"Liking her is my business. If I can't even chase my own female without you stepping in to smooth things over for me, then I really don't deserve to call myself your older brother." Alaric lifted his eyes a little. The light in them looked even deeper under the flickering fire. "But Emma turned you down. Aren't you upset?" Stella frowned at how calm he looked. She always thought her brain didn't work fast enough. She never understood Alaric. If the male she liked rejected her, she would have been too miserable to eat. Alaric let out a quiet laugh. The sound slipped through the crackling fire, somehow making it gentler. "Upset?" He echoed the word with a teasing lilt, then gave a slight shake of his head. His tone carried the kind of confidence that felt almost matter-of-fact. "Why would I be upset?" After seeing Stella's eyes widen, Alaric went on at his own pace. "She turned me down once. That doesn't mean she'll turn me down forever. She just doesn't know me well enough right now." He tossed the empty skewer into the flames. Sparks burst up for a moment. He watched them flicker, the corner of his mouth pulling into a slow, unreadable smile. "Stella, feelings don't grow overnight. She already has several mates around her. "If I show up out of nowhere and suddenly want a place in her life, of course, she'll push back. That reaction is the most normal thing in the world. If she said yes right away, I'd start wondering if she ever took any of her mates seriously." He paused for a beat. "And when she left, she said no, but she wasn't cruel about it, was she? That means she doesn't dislike me. For now, that's enough." Alaric finished and turned to her. His eyes settled on Stella, playful and sure of itself, like a fox who already knew the ending. "One rejection is nothing. She might even say no twice or thrice—even ten times is possible. We live for thousands of years. With that much time, I'm bound to win her over someday." Stella just stared at him, completely stunned. So, this… actually counts as another way of looking at it? Alaric's mind is really something.… Meanwhile, Emma steadied Lucien and helped him back to the hotel. She still had to clear the fire clinging to the plumage mark between his brows later that night, so she told Calum and Marcus to get their own rooms first. Neither of them minded. Calum went ahead and booked several rooms on the top floor. That way, when Silas and the others arrived, they would have a place to stay and wouldn't need to search for another hotel. Emma had no issue with that plan. "Get some rest, both of you. I'll look for you tomorrow." Lucien stayed leaning against her, his expression twisted like he was in real pain. He really looked miserable. Marcus tried to help carry him earlier, but Lucien wanted nothing to do with it. … Once she finished talking, Emma guided Lucien back to their room.Marcus watched Lucien leave and rolled his eyes. "This guy is laying it on so thick. Even a storage band can't fake it that hard." Calum glanced at Lucien's back and nodded. "He just came out of Pyreborn, and he's all over the place. Let him have it for now. Tomorrow you stick with Ms. Tibarn. I'll find a chance to beat him up." I used to worry that Lucien might snap again and figured I should wait until he fully recovers before I punch him. But at this point, he seems perfectly fine. He just keeps getting sneakier. Honestly, this feels normal for him. The guy has always been shady. He used to hide it. Now he doesn't even bother. He just shows his true colors. Silas always says Lucien spends his whole life tied up by etiquette and rules, and the Chitinid genes only exacerbate the situation. He doesn't explode after all the silence. He mutates in it. Marcus and Calum kept their voices down, but Lucien still caught every word. He just didn't care. Emma didn't hear anything. She helped Lucien back to his room and pretty much dumped him onto the couch. "Cough, cough." The fall knocked a weak couple of coughs out of him. He pressed a hand to his chest and looked at Emma while tugging at his collar like he was uncomfortable.His shirt had slipped open from the earlier movement, revealing a sharp collarbone and a hint of pale skin that rose and fell with the slow, deliberate breaths he took. His eyes were half-lidded, bright with tears that hadn't fallen, the corners tinged a soft red that made him look helpless in a way he knew exactly how to use. He just stared at Emma without blinking, as if she were the only thing in the room he could lean on. "Emma..." Lucien's voice came out scratchy from coughing, low and soft. "I really... don't feel so good." He even pulled his brows together like he was fighting through some unbearable pain. Nothing about him looked like he was suffering. He looked like he was trying to reel her in. Emma stared at him and rolled her eyes. She stepped over and brushed her hand lightly across his chest.