Chapter 11

　　NEON's perspective 　　“You are mine, I meant what I said.” 　　She scoffed in disbelief, picked up her fork, and started eating, avoiding my gaze. 　　I placed my hand on my jaw and watched her eat, Diana excused herself and left the dining area, she didn’t come back to the dining and I didn’t ask her why she left. 　　“Why do you keep staring at me?” Aria stopped eating and tilted her to the side, staring at me. 　　“You need to eat more Aria.” I urged. 　　“Why does that feel like some order?” She narrowed her gaze at me. 　　“I’m full.” She replied stubbornly. 　　He shook my head at her, she barely ate anything. 　　“You will finish your meal. I want you to add some weight. It seems you haven’t been eating. If you have been eating, you won’t have been at this park with a plate in yo—“ 　　She stabbed her fork noisily on her meal with a side glare. Her jaw slightly gritted, I chuckled, and she amuses me. 　　“Ain’t you going to eat?” I asked. 　　She twitched her lips, I dragged her out of the chair made her sit on my lap, and securely fastened my hand around her waist. 　　“What...Let me...” She tried to wriggle free. 　　“Stop squirming.” 　　I grabbed a fork took a streak from the plate, and shoved it in her partly open mouth. She ate them. 　　“Does it taste good?” 　　“It’s delicious.” She mouthed. 　　“Our future pup-kid needs to be nourished since you’re too thin right now.” 　　She spat out the meal in her mouth. 　　“Wait...What!” 　　I stuffed another steak into her mouth, my breath tickling the exposed skin of her neck. 　　She wriggled off from my grip and sat down on the chair beside me. Took the fork from my hand and started to eat. 　　“I can fight myself.” She grumbled, twirled on her seat, and glanced at me. “Ain’t you eating?” 　　She dropped her gaze back to her meal. 　　“Want to eat something else.” I grinned sheepishly at her. 　　“What is that?” Her Innocent look made me want to squeeze her in my arms and kiss her. 　　“You,” I remarked playfully. 　　She choked on her food, I handed over a glass of water to her, laughing at her flushed face. 　　She picked on her food slowly with her head tilted downward, I could sense that there was something she wanted to say to me. 　　“Is something wrong?” 　　“Can I ask for a favor?” She dropped her fork and spoon. 　　I leaned closer to her and urged her to go on with it. 　　“You can ask me anything, and I am going to do anything for you as long as it 　　doesn’t have to do with letting you go.” 　　She rolled her eyes at my words and pushed the plates away from her. She turned on her seat and stared at me intently. 　　“Can you lend me some money?” 　　I frowned disapprovingly at her, why was she asking for money? 　　I didn’t want to see her looking gloomy. So I went on to ask. “How much do you want?” 　　She darted her eyes at me when I asked her the amount. She lifted ten fingers in front of my face. 　　“Ten thousand?” 　　She shook her head. 　　My frown deepened. “Ten million?” 　　“Yes.” She answered with a sigh. 　　“I will give it to you.” 　　I did not want to ask her, why she needed such an amount of money, hoping that she would tell me without having to ask her about it. I want her to open up to me, and trust me. 　　“Won’t you ask what I need it for?” She asked. 　　I picked up the cup of coffee beside me and sipped from it. “What is it for?” 　　Her shoulders sagged, and she sunk into a more relaxed position on the chair. 　　“I have debts to pay, the student loan, that I took while I was studying. I haven’t paid them all, and my house rent is overdue...I have other debts to settle.” She explained with a deep sigh. I tucked a strand of her hair neatly behind her ears. 　　“Why are you in so much debt?” 　　She rolled her eyes. “Because I’m not as rich as you. I guess you’ve never been in debt. You are rich.” She looked around the dining area and across the room. I ignored the sarcasm in her voice. 　　“Look, this is the first time I’m eating this way, with a lot of food on the table. You’ve never been in that position have you?” 　　“I will take care of your debt, and settle everyone you owe,” I remarked after a moment of silence. I took her hand from her lap and held it in mine. 　　Her hand was like a frail bird’s, cold and fine-boned. I held them gently, afraid I might end up hurting her with my strong hand. 　　“Yes, I’m rich enough to take care of you for a lifetime. I have never been in your position, and I can’t say I understand you. I will be a fucking liar. You don’t have to pay me back the money but you will only do one thing for me.” 　　“What is that?” 　　“Stay with me, Aria.” 　　“I will take care of the debts.” 　　“So, I’m trading my freedom for it?” 　　“Deal?” 　　I didn’t wait for her to give me an answer before I pulled her close to me, her head falling on my chest, and my arms wrapped around her.“Hey, let me go...” 　　I unwrapped my arms from her, kept her at arm's length, and pressed a kiss on her forehead. 　　“It’s not Hey, it’s Neon,” I smiled. 　　‘Mate is so cute.’ Jax chuckled. 　　‘She will be the end of me.’ I muttered to my wolf. I could feel him wag his tail, I knew he was excited being around her. 　　“Alpha—Boss,” Silas called when he got to the dining. I glowered at him, and he muttered an apology. 　　“I have the car ready.” He quickly added to cover up for the mistake he made calling me Alpha in front of her. 　　“We are leaving, Aria. Make sure you go to your room after you are done eating.” I stroke her hair. “I will see you at night.” 　　“Where are you going?” 　　“Going for some business,” I replied. 　　“What kind of business?” She inquired. 　　“Business that brings money,” I responded with a smirk. 　　She scoffed. “Whatever.” 　　I chugged down the coffee and stood up, I didn’t want to leave the house because of her, I wanted to stay with her, teasing her and making her feel safe. 　　“Let’s go, Silas.” I tapped him over the shoulders, and we walked out of the house. I could sense that mate was watching us leave. 　　I haven’t even gone out of the house and I miss her so much. 　　Fuck! 　　“Alpha, there is some rogue in the pack. I think there’s a mole in our pack that rat us out.” Silas informed me when we walked towards the car. 　　“Have you found him, the rat?” I snarled. 　　“We did.” His voice was reluctant. “...but he escaped.” He bowed his head. 　　“Silas!” I growled at him. 　　“I’m sorry, Alpha.” 　　“Find him and kill him,” I ordered.