Chosen by Fate, Rejected by the Alpha

Chapter 977: Chapter 162- Talia – Let Me Help (VOLUME 5)

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Talia

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I had fallen asleep while in my mom’s office earlier. I hadn’t meant to, but I ended up slumping over and passing out right on Lex’s arm. He probably was uncomfortable that whole time and ended up just carrying me to my room so that he didn’t have to deal with me anymore. I wouldn’t blame him. Who wants a sleeping person that might drool laying on them? Then again, I didn’t usually drool in my sleep, so he was probably safe from that. Not that it mattered much.

When I woke up, Lex was sitting in the chair across the room from me, next to the window with the shade drawn. He was sound asleep. It was as if he had sat down to take a break after carrying me to my room and instantly fell asleep as well. I knew that he had been up all night as well, so he had to have been exhausted. And it was all my fault that he was awake too. I had been pacing and grumbling in my room the whole night, at least until the vision overtook me. Then I was silent for like five minutes, just long enough for him to drift off before I started to scream blood murder. And considering that I was literally covered in blood, it was like it really had been a murder.

We had been so busy lately, and there had been so much that had happened since we came home, that I just hadn’t been able to relax at all. And since I wasn’t relaxing, neither was Lex. And that made me feel so bad. Not only was I keeping him from finding a mate, but I was ruining his ability to calm down and relax. I didn’t know why he was so adamant about being my guard when he knew that it was going to be such a difficult job. This situation might not last forever, but there would be other ones in the future. As the goddess of the underworld, I just knew that there was going to be a lot for me to endure and face on my own.

Still, he chose to stick by me. He wanted to be the number one guard to the future ruler of the underworld. And I knew that this wasn’t a bid for power. He just felt that he owed that to me. He thought that, as a former guard in the underworld that came to live in the mortal realm, he was the one that was the most qualified to protect me.

.....

Of course, Rudy was also in the same position as him. A former guard in the underworld that now lived with us in the mortal world. However, Rudy was different. He was soft, sweet, and trusted more people than Lex ever would. And I think that, in Lex’s opinion, Rudy was too soft to be my primary guard when I moved and started to live in the underworld. And I agreed with him as well. Rudy wouldn’t be the right choice to be my right hand man when I was there. I needed someone stronger. I needed someone more powerful. And, more importantly, I needed someone that I could trust with absolutely no doubts in my mind. And since Rudy had a family, I didn’t know where his loyalty would lie in the end. Lex though, he didn’t have a family, as sad as that was, so I knew that he would think of me first and foremost.

As I thought about all of this, I walked into the bathroom to get some relief. I washed my hands, then my face. For good measure I also brushed my teeth and then pulled my hair back into a neat ponytail. After that, I was ready to face the day, and the man sleeping in my room.

I thought that I was going to be waking Lex up when I went back into the bedroom, but he was sitting up and looking at me with a calm expression on his face.

“Did you sleep well?” He asked me as soon as I was out of the bathroom.

“Yes, I did.” I nodded at him. “I know that I didn’t sleep all that long, but I feel a lot better.” I was used to not sleeping much anyway. It came with the territory when the souls of the dead wailed at you all the time. Still, these couple of hours felt like a whole night to me.

“I am glad that you got some sleep.” He gave me the smallest of smiles in response. “I too am feeling rested after sleeping. And I do apologize that I fell asleep here.” He looked around the room but did not get up.

“It is fine, Lex. It was my fault that you didn’t sleep at all last night. So, please, don’t worry about it.” I didn’t want to add that it might have been him in here, my subconscious knowing that I was being protected, that helped me to sleep so soundly. I was sure that he would take it the wrong way. All I meant by that was that he was there for me and I knew that he wouldn’t let me get hurt. He was the best type of bodyguard that there was for me. Strict with the rules and powerful enough to protect me from pretty much anything. Well, anything but a vision.

“Shall I take you down to the dining room? I am sure that you are hungry for some lunch.” Right on cue my stomach growled and grumbled loudly. “I knew it.” He grinned, but then his stomach answered mine.

“I see that you are hungry as well.” I gave him a quick laugh and walked toward the door. “Come on, we both need to eat something soon.”

When we got to the dining room, I saw that my parents were the only other ones in there.

“I see you slept well.” Mom said as soon as she looked at me. “You’re looking better.”

