All for you!

As everyone had petered out of the corridor, Nora finally looked at her father to see whether he was going to change like he always used to do at home, once they were left alone. Or perhaps, she had really misinterpreted her own father till now. 

Before her mind could go any further with its speculations, she heard Frederick's voice. 

"Nora! My child, I am really sorry that you have to go through all this and still have to stay in the Alpha palace. But don't worry, my dear, I will find a way to take you back to your home real soon, probably by your birthday. So till then, you are just supposed to manage anyhow, and also, don't try to show any of your skills in front of anyone. Nor are you allowed to participate in any of the sport competitions that will be held… I am saying all this because I don't want you to get hurt in any way- understood?"

"Ye… yes father!"

She managed to speak while nodding slightly, while her own soul was scolding her so bitterly about how idiotic she had been till now to believe that her father did not love her, when all he wanted from the start was to protect her from getting hurt!

But before this scolding session of her soul could go on any longer, Frederick spoke once again, seemingly satisfied by her response. 

"Now that my dear daughter has understood her assignment very well, I guess we should leave towards the Alpha palace now, so that I can also return home without any lingering tensions."

"Okay, father."

She nodded as they both started walking towards the Alpha palace that had been vacated for her, and she began to wonder how she was supposed to say thank you to Ryan after what he had done for her. He might have done everything while just considering her as a fellow Alpha, but he himself was unaware of exactly how big of a favor this was in her eyes. Rather, she felt like calling it a favour was an insult to how she actually viewed it- as her salvation. 

As their feet worked in tandem, she lifted her gaze and saw him waiting in the lobby, as he had mentioned earlier. While she was still figuring out what to say, Frederick stepped ahead and initiated the conversation himself. 

"Thank you so much, Ryan, you really don't know what a huge favor you have done for me and my daughter. And trust me, no matter how much I try, I would never be able to repay this debt of yours in this lifetime."

"Oh, Uncle! Now you are embarrassing me, Nora is my friend and I will do everything that could bring a smile to her face! You don't need to worry about her anymore, just leave her here and return with a carefree heart and a smile on your face, because I am going to take care of her till she is here, so that you don't agonize needlessly regarding her well being and comfort!"

"Thank you! Thank you so much once again, Ryan! I really think I should invite you to a special dinner at my house, some day after you return from your travels. And for now, please excuse me, I will take my leave.

You also take care Nora, okay dear? Daddy will be visiting you frequently, so don't think too much about being alone."

Saying this, he turned to face Nora and placed a peck on her forehead and promptly started walking away, as he heard Ryan's voice shouting at his back;

"Definitely, uncle! Will look forward to that dinner, and Nora is safe with me!"

Meanwhile, Nora was still not able to say anything. Her mind had lost its words somewhere inside her heart, after getting overwhelmed by the affection shown by her father.

By the time she could have managed to think about anything apart from that or bid goodbye to her father, she saw that his figure had already vanished from her sight. She felt the warm embrace of a palm around her own hand, followed by a familiar voice near her ears. 

"Don't worry about staying here, I have already made sure that everything you need will be present at your disposal. And in case I have missed something, all you have to do is to give a single command to someone from the Orion pack, and they will take that as their priority and do the work right away-"

"Why are you leaving the palace for me? Who am I to you? Why did you propose that you will be living at home and then shift to the boys dorm, ditching all the facilities which surround you and the way you are habituated to living your life -"

"For you, Nora! I am ready to do anything for you!!"

Nora cut off Ryan's words in the middle of his reassuring monologue, where he was narrating how he had already made sure to provide everything that could be necessary for Nora. She placed the questions which were going on in her head since the moment she heard his proposal, directly in front of him. However, she had not been able to complete her statements either, when she was interrupted by Ryan as he gave a straightforward reply to all the questions she had asked and the ones she might have wanted to ask as well. 

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"For me?" 

Nora spoke, widening her eyes , because this was the completely obvious answer she would have heard from anyone, if she had asked the same question from them. Because everyone else who had been present there and witnessed the progression of the situation, would be able to say that Ryan was doing everything for Nora, and only Nora. There was no profit that he could avail from this decision of his; in fact, the only thing that anyone could see arising from this decision was his loss, as he had to leave his palace to live with the other students in the dorm.

This was not the answer she was looking for, however; so this counter question was just a sarcastic reply that she had let out of her mouth, along with a sweet smile on her face. It took a few moments for Ryan to realise what she really meant, as he was busy staring at her.

"Yes! For you!" 

He replied while grinning ear to ear, as he continued to stare at her.

"I know that very well ! But all I am asking is, why have you done all this for me… when I am not even your friend -"

"You are more than a friend Nora, don't ever repeat this sentence."

Ryan interrupted Nora while she started streaming her thoughts after using her own hand to slap her forehead, after hearing Ryan's answer and looking at his face and the enthusiasm that was present there in his smile.

"Huh?" 

But after his reply, all she was able to say was just one word of utter confusion. She was not able to ask anything after that statement of his, because she didn't want to find out the other meaning of the statement that was being said to her. 

What was she to him, if not a friend, but more than a friend? Was she a family member… or family of some other friend? A friend who is a competitor too!? A fellow Alpha? Something more positive or more negative? An enemy?

It was the first time in her life when she was unable to find any clue about her own identity as mirrored in the world of someone's else, who was there to help her in every step of her life. Nobody had ever done so, before she met Robin and Myron, and she was well aware of their relationship with her; but for Ryan, everything was a blank space till now. A blank space which really wanted to be filled, but not by her own imagination, rather she wanted Ryan to do this for her.

Ryan saw her clueless face and decided to decode the first sentence that he had said, but for doing that, he had chosen to say only half of the truth. 

"Yes, Nora, you are just like my best friend… the friend I have been waiting for, since ages! So please don't say that you are not even my friend. I can understand that you still need some time to see me as a friend of yours, but from my side, you are the best person I could ever encounter, and I have chosen you as my best friend. So please, don't deprive me from this; even if you don't want to accept me as one of your friends, please let me help you as one of my friends -"

"I do consider you as one of my friends! Ryan."

This time, it was Nora who interrupted him in the middle of his sentence, while he was busy monologuing about how she was his friend, and how he was ready to do everything- even if she didn't accept him as one of her friends.

"You do !? You really do?" 

Ryan asked, grinning from ear to ear once again as soon as he heard Nora's reply. 

"Yes, I do !! But there is one more question I am going to ask you …are you really going to go home ? As- as I will miss you."

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After hearing the entire  confrontation and gaining completely nothing from it, he decided to follow Ryan and Nora as soon as he saw them going towards the Alpha palace. But before he could have covered the distance alone, he heard two sets of footsteps behind his own, and noticed that Louis and Myron were also following him.

He could have chosen to fight them at that moment, but right now, he needed to know the real intentions of Ryan, for which he didn't have much time left. So he decided to stay quiet and let them follow him, pretending to not have noticed.

But after seeing what was going on in front of Alpha palace between Nora and Ryan, he was unable to brace himself and stop the urge to scream at the top of his lungs, in order to to scold Nora. How big of an idiot could she be, to not understand his flirting! He might have ended up getting all three of them caught , if Myron and Robin had not closed his mouth with their hands and dragged him in the shade.

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