Chapter 14

ARIELLA. I didn't expect to be impressed or be grateful to Eli anymore, but here I am thanking him for finding an apartment where I could stay. And he wasn't lying when he said that the place was highly sought after for its cheap price because when we arrived at the place, two other people were inquiring about it. But since Eli got to it first, we were given priority by the owner. "See? We scored a good deal. It was lucky I found it before someone else took it!" He looked so proud of himself, smiling cheerfully which made him look cute. I smiled but then quickly switched to a poker face when he saw me smiling. "You should smile more often, Ariella," he quickly commented as we walked to the unit we just successfully got. "Smiling suits you." I rolled my eyes at him and just opened the new place with the keys. "I'll let you pass this time since you did me a great favor." Eli chuckled as we went inside the unit. It was pretty good for the price, and it was definitely a lot better than the hotel room. Some appliances and furniture were already there, making me smile again. It was spacious enough for two people, which was the part that excited me the most because I could invite Emma here anytime I wanted. All it needs is a little renovation for the decors and this place will look awesome. "This is really nice," I said sincerely, walking to the window and peeking outside. The street below was empty as I expected, even if we were still in the downtown area. "I can help you with the cleaning if you want, or if you need someone to carry furniture like tables," Eli offered. I stared at him to argue, but I saw him already lying on the couch that was already in there. "This couch seems old. I think you'll need a new one, Ariella. Should I buy you one?" "Thank you for the offer, Mister Rich Guy, but no. You have helped me enough already." He seemed to be in teasing mode. "You can pay me later if you don't want it free." "Don't you have somewhere else to go? Are you not still going home? Your parents are probably already missing you." "Nah. I told them I'll be gone for a while." "But you said that our packs are about to fight. Don't you have to go back to help your Uncle?" Eli shook his head. "I don't need to. Or to be exact, I don't want to help him." That confused me a lot. "Why?" "This may surprise you, Ariella, but I don't really support his ways," he replied. He sat down properly as our conversation turned into a serious one. "I know I made it look like I follow in his footsteps, but I really don't. I just want to win his favor, that's all." "Well, I guess I have no right to act righteous in front of you too. After all, everything went bad after what my father and his cohorts did." "I'm sorry I called you the daughter of a cheater, Ariella. I didn't mean it---" "That's okay. It's true anyway. I can't really deny that now, can I? Besides, I kind of own it now. So what if I am the daughter of a cheater? At least I'm not the one who actually cheated." He looked at me with those sad eyes and I looked away because I could see the guilt and pain in his eyes. I could also sense his wolf whining about its regret, and it made my wolf whimper too. To stop the emotions from overflowing, I offered to buy food for us. There was this bakeshop on the first floor (this unit was on the third) that caught my attention earlier. But when I got to the store, it was already closed, confusing me more than ever. I got back to my unit empty-handed, but Eli offered some of the groceries he bought. There were cookies and chips there and those ended up as our snacks. "It's strange here, isn't it? Everywhere you go it feels empty," said Eli as we munched on the food. "We’re in the middle of nowhere after all. I like the quiet though so I got used to the vibe here quickly." "But don't you think it's just a bit weird?" Eli asked. "Coming here, I passed on small towns like this too, but they didn't look like they were ghost towns like here." "I noticed that too. But I was too preoccupied with my thoughts when I arrived here to actually care. But now that I think about it, I think I know what you mean. The bakery downstairs and the shops next to it are almost bare too. Even at the restaurant where I work, it's the same thing. We'd be lucky if we had ten customers in a day." "Makes you wonder how they are still in business, right?" "Maybe businesses here have good and bad seasons?" "Could be. Plus the fact that most people here work on the wildlife reserve. But still, this is a big place for such a small population of people." "Yeah. I wondered about that too. There are many buildings here but I only see very few people. I should ask David about it. Maybe there is an explanation." "Who's David?" asked Eli who looked like he was shocked that I mentioned another person's name. "He's the sous chef at The Honeycomb. He's my friend and he might know something." And speaking of the devil, I received a message from him, asking me if I got the apartment unit. I replied with capital letters YES. I had asked him about it earlier and he said it was a nice place and I should really grab the opportunity. He even told me to take the day off just so I could focus on getting the apartment. Eli stared at me like something was wrong again. I asked him what was the matter and he just told me not to trust anyone from here that quickly. "We still don't know everyone here, Ariella. You should be careful." "David is a nice person. He helped me a lot already." I didn't want to defend David from Eli because Eli had a point. I shouldn't really trust anyone in this place that quickly, but I just don't feel any bad vibe towards David. Besides, David is a human like anybody else in this town. I can overpower any of them if they try to attack me, even the strongest of them. But Eli must have thought that I was thinking that because he told me to be extra careful still. "I just don't feel good about this place, Ariella. So if you're staying here, then at least always be careful. Call me if you sense something out of the ordinary." He quickly gave me his number, and I didn't refuse it this time. "Good. I'll be staying at the hotel, so you can call me anytime you want. Call for me anything, especially if your wolf asks for me and my wolf." I almost choked on the cookie I was chewing when I heard him say that because I knew what he meant. "I was already warming up to you, but you just suggested that so casually. You really are something." Eli laughed. "What did I say that was wrong? You know that our wolves will need each other. Don't tell me you're going to let your wolf starve when I'm just two blocks away?" He was grinning at me, confident about what he said because it was actually true. "I think you should go," I told him quickly, which made him holler in laughter. "You're getting way too comfortable with me now." "Yeah, because I want to know you better, Ariella. That's what mates do," he said, winking at me before heading to the door.