Chapter 65

65 The Place Where Our Time Stopped

The last time Ronan was inside Lucien’s studio, he was a little too busy nailing the man at the wall to notice that it was in fact full of Lucien’s amazing creations.

Vibrant paintings hung on the wall and marble statues stood in the middle of the rooms. Lucien arranged so that they had their eyes trained at the entrance.

Was it meant to greet or scare guests? Maybe only Lucien could answer.

Ronan let his fingers brush against the desk. He recalled Lucien’s trembling body on the desk. The lustful gaze that he threw him. The pair of luscious lips that asked to be kissed the whole time.

His eyes drifted to the floor just next to the desk.

Before his eyes, he could see two men intertwine on the floor passionately, give in to the heat of their ruts, and drown together in their carnal desire for each other.

“Mr. Silverback?”

The dean was impatient. He finally agreed to unlock the studio and all Ronan did was rub the desk.

“Are we done?”

.....

“Just a little bit more,” Ronan said.

The Alpha searched Lucien’s studio, but he could not find anything other than teaching materials. There were a few books about contemporary and ancient art on the shelves, a collection of brushes in the first drawer, and a sketchbook in the second drawer.

The sketchbook contained random drawings that Ronan could not decipher.

He closed the sketchbook with a sigh. Maybe he should go and check Lucien’s house himself, then maybe he could find some clues about his whereabouts. Unfortunately, he could not just go and enter Lucien’s house without permission. Should he mobilize the police force? With his connections, he will be able to open Lucien’s house and search it.

No, that’s not a good idea. It might lead to the discovery of Lucien’s identity as a werewolf. He needed to get information without leaking secrets of the werewolf community.

“Excuse me...”

Both Ronan and the dean turned their heads to see a delivery man in a brown uniform stand at the door.

“Yes?” the dean asked while narrowing his eyes at the delivery man.

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The delivery man dangled a single key before them.

“I am here to pick up Mr. Lucien Clearwater’s painting to display at the Annual Art Exhibition.”

Ronan raised an eyebrow. “Lucien made the order?”

“Yes, around two weeks ago.”

That was quite some time ago. Ronan frowned.

“Can I pick the painting up?” The delivery man looked at the dean and Ronan alternately. “Or should I come back later?”

“No, please. Go ahead,” the dean said, gesturing for the delivery man to go inside the studio.

The delivery man knew right away which painting to take away. It was the one that was covered by a large white cloth that extended to the floor.

Their interest piqued, Ronan and the dean automatically moved toward the easel to take a look at Lucien’s submission this year.

It was a painting of two wolves that were playing together in the summertime. Ronan recognized the bigger wolf right away. Landon. And the smaller one that shared the same brown-red coat must be Seara, Annalynne’s wolf.

How cute.

Ronan turned away from the painting to look at the other artworks.

The delivery man carefully packed the painting in a special container. He could not help but make a remark, “This year the painting is a little different.”

Ronan furrowed his brows and turned his head toward the delivery man.

“Different how?”

“Usually it is always a pair of a red wolf and a black wolf,” the delivery man explained. “I have been picking up Mr. Silverback’s painting for three years so I know that. His submissions always had the same two wolves in them.”

A red wolf and a black wolf?

“The theme is still the same. It doesn’t have to be the same wolves every time.” The dean objected. He pointed at the painting behind the translucent cover and explained further. “All paintings depict wolves in the summertime. It evokes the feeling of simple and yet profound happiness that stemmed from friendship and companionship.”

“Artists create from their hearts. These paintings speak volumes about the kind of person that Mr. Clearwater is. He is not someone who is interested in murky relations full of deceptions and lies. He values basic and important things such as love, loyalty, and honesty.”

Ronan scoffed.

“Love is not simple.”

The dean smiled at Ronan.

“It is, actually. In order to see the love, you need to take away all the other emotions that often come with it and thus obscure the true nature of love.”

The delivery man scratched his head and laughed. “I am not a refined person. I don’t really understand, hahaha. I like seeing these paintings, though. They are really nice.”

The dean extended his hand and caressed the side of the covered painting.

“This is the last one of the series. I believe he wants to start something new.”

“Oh?”

The delivery man looked disappointed. “What a pity.”

“Don’t feel like that. An artist must grow. You cannot expect him to draw only wolves in his whole life. I am excited to see his future works. It will surely be as good as ‘The Place Where Our Time Stopped'”.

“The what?” Both Ronan and the delivery man asked in unison.

“It is the name of the painting series, consisting of four pieces of painting. ‘The Place Where Our Time Stopped'”.

Having found nothing in Lucien’s studio, Ronan left and the dean locked the door.

“Mr. Silverback,” he called before Ronan walked away, “if you ever meet with Mr. Clearwater again, please tell him that he is welcome to come back anytime.”

It was only then that Ronan remembered that Lucien had resigned from his position.

“What is going to happen to the studio?” he inquired.

“It will be vacated while waiting for a new art teacher to fill the position.”

“And the artworks?”

All the paintings and sculptures?

“All of them will be auctioned as per his instruction.”

“No need. I will buy all of them,” Ronan claimed.