Ditched Cheating Alpha, I Led My Daughter to Life's Peak novel Chapter 69

He asks, coldly, "Have you seen the studies on soda?"

"Have you seen the studies on bottled water?" I ask, shaking the water bottle in my hand.

He raises an eyebrow.

I smile. He can't argue with that.

He sighs and stays quiet. I do too. We listen to the sounds of the school and the silence, and for once, I feel at peace in his presence. Even just a little bit. I feel like we did something. Changed something. It doesn't feel like walking on broken glass just being in his presence.

Something's... dare I say better before I jinx it?

"I'm going to ask you something. I'd prefer if you gave me a straight answer," he states rather than asks.

It doesn't sound like I have a choice, so I nod, afraid that he's about to ruin everything. Like I thought.

"Why were you so interested in that language?"

I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"In the halls, on your first day."

I cock my head back. He remembers that? He's been thinking of that for this long? I look at him and he keeps his eyes on me.

"Well," I start. "I like languages."

"I figured that much."

I give him a look. "Let me finish."

He doesn't stop me again.

I nod, more to myself. "It's actually like a big goal of mine to become a polyglot. I suck at it though." I laugh. "But I want to meet different kinds of people and cultures and just... learn and travel. My family's moved around so much, I guess it just stuck with me."

When I offer him a small smile, he doesn't smile back. "You can't leave. It's not safe."

"I didn't mean right now, right now," I say. "Like in the future."

He gives me a hard look. "Our packs is not a migratory one. It's too large. You can't leave."

I sigh. I don't know what to tell him. He can't just keep me a prisoner in this town, but somehow I don't think it's the right time to say that. "I don't want to fight anymore. Just forget I said anything."

He gives me a cold stare. "Well you said it."

Is he serious? "Aiden," I say firmly." Stop picking a fight with me."

He scoffs. "I guess you'll interpret this situation however you want."

My eyes fly open. "Just drop it." I huff. "Seriously. We were having a moment and you... wait, was that a pun?" Interpret? Languages?

"Did you just figure that out?" He gives me a bored look.

I rub my forehead. It's all I can do.

"No problem, Luna," he says as he heads to the back room.

Whoa, I didn't expect to be called that. Let alone by a teacher. I sit back down and look from Carson to Axel to Aiden.

Carson wastes no time starting. "You said you were interested in spending some time around town getting to know stuff, right?"

I nod, even though it was Axel I told that to. Mind link I'm guessing? Or maybe just gossip.

Carson smirks and leans forward. "Well we made a plan for you to be able to do that."

I give him a flat look. "I'm not skipping school with you guys." Let alone being alone with them. Axel I trust a little bit. These other two? Not so much with their weird zoning out and... impulses. I give Carson a suspicious look.

Carson deadpans. "I never said that."

"We didn't mean right now," Axel clarifies.

I raise an eyebrow. "Then why are we talking...now?"

It's Aiden's turn. "Well in order to explore the town you need to know how everything is divided."

That makes sense. I nod for him to keep going, but it's Axel that speaks.

"There are three main divisions, kind of like the branches of government."

"Stop, you're confusing her," Carson cuts him off.