Chapter 215

215 The Unfair Judgment

A tempting offer, but...

Lucien shook his head.

“It is not a good idea,” he stated. “I will submit my votes through email and see the news coverage through the site. It is enough.”

Ronan rubbed their cheeks together.

“Lulu, I enjoyed having you to myself during the holidays, but you should not imprison yourself in the pack house.”

Lucien turned to look at Ronan with a sneer.

“Aren’t you the one who keeps sulking whenever I leave the pack house?”

Ronan cutely tilted his head.

“Only when you leave after an unfinished argument. Other than that, you are free to go anywhere you want and I am free to stalk and sleep with you anywhere I want.”

.....

Lucien shuddered at Ronan’s last sentence.

“You lecherous wolf,” he scolded his shameless mate.

“Then, do you agree? Let’s go next Monday, alright?”

Lucien raised an eyebrow at the Alpha.

“What about your CEO job? All done?”

“Oh, Jake can cover for me for a day.”

Or a week.

Or a month.

Jake had done more than that in the past. Ronan was pretty sure that he could go missing for a year and no one in the pack other than Jake and Quinn would notice.

Lucien reached at Ronan’s face and squeezed his nose.

“Ow,” the Alpha complained.

“Don’t you think that you are overloading Jake with work?” Lucien asked with a frown.

Ronan scoffed.

“Did he complain to you?”

“No one did,” Lucien replied. “But the last time I met Cassie, she told me that their daughter Willa had been quite unforgiving when her father did not come home to tuck her in every night.”

Ronan cleared his throat.

“Fine, I will grant Jake a few days off on Tuesday.”

Lucien squeezed at Ronan’s jaw.

“You cannot be seen with me in public, have you forgotten? I will go alone if you insist. No need to accompany me.”

Ronan’s face was crumpled unhappily.

“But I wanted it to be a date...”

Lucien hooked an arm around Ronan’s neck and pressed a kiss on his mate’s lips.

“We live together,” he pointed out. “Are we not past dating?”

Ronan pressed his lips together in dejection.

“Is it so wrong to want to spend time together with the love of my life out there?”

“Unfortunately, right now it is.”

Unable to persuade his mate, Ronan ended up working as usual on Monday while Lucien made a trip to South Bedford City with Noah.

After spending more than two weeks cooped up in the pack house, Lucien was ecstatic to finally get out and enjoy some alone time. He leaned an elbow against the window frame, admiring the beautiful winter scenery outside as the car rolled smoothly from Great Lake City to South Bedford City.

When the car pulled into the parking lot and Lucien stepped out, he saw a lot of eager visitors at the art gallery.

The main attraction for today was not his own creation, but Lucien was more than happy to be there.

Mr. Boyd hurried to greet Lucien the moment he saw Ronan’s car approach.

“I am so happy that you can make it,” he said with a bright smile. “Come, we are about to unveil the three artworks.”

Lucien turned to Noah. “Come with us, it must be boring to wait in the car.”

Noah was flabbergasted. He did not expect Lucien to invite him. What an honor! His only fear was that the Alpha might murder him for daring to walk next to the future Luna of the pack.

On the other side, saying no to the Luna was also not an option.

Noah hung his head and agreed to go with Lucien and Mr. Boyd.

The art gallery staff were all present to unveil the three selected artworks. Since Lucien was not part of the staff, he refused to stand together with them and chose to mingle with the visitors instead.

“Respectable art critics, art lovers, established artists, budding artists, and everyone else, welcome to the inauguration of the new section in our art gallery, the ‘Hidden Treasures Under The Sea’.” Mr. Boyd spoke to represent the whole art gallery.

He then explained the concept behind the new section, the hard work that everyone had done in order to make today happen, and thanked everyone deeply for their support.

“And now, we shall reveal to you the three best artworks that fit this week’s theme best! These artworks will be displayed for two weeks straight. Please keep your eyes open for the next theme! It will be announced on our website tomorrow morning. Registration for the next round will be open next Monday!”

The three artworks were displayed under a huge glass case to protect them from the weather.

At the moment, it was covered by a huge red cloth with green and golden ribbons.

The ribbon was cut by Mr. Boyd who then grabbed one end of the cloth. The other end was grabbed by Alistair Greenwood.

The two men nodded at each other with a smile.

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

The red cloth was pulled off the big glass case and revealed three artworks inside — two paintings and one tree sculpture.

A round of applause went through the crowd. Three people who must be the creators of the three selected pieces jumped up and down like maniacs.

One of them was Maya Greenwood.

“OH MY GODDESS, I WON! I WON! I WONNNN!!!” she shouted many times.

Although Lucien now belonged to Infinite Eclipse Pack, he had not seen Maya for a long time. The disparity of status between them did not allow them to meet easily within the pack house. Not to mention that Ronan was very protective. He was jealous of anyone who looked at Lucien one second longer and got to spend time with him while he slaved around at the Silverback Corporation.

When Maya spotted Lucien, she went through the crowd and threw herself at Lucien.

“Mr. Clearwater, I won! I wonnn!!!”

Laughing, Lucien rubbed the young woman’s head and praised her, “Good job, Maya.”

He wanted to ask which one of the three was hers, but then a loud voice full of indignation rang out from the crowd.

“CHEATER!!!”