A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 74

Chapter Seventy–Four 

‘Was last night real?‘ I asked myself, staring up at the ceiling in bed. 

So many things had happened, so many truths had finally come out. 

...And I felt... lighter. 

I‘d woken up after deep sleep, unsure how long had passed, but my body had been grateful for the uninterrupted rest. 

Though a part of me was angry at myself for taking the risk of their reaction, I would be lying if I said I wasn‘t happy with the outcome. Or I at least meant that in Aleric‘s case. Cai… well, I had to believe that what I did was for the best. 

The fact that I wasn‘t locked away in a hospital right now pending a psych evaluation meant that Aleric had actually believed me. It was something I‘d been worried about the entire time I‘d been back. I knew how insane it sounded when being told the first time. Some days even I still couldn‘t believe it. 

I slowly got out of bed, my body still aching in several places, and got changed into some clothes. There would be things I‘d need to start working on and I needed food and water before I could begin anything. 

But as I walked out into the living room, I was surprised to see Aleric on the couch reading documents. H e looked comfortable as if he‘d been there for some time. It was strange since I thought he would have been out for the day. 

“...You‘re finally awake,” he greeted without looking up. “Was starting to wonder if you fell into a coma.” 

I frowned, still groggy from sleep. “How long was I out for?” 

My voice felt raw as I spoke, causing me to cough from the dryness in my throat. The amount of crying and yelling had probably taken its toll there. 

“A bit over a day,” he replied, leaning over to hand me one of the two coffees sitting beside him. 

I took it from him and was instantly grateful for the small relief it provided after having a sip. Water probably would have been better but I wasn‘t about to turn down the caffeine. It was nice of him to have gotten me one. 

“How did you know I was going to be awake now? The coffee is still warm.” 

He laughed a little. “I didn‘t. They were both mine.” 

I stared at the beverage in my hand and suddenly felt a little conflicted given the recent revelations. Truthfully, it felt a little weird between us. He had confessed to me and I‘d turned him down, called him a murderer, and now I was sharing his coffee. And yet somehow he was acting as if nothing had happened, his expression not revealing that he felt phased in any way. 

“Aleric-” 

“Relax,” he cut me off. “I hadn‘t drunk from it yet.” 

Instantly, I felt a little stupid for even worrying about something as minor as that and quickly pushed it aside. It shouldn‘t have been a big deal anyway. Though I wished I knew what he was thinking. One of the most frustrating things about Aleric was that he was so unreadable. 

“Have you been here long?” I asked, trying to focus on anything else. “I‘m a little surprised to see you‘re still here.” 

He snorted and finally looked up at me, amusement in his eyes. “Still? No, I left for a whole day, came 

Chapter Seventy–Four 

back and you were still passed out. I‘m just taking a shift for guard duty since I was going to be working in my room down the hall anyway.” 

My cheeks immediately burned a little from embarrassment, having made an assumption once more.. Really, I just felt a little bad because of the circumstances. I didn‘t enjoy the feeling of having to be constantly babysat, as if I were a burden on everyone. 

I cleared my throat and tried to brush it off once more, deciding to take a look at what he was so focused on instead. I quickly walked behind him and leaned over, scanning the pages over his shoulder. 

It looked like a status report on a new Alpha who‘d recently succeeded his father; Harvey Gallagher. Though no one really knew anything about him here yet, I could recall from the past that the boy was around our age and far too naive for the position he held. Mostly, I just remembered how easily he surrendered to an alliance under us when propositioned. 

thing but he was never really cut out to run the pack on his own at such a young age. If you were to extend a hand out and send him someone experienced to help him through these first few years, then he would be indebted to you. Though, I should warn you now, the value of their resources

momentarily confused. “How–? Nevermind. Sorry, I‘m still getting my head around...

the excuses for how I knew what I did. Strangely as though I‘d removed restraints, allowing me

look at them more closely. All the things he was looking into weren‘t that major and all of them could be easily resolved. Though, I could probably write up a few pointers to nudge him in the right

tell me what happened

the question just as I‘d taken another sip, causing me to almost choke on the

struggling to clear my airway for a moment, all the while the thick

have stuck with water,’ I thought bitterly to myself and

prompted after I continued

which he just looked at me, waiting for

then sighed and leaned back into the couch,

mate,” I

“Ah.” 

that meant, know how it would affect me. Even if Aleric supposedly had feelings for me now, he already knew about my

sorry, Aria,” he said. “I didn‘t know. I just figured it would make the most sense to contact him urgently since...

were romantically

“Yeah... I know.” 

Chapter Seventy–Four 

and my chest ached a little. I missed him. I shouldn‘t... but I did. Was it wrong of me to even feel that much? Would it be okay if I still wished, even just a little bit, that I could

everything we‘d been through, it felt so... abrupt. Final. Though maybe that‘s how things were always fated to end between us. With painful

humourless laugh then escaped me thinking

“What‘s so funny?” 

a small smile on my lips. “Just… It‘s crazy how things turned out. The very fact I was involved with Cai at all is bizarre.”

do you mean?”

at him, my expression turning more

the ones who killed him in

a little before turning into a

being held in the Winter Mist. Tobias came to negotiate the alliance tax given their large increase in pack size but your only counteroffer was

fuck? Wouldn‘t that make things

He was training me in fighting for a while before his exchange was over. And, well... then he came back and confessed to me... and then Myra died... and then....” I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “...It was an extremely dark time for me. Cai helped me through the worst o fit and made me remember that not everything had to be so… shit.”

now he was a reminder of how quickly that could

other version of... me... right? Because of what

his best to understand it

proceeded to

and finally about

hated me or not afterwards, it didn‘t have nearly the same weight as

I‘d driven myself to find Aleric first because I‘d felt he couldn‘t judge me for my mistakes given the weight of his own. But they weren‘t * his*. It‘s just that his features gave

Chapter Seventy–Four 

truth to him. 

Aleric thinking now? What would he think after finding out who I really was? Because whilst it might not have been him personally who did the things I was telling him about, there was no mistake that

sat and quietly listened to me the entire time, his face unreadable as he took it all in without interrupting. The things I told him couldn‘t have been easy to hear if he truly was different now. Our combined death toll was easily in the thousands by the end, his own insanity being the

new partnership was going to work. How was I meant

for hours, my voice almost completely gone by the time I was finished. I spoke for so long that the sky had turned dark outside.

sat silently for a few minutes, both of us needing a moment to take in everything I‘d just

Tell me something,” I eventually said after he still hadn‘t said a word since I‘d stopped speaking. “I‘ve been completely honest with you, telling you every painful

what did you want

slowly, wincing at the thought. “...Why you hated me so much growing

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