Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 297

Chapter 297

Celeste managed a small smile at that. “Fair enough.”

We ate in silence for a few minutes. The food was very good, although my stomach was still unsettled enough that I had to force myself to take small bites. Celeste seemed to notice.

“Are you still feeling ill?” she asked. “You look pale.”

“Just still a bit under the weather.” I took a sip of water, ignoring my wine. “I’ll be fine.”

Celeste gestured to my cup of wine. “How about some red wine? It might settle your stomach.”

“No, thank you. I don’t really drink much anyway.”

She blinked at me, but didn’t press the matter and took a sip from her glass. Another silence fell over us.

“So,” I said, trying to ease the awkwardness, “tell me something about yourself that I don’t know. Something that has nothing to do with Karl or pack politics or any of that.”

Celeste blinked. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. A hobby? Something you enjoy doing when no one’s watching?”

She was quiet for a moment, considering. Then she said, “I like to paint.”

“Really?”

“Well, I’m not very good at it, but…” Celeste looked down at her plate. “It’s one of the few things my mother…” She shook her head as if stopping herself from saying something. “It’s just a hobby.”

“I’d love to see your work sometime,” I said.

Celeste looked up at me as if surprised. “You would?”

“Of course. Art is personal. It says a lot about who someone really is underneath everything else.”

For just a moment, I saw something different in Celeste’s face. Something softer. The hard edges seemed to melt away, and I caught a glimpse of who she might have been if things had been different.

“What about you?” Celeste asked tensely, as if unused to having to hold conversations like this. “What do you do when no one’s watching?”

“I read,” I said. “And I train, obviously. But mostly I just try to be present with the twins. They grow up so fast.” I paused, then added, “I spent five years hiding, constantly looking over my shoulder. Now that I don’t have to do that anymore, I just want to enjoy the small moments, you know?”

Celeste nodded slowly. “I look forward to having my own children someday.” There was that softness again, although it quickly smoothed over with a layer of stone. She looked away, picking at her food.

“What’s wrong?” I tilted my head.

She shrugged and reached for the wine bottle again, glancing at my untouched glass. “You’re sure you don’t want any? It’s really good. One of the better vintages from the cellar.”

Chapter 247

+25 Bonus

“I’m sure,” I said. “But thank you.”

She took another sip, watching me over the rim of her glass. “Not even a sip? To celebrate… I don’t know, new beginnings?”

“I really can’t.”

“Why not?” Celeste set her glass down. “One glass won’t hurt anything.”

“Celeste-”

“Come on. Just try it.” She picked up my glass and tried to shove it into my hands. “It’s so good.”

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