Chapter 342: _ Throw Him a Feast
An indescribable warmth found its way through my chest when María José said that. I puffed my muscles with pride and said, "Of course, what did you expect? I am the best cook in the world. Both worlds, even!"
María José rolled her eyes playfully. "Practice a little humility, will you?"
We both laughed and I continued to feed her. We ate and drank whilst talking about various topics. It seemed as though we had both tacitly decided not to let the recent events ruin the moment. So we acted like all was fine and simply dined.
At that moment, a deafening yell, which most definitely came from Rosario, tore through the villa. If not for the contents of the yell, I most definitely would have demanded she be gone from the house. Or at the very least, be removed from being Luis’s caretaker.
"Luis is moving!" was what she yelled, and my eyes narrowed instantly.
Before I could think of anything, María José calmly said to me, "Go!"
I nodded and bolted out of the room instantly. I rushed out of the main house and ran at full speed to the lonely building where Luis was being kept. And when I stepped in, ¡Dios mío... Rosario wasn’t joking.
I could feel it instantly. Something about Luis had changed. His facial expression was different, and struggling... like he wanted to speak, yell.
...and he did.
He screamed so loudly that I staggered backwards. Tears had unknowingly lined my eyes as I witnessed my best friend, my true brother, put all his strength into that one gut-wrenching moment.
He fell forward, and I caught him.
"Luis... Luis..." I sobbed quietly as he passed out in my arms.
...
Bright chandeliers hung from the ceiling of the grand hall. Circular tables were arranged in an orderly fashion as guests walked in and took their seats. The ensemble in the corner of the hall played a melody that was soothing to the ear.
I exhaled softly. My arm was tightly hooked to my wife’s as I welcomed guests into the hall.
After Luis stepped out of the wheelchair, the entire villa went wild with joy. It was deemed a miracle. It could only have been. After so many years, Luis had been miraculously healed. And so, my mother had demanded a feast to celebrate such a lovely moment.
Many maids cried that he had been blessed by the Moon Goddess, and they saw it as a sign of a wonderful future. I was the same. Luis being able to walk, to talk, after so long, filled me with a strength I never realized I needed.
With two of us working hand in hand, no adversary could stand in our way. That was what I believed.
I half-turned and my eyes fleeted across the brightly lit hall. And I saw him.
Luis was being dragged by his mother to every guest. There was a bright smile on her face, one that could only come from a place of maternal love. I liked that mother saw Luis as her own son, and he seemed to be happy about that fact too.
Luis was all smiles. He bowed with respect as he was introduced to the elders and other important figures of the pack.
"The miracle child." They called him, and I couldn’t help but approve. There was no title more fitting.
Then, my eyes fell on my father. He stood with Álvaro as they both seemed to be discussing something in a hushed tone.
Those snakes! I clenched my fists. I was almost certain that they were plotting something despicable again. After all, unlike every other person, my father was guilty of putting Luis in that crippled state. And now that he was all healed, Luis could accuse him of all his evil deeds.
"Axel, are you okay?" María José squeezed my arm tenderly.
I looked down and saw her staring at me. "You were frowning." She said with a hint of worry.
I chuckled softly. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I said, "I’m just worried about Luis. I fear my father will do something drastic again."
"You think they’ll try to silence him?" María José asked, and I nodded.
"Then you have to protect him." She said with a firm squeeze. "Axel, you hear me? This is the only person you can actually call a brother. You cannot let any harm come to him."
That was a given.
I nodded seriously and pulled her into a tight embrace. I said into her ear, "I’ll protect both of you, I promise it. I’ll protect all of us."
My entire body could feel it. War was coming, and I couldn’t help but feel like we’d get swept in the storm. I needed to know who was friend or foe, and with a demonic shapeshifter on the loose, that was looking to be a rather difficult task.
After all the guests had settled in, María José and I walked to the table reserved for the family. Álvaro and Camilla sat across from us, and I could see her stealing glances at Luis. The girl even had the guts to say, "Ay, you did not tell me you had such a good-looking cousin!"
Álvaro slapped her hand away. "Shut your mouth! You promiscuous woman!"
"Álvaro! How dare you say that when you’re the one who ogles someone else’s wife!" Camilla’s mouth gaped.
María José and I exchanged looks. We could only shake our heads pitifully. I shifted my focus to Luis. He sat with his mother, and the woman seemed unwilling to let go of him. It was almost as if she was also trying desperately to protect him from the clutches of her husband.
Good. That makes two of us... I nodded inwardly.
I hadn’t really gotten the chance to speak to Luis, but we could always do that later. Tonight, he was going to feast and enjoy every single delicacy he had been deprived of all these years.
The Alpha made his way to the front of the hall with a glass of wine in hand. He was all smiles like he was actually happy about Luis’s sudden recovery.
"My dear wolves, what a most exquisite night this is! Tonight, we honor the glory of our Moon Goddess. My son—" he gestured toward Luis, his voice swelling with emotion, "has returned to us whole, after years of pain and despair. ¡Madre mía! It is a miracle! A true sign that the Goddess smiles upon our pack. So tonight, we do not weep for the past—no, no. We drink, we sing, and we celebrate the dawn of a beautiful future!"
The entire hall erupted in cheers and applause, and everyone toasted to a good future.