Chapter 242

I felt my heart torn asunder.

A part of me was elated with Andrew’s answer. The love of my life wanted to elope with me. He was willing to leave his entire life behind and run away with me if that was what I wanted.

Dear Goddess, I wanted that more than anything. The idea of starting over didn’t even scare me, so long as it was with Andrew. With him by my side, I felt as though I could do anything.

Another part of me, though, knew that I couldn’t do that. There was too much at stake. This was about more than just what we wanted or even our lives.

This was about the entire werewolf community.

Sighing, I released Andrew’s hands and broke our gaze.

“We can’t,” I said.

“What? Of course, we can,” he replied. “I have the money, the resources, the connections, and we can go anywhere you want—”

“That’s not what I mean.” I ran my hand through my hair. “I can’t elope with you, Andrew.”

I glanced at Andrew out of the side of my eye. His brow scrunched in confusion.

“Why did you even bring it up?” he asked, his tone accusing.

“I didn’t think—I wasn’t thinking,” I replied, deciding that it would be better to be half-honest with my answer. “I love you, so much, but I wasn’t thinking about the repercussions.”

“The repercussions? What are you talking about?”

“There’s so much more involved in this than just you and me. There are two worlds looking forward to the union that you currently have planned. We need to think about all the people we would be letting down if we ran off together.”

“I told you, I don’t care what other people think.”

I hated his stubbornness, yet it was also one of the things that I loved about him. I had to find a way to penetrate his thick skull. Our futures—the future of all werewolf kind—depended on it.

“I have something that I want to show you.” I located my phone and pulled up my social media feed. “I think you need to take a look at some of these.”

I scrolled down to some posts about Andrew that I had saved. I smiled bittersweetly before I handed my phone over to Andrew.

“What’s this supposed to—”

“Just read them.”

Andrew looked from the phone to me and back again, then started to read the posts out loud.

Andrew Dubois is the best Alpha King in years, the first post read. He has done miracles for werewolf/human relations, forced the werewolf underground even further underground, and lowered werewolf homelessness to its lowest rate in years. I don’t know what we would do without him.

Alpha King Andrew’s hybrid scholarship programs helped me go to college when I would have been homeless otherwise, said another. I don’t know what my life would be like without him in charge.

My heart almost went into my mouth when I thought that Bob was going to win, the third remarked. I can’t imagine what would have happened if Andrew had lost the Alpha King election. No one is as caring or giving as he is.

Alpha King Andrew’s aggressive anti-vampire stance has saved the lives of thousands of werewolves over these past few years, a fourth mentioned. My family in the northern territories sleep better at night because they know that Alpha King Andrew is watching over them. Even with the increase in insurgencies, they know that he will keep the casualties to a minimum and run the vampires off at all costs.

Of all the Alpha Kings in recent years, Andrew Dubois is the best, boasted the fifth. The pack is better organized, more clearly driven, and cleaner than ever. With this upcoming alliance between him and Princess Aurora, he will solidify peace between the worlds for generations to come.

I watched Andrew’s neutral expression when he finished reading the posts. I could not tell where his mind was leaning, but I had to strike while the iron was hot.

“I can’t take you away from them, Andrew,” I said. I placed my hand on his arm. “I can’t tear you away from your constituents, not after all the good that you’ve done for them.”

Andrew ran his hand over his face.

“Crystal, this isn’t going to work,” he said as he handed the phone back to me. “You can’t convince me not to go through with this. If you want to elope, then I want to, also.”

I did not respond immediately.

“You know that I would love to elope with you, but—”

“But what? What is there to argue about if we both want this…if we both love each other?”

I ran my thumb soothingly over his arm, brushing the hair first back and then forth.

“Andrew, listen to reason,” I insisted. “Your pack needs you. They need you to do the right thing—”

“Didn’t you hear me before? That’s all I have ever done. I’m done!”

Andrew ripped his arm out of my grasp and stood up. He started pacing, his feet pounding forcefully against the hardwood floor.

I wanted to reach out to him, to stop his pacing and comfort him, but I did not so much as get up from the loveseat. I had not seen him so agitated since he thought that he could not protect me from Bob’s attacks.

Every visible muscle in his body was tense. He held his hands behind his back, curled into fists. His posture remained so rigidly straight that my back hurt just watching him.

I hesitated to speak again, but I knew that we needed to work this out.

“These people depend on you,” I said, my voice lower than I had expected it to be. “Are you really going to abandon them, just for me?”

He stopped pacing mid-step. He did not turn to face me. Though he held his shoulders high, his head dipped low.

“They have the Werewolf Council,” he argued. “They will see to my constituents’ needs as well as I would.”

“But Bob is now on it,” I countered. “If you leave, he might become Alpha King in your place. Do you really think that he will take good care of your constituents in your place?”

“He lost the previous race—”

“Because you were the one running against him. You won’t get so lucky as to find another candidate that can hold their own against him like you can.”

“He was just part of a murder trial. No one will want to vote for him.”

“I’ve seen the social media feeds. People pity him and blame me for ruining his life. There’s no way that he wouldn’t use that to his advantage.”

Andrew growled in frustration.

“I’ll find a way to stop that from happening. Just trust me.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I had no choice. I had to pull out the big guns.

“Andrew, look at me.”

Reluctantly, he turned around and faced me.

I gathered up my courage, rose to my feet, and walked over to him. I looked up into his eyes, blinking away a couple of tears.

“There’s something that I need to tell you.”