Chapter Seventy–Two 

“...What‘s her name?” I found myself asking politely, though I didn‘t really feel present. 

Truthfully, I didn‘t feel much of anything. My body had gone completely numb, falling into autopilot responses as I struggled to come to terms with what Cai had just told me. 

He found his mate. 

But he was only nineteen. He shouldn‘t have found her so soon. 

‘Caius knight dies at the age of twenty–one with no Luna, mate or child‘. That was the future for Cail had known. Yet somehow this timeline had changed enough that he had met her earlier. It was a cruel slap in the face as reality reminded me, once more, that it would refuse to ever let me be happy. Even for just the few years I thought I might have had with him. 

“Caitlyn,” he replied awkwardly. “She seems... nice. Sweet.” 

‘Nice? Really? That was the best he could say about the woman who was supposedly his other half? His soul mate? 

I wanted to ask him how they met but a part of me couldn‘t bear to hear any more details. Knowing her name would be enough. 

Aria,” he said, tilting my chin up to look at him, to meet his golden eyes. “It doesn‘t change anything for m e... I still want to be with you.” 

Instantly, my body tensed, the gears in my head finally starting to kick back into reality. His words managed to trigger a pain inside me that I was all too familiar with, something I had tried so hard to push t o the furthest part of my mind. It was almost exactly like it was in the past. 

...Except I wasn‘t the girl being abandoned by her mate anymore. 

No, now I was being set up to become Thea. 1 

“No,” I said flatly, grabbing the keys and dagger by my side to leave. “No, I‘m not doing this.” 

Aria, wait. Talk to me.” 

I stood up and started to walk towards the car but Cai quickly rushed to stand in my way

Aria, please. Can we just talk about this for a second?” 

“No, this was dumb from the beginning,” I said. “And I‘m not just referring to us. I mean this whole plan for my escape too. It‘s rushed and clumsy.” 

“We‘ve got everything sorted. We‘ll get you back to the Silver Lake and take care of you.” 

There it was again. No insinuation of moving me, no mention of Iris or the rebellion. As if he thought everyone wasn‘t going to just assume that the Silver Lake was the first place I‘d go. 

“Tell me, Cai, what exactly was the plan? Do you even have one?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest. “I was under the impression you were working with Iris for this but I‘m quickly realising that maybe that‘s not the case.” 

He frowned. “Why would I be in contact with Iris for this? I haven‘t seen her since last year.” 

A cynical laugh escaped my lips. “This is actually ridiculous. The first place Tytus is going to look is the Silver Lake, especially once Aleric is forced to confess that info. Then we‘re back to square one; avoiding a war between two territories because of me.” 

Lilapler Seventy Two 

“Then we‘ll move you,” he argued. “We can go somewhere else until it‘s safe.” 

“Just the three of us, yeah?” I snapped back snarkily. “You, me, and Caitlyn?” 

with pain but I didn‘t feel bad. He should have never touched me tonight knowing he had someone bonded to him. I was too familiar with the anguish of seeing

myself. Go home, Cai,” I said, stepping past him to continue

out of stupidity or desperation, I felt as Cai then grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me to face him

I had already accepted that. No, I was pissed because he still had the audacity to look at me and tell me that he wanted me, knowing someone was waiting for him, knowing my

situation already

out to grab me, my instincts got the better of

much slower than my Beta heir days, I still managed to quickly

touch me,” I growled.

both knew he could very easily swat my hand away without any

eyes flicking back and forth

meant to come off as appealing to the side of me that still cared for him, but now they only came off as

tightened on the

him, my eyes narrowing with

he was trying to call that bluff. But in that moment, I sure as hell didn‘t feel

cycle... the very fact he could even ask that of me made me feel sick. It

was a reminder of who I really was, what I was actually capable of, something he was

came from. Never forget why

in confusion but I didn‘t wait. With my spare hand, I grabbed at his shirt and pulled his torso down so I could speak directly into his ear.

I‘ve done it before,” I whispered. “You shouldn‘t test

...What are you

real truth? You see, I knew you in the past, Caius Knight, Alpha of the Silver Lake. Our packs were at war for months, neither one gaining the upper hand... and then you died. At

“Because of me,” I said. “I was your dooth. I killed you. I did it for my own

never wanted him to hear. “... I did it for my family‘s honour... I did it to make up for my own failures as

give me even a fraction of the attention he had so brutally deprived me olu! That was what your life was wortii, Cai. That is why I killed you. For

of us spoke, just my words hanging in the open as he slowly took

me, just a version of me I‘d let him see. Not some young, tormented girl he met in high school... but a killer. Someone who had wiped more territories off the map just from within her own

to go through with it; to sever that tie that had become a lifeline for me. Cai had become a symbol in my head of what I had always hoped my life would become. The dream of

to wake up and acknowledge that this wasn‘t a fantasy, that being with him was always something that was never going to end well. Because now look

to let go of that delusion and

said, gently trying to

my hand and push me away already. He could have overpowered me within seconds without any effort on his part...

the knife in further, trying to prove my point. Because, even though I didn‘t want to, needed him to at least believe I would, to take me seriously, and

to make it two for two?” I

he let his hand fall back to his side, acknowledging that there was nothing

with those eyes. As if I hadn‘t

I didn‘t want to be involved with him anymore; even though a part of my mind was still screaming

quickly pulled away from him, taking a few steps backwards

“Go home and be an honourable man

then I

car, the key in the

all paths ahead were likely the wrong choice. And so I just drove.

Chapter Seventy–Two 

second. 

was no time to relax or give in to the pain

so, doing my best to compartmentalise the aching inside, I tried to focus on what to do

to the mercy of assassins and Tytus, yet to run away meant risking my life to the mercy of the world... and Tytus. There was no safety for me. Not really. Maybe if

one person who I could trust my life and whereabouts with... and it was the same

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