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?”
flashed 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
home, Cai,” I said, stepping
I felt as Cai then grabbed my wrist and
to be a possibility and 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
this exact situation
me, my instincts got the
days, I still managed to quickly bring the dagger up
touch me,” I
knew he could very easily swat my hand away without any issue whatsoever, but the
said, his eyes flicking back and
had meant to come off as appealing to the side of me that still cared for him, but now they only came off as though he wanted to test that loyalty.
my hand tightened on the blade.
it?” I asked him, my eyes narrowing with the
knew he was right. There was no way I would actually do it and he was trying to
to repeat that 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
from. Never forget why I‘m here.‘
his shirt and pulled his torso down so I
before,” I whispered. “You shouldn‘t test someone who
are you
so I didn‘t scare you away. But do you want to know the truth? The real truth? You see, I knew you in the past, Caius Knight, Alpha of the Silver Lake. Our packs were at war
him in the eye. “Because of me,” I said. “I was your dooth. I killed you. I did it for
to hear. “... I did it for my family‘s honour... I did it
would give me even a fraction of the attention he had so brutally deprived me olu! That
hanging in the open as he slowly took it all
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 quarters, than he
to go through with it; to sever that tie that had become a lifeline for me. Cai had
was just that; a dream. An illusion. And it was time to wake up and acknowledge that this wasn‘t a fantasy, that
let go of that delusion and prevent a
he said, gently trying to move the dagger
without any effort on his part... but he was trying not to hurt
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,
to make it two for two?” I
hand fall back to his side, acknowledging that there was nothing he could do to change the
naive it was of him to still look at m e with those eyes. As if I hadn‘t just confessed to murdering him. As if
that. He would be at least smart enough to realise that he should let m e go. Or at least take this as my confirmation that I didn‘t want to be involved with him anymore; even though a part of my mind was still screaming at me to take it all back, to find a way to still
pulled away from him, taking a few
voice finally betraying my exhaustion. “Go home and be an honourable man
I
car, the key in the
And so I just drove. Without a destination, into the dark, and with my eyes threatening to overflow with tears
Chapter Seventy–Two
second.
to the pain just yet...
doing my best to compartmentalise the aching inside, I tried to focus on
risking my life to the mercy of the world... and Tytus. There was no safety for me. Not really. Maybe if I could get in contact with Iris I could try and find a
in contact with Iris, one person who I could trust my life and whereabouts with... and it was the same
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