TEN: Confrontation

LUCIEN COULDN'T STOP following her, if not with his eyes then he was waking after her. "Alpha, your skulking." He heard Luke saying from behind him.

He turned sharply towards his pack member with a hard glare on his face. "Luke." He used his most warning tone.

Luke shook his head, then shrugged easily. "Why don't you just go and talk to her? Snatch her from him like the alpha you are."

He could see Luke's logic, he had always been upfront and straightforward, especially with women. However, Cornelia was different.

He saw her walking away from Joshua; a small part of him was proud of her. He was glad she wasn't fooled by his advances. He ignored Luke, and began to follow her.

He saw her heading to his study with another glass of Champaign in her hand. Lucien followed her calm steps and saw her standing in front of the painting in his study.

It was one he had acquired a long time ago. A painting of a man sitting alone in front of an open window with a perfect view of the full moon. The use of colors and every stroke of brush just gave a feeling of sadness. He remembered when he first laid eyes on it, the deep ache he felt.

"You look quite taken with that painting."

Lucien said, announcing his presence for the first time. He could see her getting startled, turning towards him sharply. Her hand flew to her chest, and a sharp gasp left her mouth.

"You startled me!" She said with wide eyes. She didn't know when he had entered the room, she didn't even hear his footsteps. But his voice was easy, a factual comment that he three.

"I do apologize for that, Ms. Cooper." He said then his eyes were averted towards the painting. "You look quite taken with the painting."

She nodded her head slowly, "It's..." Cornelia was looking for the right word, the feeling it gave her. "It's so sad. It makes me want to cry." She bit her lower lip, "Can you imagine how the painter must have felt to create something so beautifully miserable?"

She turned slowly towards the painting, and her gaze was focused on it while trying to calm her pounding heart.

Lucien stepped closer, standing right behind her, and she heard his soft hum of agreement vibrating through her entire body.

"Do you enjoy sad things?" His voice was so close, too close that Cornelia feared turning around.

"No one particularly enjoys sad things." She retorted in a matter of fact tone. She mustered all her bravery and turned around, looking up at him, holding his gaze with hers, "But some things are worth the grief they cause."

Liking you might be worth the grief it causes. She thought to herself.

For a moment the tension in the air was so thick, that she could cut through it with a knife. Her blue eyes were lost in his brown ones; she saw a strange look passing through them for only a second before he turned back to his unreadable cold stare.

"Wise words from someone so young." He said taking a step back.

"Age is just a number is what they say." She tilted her head, a challenging look on her eyes.

"That might be true, but with age comes experience, feelings, and pains that young people can't fathom nor understand."

Lucien wasn't planning to say all that, but he needed to make her understand. By the laws of mortals, humans or not, he knew he ought to kill her interest in him. It was the right thing to do.

She was refreshing, the way she smelt was different. And the way she acted was surprising on occasion. She looked all soft around the edges, but he could tell that there was a certain fire in her.

She gave a small smile, "Are you in pain, Mr. Amarok?"

"Are you, Ms. Cooper?" He raised an eyebrow. But when he didn't receive an answer, he said, "Anyway, you shouldn't be here. The party is outside."

"But what if I don't want to go outside? What if I enjoy the conversation we're sharing right now?" She asked bluntly.

Lucien eyed her with a strange look, he was intrigued by her bluntness. "I didn't expect you to be so straightforward."

"And you dislike that?" She asked flatly.

"I'm surprised by it." Lucien replied with a smirk, "But I think it's a good chance nevertheless to ask you, what do you want Ms. Cooper?"

She nibbled on her lower lip, and let her eyes meet his, "I'm not sure. But I want the chance to get to know you."