Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 213

Luca, unlike me, is having no such problems. He all but inhales his food. I try not to stare, but there's no way he's actually tasting it.

"Stop." Onai glares at him.

It goes right over Luca's head. "Dad says I'm growing and I need all the food I can get." The younger boy wipes his hands on the table and reaches over to Onai's plate to-

I look away before Onai manages to kill him over a croissant.

Focusing on the task at hand, I pick up my breakfast biscuit, eyeing the steaming egg and cheese layers. I'll admit, it does look good... I slowly take a bite. "Mmm," I say dramatically to Axel, hoping he'll believe me so we can finally leave this place. "It's delicious." Surprisingly, I actually like it.

Everyone breathes for what seems like the first time in a while, especially Axel. The chef lets out a sigh of relief too, adjusting her coat. "I knew it." She nods curtly to her staff.

Axel smiles, nodding back. Then he turns to me, rubbing my shoulder gently. "See? That's why you can't skip breakfast. You were hungry."

"I wasn't," I say, scarfing it down.

He shakes his head and tries to get me to take another bite.

Note to self: Never let Axel hear my stomach growl again.

He all but dragged me to the nearest food place when he identified where the "whale noises" were coming from-me. I sigh. Don't get me wrong, I love the attention. I love to feel cared for, but not at the expense of his peace of mind. Even now he's watching me like a hawk. He looks so anxious, even though he's trying his best to hide it behind a smile. Maybe he's fooling someone, but it's not me.

I look at his untouched food. I thought the wolf argument with Onai was a fluke, but it wasn't. Something's wrong.

"You know," I say. "You're not eating either."

He raises an eyebrow. Slowly, he turns to his plate as if it just appeared. "...Oh." He takes a bite of his sandwich and turns back to me. Then he tries to get me to eat again.

"Did you eat breakfast?" I ask him.

"I'm fine," he says, but Onai shakes his head.

I frown, but before I can do anything, Axel hands me some of the orange juice he forced me to get. "Drink this. It's good for you."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because fruits are a vital source of vitamin C for humans," he says. "But maybe you'd prefer kiwis or pineapples... Cantaloupe?" he keeps talking, but that's not what I meant exactly.

I sigh, getting up.

He follows me with his eyes. "Where are you going?"

"Can you watch our food for a second?" I ask the others.

He fights the smile growing on his face. "Stop. I'm being serious."

"I know," I say.

He sighs. He clenches his jaw before reaching out for me. Beside this busy street corner, he quietly asks permission to hold me in his arms. Of course I agree, but he doesn't stop there. He can't. He pulls me closer and closer, like he's afraid of something. I rest my head against his chest, wondering if I should be the one worrying about him.

"If it's all this luna stuff..." he says.

I shake my head. "It's not."

"Is it school?"

I look into his amber eyes. Even though he's leaning down, and I'm leaning up, we're still so far away from each other. "I'm fine, Axel. I'm just tired."

"Why?" he asks.

I hesitate. He doesn't rush me though. He acts like he has all the time in the world for me, even when I know he doesn't. I guess that's another thing I hate about the imprint bond. Sometimes I wonder if he ever gets tired of dealing with me, even though he doesn't say so. And if so, would he even know, or would the bond convince him he's completely happy with it?

I don't know why, but something about that makes me opt for the truth. "The window in my room is broken," I say barely above a whisper. I feel like a two year old, crying to her parents about the monsters under her bed. When did I get this bad? "It's keeping me up," I mutter. I want to say something else, but I don't know what.