Alpha Enzo (and Alaria) novel Chapter 82

Alaria:

I stood, putting a index finger on my bottom lip as I processed the fact that I was just kissed by Enzo.

The way he looked at me, and the way the two of us were sitting together, the way we spoke. I couldn’t understand what he had on his mind, but I knew one thing, it was something that I shouldn’t have done. Not when I knew that everything that we’ve been through has been a mess as it was.

I looked at Ashton, who was sitting on his desk, tending to his homework. Having changed his clothes, I was thankful that it was done without a fuss.

He looked back at me as he felt my presence behind him, and I smiled, slowly walking toward him. I put my hands on his shoulders as I looked down at what he was doing.

“How is your homework going?” I asked, being the best that I could as his mother. Sometimes it was hard, but I knew that he needed that from me. He needed me to be strong for him. I knew that, despite Enzo trying to be there, I was the only family that he truly had.

“It is good, mama. I am doing my homework.” He said, and I smiled, kissing the crown of his head. He looked up at me for a moment, and I couldn’t help the small smile that formed on my lips before he looked down at his homework again.

“What homework are you doing now?” I asked, I knew that he was doing math, but I liked it whenever he spoke to me about what he was doing.

“I have a plus and minus lesson. We are now doing bigger number.” He said, and I nodded, running my finger over his shoulder gently, massaging it.

“Are you happy in school?” I asked, knowing that the two of us haven’t been speaking about it since Jacob and whatever has happened. I knew that it was something that I was worried about, but I also didn’t want him to feel like something was going on. It was at that moment that I realized how difficult it was to be a mother. To know that you didn’t want your child to be in danger and yet, you knew that you were going to have to deal with so many things that you might be against.

“Yes, mama. I am making many friends,” he said, and I nodded as a smile formed on my lips. “And my teachers say that I am very good in class.”

“That’s my boy.” I said, straightening as I felt Enzo’s presence by the door. I nodded at the maid before turning to face him. His eyes met mine, and the smile on his face was one that would have mesmerized me in the past. However, now, it was one that I couldn’t help but find myself regretting looking at.

He frowned in confusion as I walked past him, not saying a word.

“Alaria…”

I stopped, and he wrapped his hand around my arm, turning me to face him. “Is everything alright?”

“You kissed me, Enzo.” I said, and he shook his head in question.

“I’m sorry, what?” He asked, and I scoffed.

“You are with another woman, and you kissed me. Okay, you might have broken up with her, but you still kissed me. You were claiming to be her husband for so long, and I fucking kissed you back. Hell, I even leaned in to kiss you.” I said, voicing out my regret. Enzo kept his eyes on mine before pulling me away from Ashton’s room.

“Alaria, what are you talking about?” He asked, “the two of us already talked about Katherine and I…”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you divorced me to ‘marry’ her.” I said, stopping him. “It doesn’t change the pain that I lived through, and it doesn’t change the truth behind everything that happened.”

“Alaria, you are opening wounds that we are closing…”

“YOU want closed, but they are scars that have a permanent mark on me, Enzo.” I said, stopping him. “No matter what you are going to tell me right now, you know that they are…”

“What do you expect me to do, Alaria?” He asked, stopping me. “If I could turn back time, I would have. And not only for Alonso’s sake, no, I would have turned back time even if he was my son. I regretted letting you go, but it was too late. I went from a peaceful life to one that was filled with tornados that I know will never perish..”

“It is not my fault.” I said.

“I never blamed you,” he said, cupping my cheeks. “And I never will. I am the sole person to blame when it came to being with Katerina. But she was my mate. A mate that I rejected to be with you, and though I didn’t want to be with you at the time, though it was an arranged marriage, I knew that…”

The building shook, taking the two of us off guard. I frowned in confusion before another shake rocked it under our feet, only this time, it was followed by an explosion.

“Ashton,” I said, running toward Ashton’s room. His eyes were wide in fear, and I could see his maid holding him down under his desk, her body shielding his.

“Mama…”

“Come on, baby,” I said, my eyes widening as a third explosion hit, only this time, it caused me and Enzo to lose our balance. The building was under a damn attack.

Sirens rang, and we could hear people screaming as they tried to run with their lives, fearing this ‘sudden’ attack. My heart raced against my chest and I looked at Enzo as the two of us rose to our feet, forcing ourselves toward our son and his maid.

Enzo helped the woman up and lifted Ashton in his arms. He put a hand on my shoulder, frowning when he saw a forming bruise on it. I shook my head in assurance, and he nodded, without saying a word.

Ashton hid his face on his father’s shoulder, and the smell of fire filled my nostrils, making my heart drop.

“What in the world is going on?” I asked, making Enzo shake his head.

Our hearts raced, and though I took sight of the fire escapes, they were packed with lines of humans still trying to escape, I knew that the moment we tried passing through, we would be dead.

“Any better idea, Enzo?”

“We are going to fight our way through.” I said, and she frowned.

“Enzo, we have Ashton…”

“And that is why we are going to need to get out of this alive,” I said, stopping her. I looked at the man who ran toward us with a knife before grabbing his wrist, stopping him as I twisted his wrist. Alaria put her hand on Ashton’s head, making sure that he doesn’t turn to see what was happening as I pushed the knife inside the man’s neck, cutting his throat. His body dropped and he gurgled on his own blood, but I couldn’t wait to see whether or not he took his last breath. The fire would eat his body anyway.

“Right,” Alaria said, making me frown in confusion.

“The door…”

“We’re taking the underground passage. The kitchen is there, it would be safe of the flames,” she said, and I nodded. “We might have to fight those who would be waiting for us, but it is going to be safer than here.”

“Mama, I’m scared.” Ashton said, coughing as he tried to gain his breath. The amount of smoke that we were inhaling was one that I knew would be fatal in normal circumstances, but I knew that we were going to have to fight. Stopping now wasn’t going to help us with anything.

“I know, baby. We are going to get you out of here, but you are going to need to be strong for me.” She said, and he coughed again. I could tell that she was struggling to hold her own coughs, and I had to admit, so was I. “Come on, we have to get out of here.”

We followed the path that she suggested, and we ran toward the restaurant. Most of it was still intact despite the broken chairs, tables, glasses, and plates; but that was done by people. The fire was yet to get here, or there was a certain ventilation point that stopped it.

“We are going to need to take the underground…”

“Did you really believe that it would be that easy, Enzo?” Damon asked, raising an amused eyebrow. He crossed his arms over his chest as he walked toward us, his eyes studying my expression before he looked at Alaria. “We can make a deal though…”

“You…”

“Now, now, I don’t think that cursing in front of the child would be very appropriate.” He said, stopping me, knowing that I would not only be cursing him, even breaking his face was going to be an easy punishment for a man like him. “Plus, you’re yet to even hear my proposal. And I think that it is going to be one that can be considered fair…”

He looked at Alaria for a moment before raising his gun at me. “She can run to save herself and her son, but you have to die…”