Dilemma

"And do you care to explain why?" 

Robin spoke, finally managing to wrangle enough courage to disengage himself from a hug that had never felt strange to him for any instant. Instead, it had simply made him believe that this hug was something that was always meant for him, but it had just got delayed in reaching him somehow.

However, just outside the world of his imagination, there was a real, actual world which he lived in, and Nora was born as the blood enemy of his brother in this real world, making him stand on the list of enemies as well.

And this was the only thing he wanted to explain to her from the first day itself, but the strangely stubborn and the sweetest girl he had ever met in his life, was in no mood to understand even a single explanation from him. So he had simply given up the thought of the implications of his identity, and wanted to enjoy this friendship till it could continue. Regardless of her obstinacy, he was already familiar with the pain of losing his loved ones and was convinced that everyone was going to leave him behind someday, anyway.

And while he was fighting off all these thoughts all alone, he heard her voice whose tone clearly showed her surprise. 

"What do you mean by why?"

Without thinking any further, Robin answered her with another question. 

"Why are you happy to see me? Just because I saved you from falling?"

Nora replied with an immediate protest, explaining herself further. 

"No! Because I was feeling lonely -"

"Really? Because if I am not wrong, I remember seeing Ryan with you when I arrived here."

Nora's heart missed a beat hearing this statement, as the fear of Robin having seen David with her appeared in her mind.

But the very next moment, she dismissed the fear on the basis of two beliefs, the first being that Robin was not the type of person who would hide something from anyone, for any reason. And then the second thought arrived in her head- why would she have to care, even if he had seen him with her? In any case, she was not one who had asked him to come there.

"Nora! Say something? Or are you lost again in his memories -"

"Hey!! Don't blame my sister for something she would never do!"

It was Myron's voice that interrupted Robis, as he jumped over the boundary to enter the garden of the Alpha palace where both of them were standing. He had just made the landing when he was followed by Louis, who called him out without waiting for Robin's reply. 

"Are you sure that you also share a royal blood?"

As soon as he got on his feet, Louis asked with confusion,"What do you mean?" 

"I mean that, being a beta from the Moon pack, I am not allowed to enter the Orion pack Alpha's palace at night without official permission. But you are an Alpha, you can roam anywhere you want! Then why are you jumping off the boundary like me?"

"What do you mean, brother? Are you not allowed to come here and meet me?"

Nora interjected, looking at Myron with feelings of both excitement and pleading shining in her eyes at the same time. She couldn't believe her eyes and accept that he was also there; and where she was fearing the prospect of loneliness just some moments ago, she was now surrounded by two very dear and wanted people, and one completely unwanted person! 

"I know the rules, but I was sure that Nora does not! So I just wanted to cross- check this!"

Louis spoke with the extra wide signature smile of his, as he took two steps forward and spoke again. 

"And Nora, for you, I just want to say, forget about what you know, what you don't, and what you have gone through. Because starting from tomorrow morning, I will make sure that you will learn every rule and every loophole of this territory, before you step foot into the Arena."

"And why do you think that I am going to accept this proposal of yours, and will be ready to act on your command?'

Nora demanded of Louis, getting instantly infuriated at his audacity, and placing both her hands on her waist. The anger that David and Louis' presence brought in her life was just as incurable as it was immeasurable.

"I didn't think for one second that you are ever going to obey me, but I know you are going to obey these two!"

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After the storm had passed and the chaos had finally settled, leaving behind a stunned silence, Valerie was finally sitting back in her dorm, knowing how much worse the situation could have got if David hadn't helped her.

Although she was grateful, she was also facing difficulty understanding how and why he had helped her in the first place, when everyone in the entire territory could testify that David was a royal through and through, and he lived like one- not caring for whatever was going on in the life of the ordinary people that happened to share the same territory as him. 

Especially when she could see herself as the sole reason for this chaos, she was sure that she was going to get a worse punishment than the thunder of heavens. Even though the guilt of blaming Nora was killing her from inside, the soft corner for her in David's heart has made her so conscious of herself and her surroundings, that she was stuck between telling her everything beforehand as a token of thanks to her, or keeping her lips sealed because of David's mercy.

To be honest, neither of these seemed like a feasible option in her mind, knowing that they were destined to be the greatest enemies of all time. Perhaps, she was just overthinking and it had nothing to do with the reality, but she still needs to thank Nora for supporting her, and for David -

She was yet to complete the train of her thoughts, when she heard a knock on her door.

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