“Yeah, I did, and I feel a lot better.” I nodded and answered her. “Did Abigail make lunch for us all, or just you two?”

“She has plenty.” Dad said as he reached across the table to pat my hand. “I am glad that you are feeling better.” He gave me a wary look. “How do you feel though? Physically? Shifting can cause pain afterwards.”

“I’m fine.” I moved my limbs and flexed some muscles on my body and there was no pain at all.

“That’s a relief.” And he truly looked like it was too.

We sat in silence as Abigail brought food for my parents and noticed me. She smiled and said that she would be back in a moment with some for me. I told her to get some for Lex as well, since he hadn’t eaten in a long time. He tried to refuse, but I insisted. He needed to keep his strength up as well. There was a battle coming, and we didn’t know how long it was going to be before it started.

While we ate, sitting in near perfect silence, I had a thought that occurred to me. There was something that I needed to tell my parents. Though, I guess that asking was the better way to go about it.

“Mom? Dad?” I pushed my plate aside and looked at them with a calm and serious expression.

“Yes, Tally?” Dad knitted his brows together as he tried to puzzle out why I was suddenly so serious.

“There is something that I want to tell you. Well, I will pose it as a question, but it’s more of me telling you what I want to do.” I hoped that the look on my face conveyed that I could not and would not be swayed from this idea.

“Go ahead.” Mom pushed her food away and gave me her full attention.

“Please, let me help with the battle. Let me be a part of it.”

“Absolutely not!” Dad roared immediately.

“No!” Mom added.

“Over my dead fucking body!” Lex added his own response.

“I am not truly asking.” I looked from one to the other of them. “I am the future goddess of the underworld. I need to learn how to handle these situations. And the underworld is my domain. These people, these Ancient Ones that the gods were telling us about, they are from the underworld. They are just as much my problem as they are Hades, Satan’s, Lucifer’s and all of the others’ problems. I need to be a part of this.” I wasn’t going to back down. They wouldn’t be able to stop me, no matter what they did. I just didn’t want to cause a strife between us when I went to battle against their wishes.

“Talia, you could get hurt.” Lex was the first one to speak after that.

“Only if you fail to protect me.” I pointed out to him. “Do you plan on failing?”

“I would never!” This had seemed to anger him a little.

“Then I will be just fine.” He didn’t seem to have a response to this. He just snapped his mouth shut and glared at me.

“Talia, we could all potentially die in that battle. You saw it in your vision.”

“All the more reason for me to fight. We need to have as many people fighting in this battle as we possibly can. That is the only way to guarantee our success.” She couldn’t argue with me, not without contradicting how serious this battle was. She knew that I had trapped her in with that argument, so she just looked at Dad.

“Don’t leave this on me!” He snapped at her, but it was more playful than it was angry. “If you can’t stop her, do you really think that she will listen to me?” He was right, I wouldn’t listen to him telling me not to fight. And the others had no arguments that could sway me either.

“Why do you want to do this, Talia? What is the real reason?” Mom wanted to know more details, I guess that was understandable.

“As I said before, this is my problem. But that isn’t all. I have been a part of this case since you left for Wales. I may not have gotten the details that you had before leaving, but I have been a part of it all since the beginning of the investigation. And I want to continue being a part of it. I want to see this through until the end. I couldn’t live with myself if I wasn’t there to end this with all of you.”

I saw my parents looking at each other as they seemed to be contemplating the words that I had said. They knew that I was being serious. They knew that I wanted to help, and that this wasn’t just about rebellion or trying to look cool. At least, I hoped that they knew it.

“Talia, if you are out there, if you are fighting in this battle, then I want you to have Alexio with you at all times.” Mom gave her stipulation, but apparently, Dad had one more.

“And either Hades or Lucifer. You need to have one of the gods at your side at all times. They will protect you since you are the ones that they are hoping to have you take over for them soon.” He was right about that. They would likely protect me at all costs.

“Fine.” I didn’t argue. I would feel better with them at my side anyway.

“Fine.” Mom sighed the word as she shook her head. “Then you can join us, Talia. You can be a part of the battle.” She wasn’t happy about it, but she was relenting and letting me be a part of the action. I wasn’t in it for the excitement though. I just felt a sense of responsibility and duty to see this through until the end. It was the right thing to do.

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