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Chapter 135: What Do You Want

*Eliza*

A comfortable silence settled over us. My heart raced in my chest; my skin hummed in the warmth of Jared’s coat. Just being close to him, I felt so alive and awake.

He tightened his arm around me, squeezing me a little closer.

I smiled and felt my cheeks warm. I didn’t know what he was doing there or why he’d come after me, but I was just glad he had.

“It is nice to sit here with you and just… be still, for once,” I muttered.

Jared chuckled and nodded. “Without everything else getting in the way.”

“Yeah.” Sighing, I glanced down.

Jared cupped my chin and tilted my head up. “What’s wrong?”

I felt my lower lip quiver. There were a few questions I needed answered before I could relax fully and let myself enjoy his presence.

“Jared… why did you accept the rejection so quickly?”

Jared’s eyes slid to the side. He sighed and released my chin.

“What would you have done if I hadn’t accepted?”

I creased my brow. I wasn’t expecting him to ask me a question back.

Shaking my head, I looked down. “It would have made me angrier. I would have felt like you were trying to stop me from leaving.”

“Yes, you would have. I realized that.”

“And you just went along with it, then?”

Jared nodded slowly. “If I hadn’t accepted, it would have pushed you away more. You were already scared and upset. If I didn’t go along, I knew there’d never be a chance for us to talk like this.”

I smiled lightly and took Jared’s hand. Threading our fingers together, I gave his hand a little squeeze.

“I’m glad you know me so well,” I whispered.

Jared smirked. “Besides, you were the one who reminded me our bond existed just as strongly without the mate bond.”

“But I know how important the mate bond is to you.”

“Eliza,” Jared sighed and shook his head. “You are more important to me than the mate bond. Not pushing you away is more important.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek, confused by his response.

“But… you were so intent on getting our mate bond back the last time.”

Jared nodded. “Because it was my mistake to fix.” He pressed his palm to his chest. “I was the one who acted hastily, and I didn’t want you to suffer for that.”

“Jared, what are you talking about? You didn’t make a mistake. I always understood why you did it. Even before you told me, I had my suspicions, and they were true.”

Jared bowed his head. “You shouldn’t have had to feel that, and you shouldn’t have had to make all those guesses and rationalities. It really wasn’t fair to you.”

I creased my brow and leaned against him a little more.

“I should have had faith in you. Right from the start, I should have trusted that you’d come through.”

“How could you have known that I was right there?”

Jared shrugged. “I should have. You always pull through and from now on, I’m going to remember that and I’m going to trust it.”

“Jared….”

“No.” He shook his head.

My protest died on my lips.

“Ciana told me something that Mila told her, about not letting you go to the Stone Circle because you’d get hurt. But I didn’t share that information with you. I thought I was protecting you.”

“She… what…?”

My mind raced with a million questions, but Jared seemed to be trying to tell me something important. I wanted to let him say what he needed to.

“If I’d shared the information back then, we could have worked together to come up with a plan ahead of time. We could have avoided your injury and the pain you went through when I said all those… horrible things.”

My heart ached a little. I’d always known that Jared had a reason for turning me away when we went to Aries’s mansion, but he’d never told me. Thinking back, it would have been nice to have the chance to work on the problem together.

“And when I rejected you, that was also pain you didn’t need to feel. I should have trusted that you’d pull through and had a plan.”

I didn’t even know what to say. Jared had never been this open and self-reflective before. He was completely different from the man I’d left behind.

“From now on, I want to trust you and have faith in you. I want to be the kind of guy who isn’t going to run off and try to solve all the problems on my own, not when I have someone as capable, smart, and strong as you around.”

My heart melted and tears stung my eyes. Everything he said was so deep and heartwarming. He really had changed so much in the time we’d been apart.

“Eliza….”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He slowly brought his arms around my waist.

“Thank you.” I buried my face in his neck and hugged him.

Jared didn’t say anything. He held me close and kissed my hair.

Finally, I pulled back and looked into his eyes.

“So, what does that mean for us? What do you want to do now?”

Jared took my hands in his, clasping them together. He lifted my hands and kissed the backs of them. Then he moved his hand to my stomach.

My heart raced and I held my breath, waiting for him to tell me what he wanted.

Whatever he said, all I wanted was to be with him and to build our future together.

“I want us to be together and I want us to be a family. It doesn’t matter to me where that is. If it is in the Light Realm, so be it. If it is in the Dark Realm, we’ll make it work there. I don’t care where we are. It is wherever you want to be.”

Sighing, I leaned my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me.

“Jared, I want to go home….”

“Home?”

“The one place in both realms where I have ever truly felt at home.”

I felt Jared nod. He’d know what I meant.

The village where Jared and I had officially become a couple, where I’d fallen in love with him, where I’d invested my time and efforts to create something beautiful–that was home to me.

“I’m more than happy to take you home. However, the doctors have said to take it easy for now. This time, I’m going to make sure that you listen.”

I groaned but didn’t protest. I couldn’t argue with his point. It was the same one my mother had made, too.

I’d promised my mother that I’d take better care of myself for the sake of the baby. I couldn’t break that promise now.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay here with you until you get the all-clear to travel. We can spend some time with your family until the doctors say you can travel.”

“With my family?” I lifted my head and arched an eyebrow.

Had Jared been planning this? Had he already talked to my family? Suddenly, my father’s odd behavior from before the party came back to me. He’d brought me to the limo but wouldn’t say anything about it.

“Were you the one who sent the limo for me?”

Jared smiled sheepishly and nodded. “I might have made some arrangements beforehand.