the sky. "Drowning himself in cigarettes and work, he is just trying to push himself too hard at the verge of breaking down completely. Since the day, you walked out of his life, he seems living like a corpse or...a walking dead to me." 

Eva had presumed this kind of answer from him but still, hearing it so loud and clear, throbbed her heart with immense agony. She clenched her lips and her throat was choked with the surge of wailing out. 

"But, it's not entirely your fault, little duckling. I know, this period must have been weary and harsh for you too. But the truth was that both of you didn't have a future together from the very beginning. I had tried to warn you several times...but you were persistent, so as it goes for him too. 

Both of you dared to defy destiny and fell in love with one another. But it was impossible from the very start... How can a werewolf and a human coexist in their parallel worlds? We treat humans as our prey and...our alpha...foolishly fell head over heels for a woman and for her...he had almost died once.

You know...though I bear grudges against him somehow, I look at him with a pitiful gaze now. I had always envied him for having a family right next to his side but...somewhat I can realize now...that he has been always a lone leader..." He concluded with a heavy sigh, spilling the words from deep inside his heart.

She couldn't suppress her tears anymore and warm drops of emotions overweighed, dripped down the corner of her eyes as she painfully clenched her fist with a guilt-stricken expression.

Czar didn't expect her to start crying all of a sudden and looked badly panicked, he tried to console her, "h-hey? I...I didn't want to make you cry... If...If my words have hurt you then I am sorry..."

"You are right...hic... I knew...I knew that he has been always alone...yet still... I broke his heart so bad...hic... But...I feel as if, I have shackles of my past tied on my feet...which won't let me escape my past..."

Watching her sobbing so bitterly was breaking his heart. Slowly, he moved a bit closer to her on the bench and politely handed his handkerchief to wipe her tears, "please stop crying. I...I don't like to watch you so sad... After all, I...I don't want to make you sad." He murmured.

"Why? Why are you worried about me...hic... I am a selfish woman...why do you still bother?" She whined tearfully.

"No! You aren't selfish! You are the kindest woman I ever met in my life and that's why I like--" His intense voice trailed off before he could speak further.

"You like?" She frowned her eyes inquisitively, grabbing the handkerchief from him.