Pursuing My Rejected Alpha

343 A Sense Of Belonging

Lucien just got back to the suite, having picked up his sister’s birthday gift from the reception counter.

Alice Clearwater told him that it was a limited-edition dress that Annalynne had fawned upon for months.

The packaging was nice enough. Lucien peeled off the label with his name and pondered whether he needed to buy gift packaging material to make it more appealing to the eyes.

“Hmmm...”

Ronan had not come back yet, and Lucien had nothing else to do.

He thus went downstairs to get some gift packaging material from a nearby DIY shop.

It was a small shop among many others that were cramped together in a humble shopping district. The letters DIY at the display window were made from colorful paper pieces that were pasted together to form an unlikely and yet working pattern.

When Lucien went inside, he was baffled to see a familiar face.

It was none other than Sean’s mother, the exiled werewolf who married a human being.

.....

“...”

“...”

“Yes, young man? Are you looking for something specific?”

“... Madam, aren’t you supposed to be staying at home?”

Sean’s mother chuckled.

“And who will feed us? The island?”

“...”

“I can only rest when I am not working. Today I have the afternoon shift, so I get to serve the wonderful customers that come to visit.”

Lucien rubbed at his forehead.

He knew that Sean’s mother harbored deep hatred toward fellow werewolves because these fellow werewolves banished her and her son.

At this point, there was nothing else he could do but stay away to avoid aggravating the elder woman even more.

“I will just take a look,” he said. “Thanks.”

Lucien walked into a corridor between the tall shelves and disappeared from her sight.

The elder woman bit into her lower lip in resentment. She tapped her foot against the ceramic tile impatiently for some time before she walked away from the cashier counter and went to find Lucien.

“Hey.”

Lucien was in the middle of picking out ribbons. He looked up at the sour-faced woman in confusion.

“Yes?”

“Pick the wrapping paper first, then the ribbon,” she pointed out with raised eyebrow.

“Oh. Alright, thanks.”

“The wrapping paper section is this way,” she said when Lucien moved in the opposite direction.

“Alright, thanks.”

Lucien thought that Sean’s mother would leave him alone once she pointed him in the right direction, but she followed him to the wrapping paper section instead.

“I asked around about you,” she said. “You are quite famous.”

A chuckle escaped the man as he looked through the selection of wrapping paper that hung gracefully from the shelves.

“I am not a celebrity. I am not interested to know about what people think about me.”

Even after his reputation had been cleared, Lucien refused to re-open his social media account. He had no aspiration other than spend the rest of his life next to his mate, so he did not care about what the rest of the world thought about him.

“I think that you are great. You went through a lot and practically became the enemy of all women for a period, but you rose above it.”

Was that a praise?

Lucien gave Sean’s mother a weak smile.

“Thank you. I had a lot of help.”

Lucien moved to another shelf, and the elder woman followed him.

“Look, I am sorry for my harsh words this afternoon. I was just so worried for my son. I never thought that he would come and seek full-blood werewolves of his own volition. That was the stupidest thing that he could have done.”

The elder woman heaved a long sigh.

“Mothers will forever worry about their children. Before I got married, I only cared about my life and my husband’s life. After Sean was born, I worry about him day and night.”

She glanced at Lucien, who was still picking wrapping paper in silence.

“You won’t understand,” she decided. “You are mated to Alpha Ronan. Children are the least of your concern.”

Children.

Lucien lifted his eyes and looked at Sean’s mother at last.

“If the Moon Goddess allow me and Ronan to have our own children, I don’t mind worrying about them day and night.”

A red shade hushed over the elder woman’s face.

“You mistook me. I am not complaining.”

“And I am not condemning you. Madam, your son loves you. You should not make things difficult for him because he sought us out.”

“... I know that.”

“That’s great then.”

Lucien pulled out a dark green, glittery wrapping paper and rolled it together.

He then went back to the ribbon section to select something that complimented the paper that he just picked out.

Sean’s mother followed him again. She cleared her throat awkwardly before she mumbled, “By the way, thanks for the money. We knew what medicine to buy for my condition, but the cost was astronomical.”

“Glad that I can help,” Lucien replied. “I hope that you are feeling better now.”

“The cough attacks are less severe. The medicine is very good.”

“I see.”

“Get the gold ribbon,” the woman suddenly said. “It will look perfect against the dark green color that you just picked out.”

Lucien took the recommended gold ribbon and held it against the rolled wrapping paper in his hand.

“You are right. It is perfect.”

The woman smacked her lips impatiently. “Of course. I work here for fifteen years. If I don’t know the best color combination here, who does?”

They went to the cashier counter afterward.

Lucien took out some bank notes from his pocket and handed them to Sean’s mother, who stared at him instead.

“...”

“You are very kind,” she said. “I wish more werewolves were as kind as you.”

For a while, all they heard was the sound of the printing machine printing out the receipt.

Sean’s mother ripped it out and handed it together with the purchase bag to Lucien.

“Money is important, but for werewolves, the sense of belonging is even more important. You know that, right?” she asked with a broken voice.

“I know,” Lucien answered.

Of course, he knew.

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