From Frying Pan to Strange Fire

“I thought you left,” Trevor said, wearing a slight frown when he saw Williams standing beside Roman’s door. Williams was leaning against the wall, not making any attempt to knock on the door. It looked like he was waiting for something or someone.

“Am I not allowed to come back?” Williams probed, his expression remained the same – stoic and unreadable.

“I never said that. I only asked a question.” Trevor responded tiredly.

“That was not a question. That was a statement.”

Trevor looked like he couldn’t deal anymore, so he refrained from saying anything further. He instead, focused on his mission, which was to inform Roman about the presence of Joan’s mother.

The woman had been waiting for some time and he expected Roman to be out of his room already. But when he waited a little more and the guy didn’t come out, he decided to go remind him since reaching him through the mind link had proved abortive. Roman completely blocked his mind from everyone.

Moving to the door, Trevor was about to knock, but the door was opened from the inside before his knuckles could touch it.

“Boss,” he stepped away from the door and lowered his head slightly. The air around Roman was still thick and that was something Trevor hated. Apart from being a ticking time bomb whenever he was in such a mood, the atmosphere around the house would be somber and gloomy since no one would want to laugh, smile, or misbehave unnecessarily.

Roman said nothing. He only stared at Trevor for a moment, before shifting his gaze to Williams, who in turn lowered his head slightly.

Without a word still, Roman walked away, and the two of them followed him from a distance. Trevor moved faster to open the door to the home office, already knowing that was where he was headed. As soon as Roman stepped inside, Williams followed, a move that Trevor frowned at. However, he didn’t protest. If Williams wanted to die, he could go ahead.

“Mrs Elvin is here, boss. Should I send her in?” Trevor asked after Roman took his seat.

“Send her in,” Roman responded, and Trevor left, shutting the door behind him.

Just as Trevor walked out, Williams sat down on one of the receiving chairs facing Roman. “You look like you are calm now, Rome. Can we talk?”

“No,” Roman responded without thinking.

“Do you want to die?”

“Is that supposed to be a question?” Roman frowned at Williams. “You are no stranger to the many ways I have employed to end my miserable long life. Don’t ask me stupid questions, Liam.”

“I mean, now that you have found something to fight for, do you still want to die?” Williams corrected the question.

“If I’m meant to die by her hand, then so be it. No one touches her.”

Williams let out a wicked chuckle, his expression hardening. “You’re joking, Rome. You better do everything you can to stay alive. That is the only way I can protect her. Because if you die, you’ll be surprised how quickly I’ll send her to the afterlife.” He threatened, standing up from the chair when he heard the door open. “That is a promise, Rome.” He added before walking toward the door.

He walked past Mrs Elvin, who just entered the office. He needed no one to tell him the woman was an omega wolf, and he wasn’t interested in knowing why she wanted to see Roman. However, he halted his steps right before the door, his brows meeting each other in the middle.

“Good morning, your Majesty, the great leader of our time. It is an honor to be in your presence.” Mrs Elvin greeted, not raising her head even once.

Roman raised his brows, his attention divided between Williams, who suddenly paused by the door without turning around, and the woman who just greeted him in a way he last heard more than a century ago before he disappeared from public space.

Werewolves have a long lifespan, but the woman standing before him didn’t look like someone who was more than a century old.

“You know me,” Roman noted and she nodded. “Interesting. Sit down.” He pointed to the chair Williams just vacated and she sat, finally lifting her head, but not looking at his face. “Something wrong, Liam?” Roman asked, seeing how Williams turned around and fixed his narrowed gaze on the woman’s back.

“Yeah. I just realized the meeting I wanted to attend will be starting by 12 and this is just 10 am. There’s no need to hurry. I’ll just wait here.” Williams answered, sauntering back to the chairs and taking the second one right next to Mrs Elvin. “You can continue with your guest. Just pretend I’m not here.” He added, looking the woman over and noticing the change in the way her heart was beating.

“Is something wrong, Mrs Elvin?” Roman asked, catching the shift in her countenance and heartbeat.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Not really, your Majesty-”

“Roman. Call me Roman, not Your Majesty.” Roman corrected and Mrs. Elvin’s eyes stretched as she shook her head.

“I wouldn’t dare to call you by your name. Forgive me, my leader, but I can’t.” Mrs Elvin pleaded.

“Well, technically, I am now your son-in-law and I don’t feel comfortable being addressed by that title anymore. So unless you don’t want us to have a conversation, you have to call me by my name.”

“Alright.” Mrs Elvin agreed, throwing a side glance at Williams, who was scribbling something on a piece of paper, looking like he wasn’t paying attention to what was happening around him. But she knew better.

“You don’t seem to be comfortable with Williams’s presence.” Roman pointed out and Mrs. Elvin instantly switched into a pleading mode.

“Forgive me. I don’t mean to offend. It’s just that, what I want to talk about is a personal and family matter. I am not comfortable sharing such in the presence of outsiders.”

“Williams is family. You don’t have to feel uncomfortable in his presence. And I’m pretty sure he is interested in whatever you want to say. But if you insist, I’ll tell him to leave.” Roman revealed, a smirk playing on his lips when he saw Williams’ rapid change of expression.

“Pardon me, Alpha Williams, but I have to insist on this one.” Mrs Elvin said, still not making any effort to look at the people she was talking to.

“You heard her, Liam. Wait for your meeting outside. You can come back in when she leaves.”

Williams looked surprised, but he still got up. “Fine. Here’s your design.” He pushed the paper he had been writing on toward Roman, and walked out without another word.

Wondering what the paper contained, Roman looked down at it and saw the word “WITCHCRAFT” written in bold.

He shifted his gaze to Mrs Elvin the next second, making sure to keep his expression unchanged.