Chapter 56 Chapter 56
“Who?” Brendan asked eagerly with a hint of agitation.
Suki stepped back, but it was useless as her back met the wall, and her two mates stepped closer again.
“Let her breathe,” Reynard scowled, grabbing Brendan’s shoulder and pulling him back.
Brendan snarled at Reynard, but the instant he saw the fear in Suki’s eyes, his face softened. “I don’t mean to pressure you, love, but we’ve waited so long.”
She looked at Reynard, who still had a firm hand on Brendan’s shoulder. In all moments when she felt hopeless, she would look to her best friend, knowing he’d say the right thing to comfort her. Yet, in this moment, they all knew there was nothing that could be said to fix her anxious mind.
His eyes flickered when he saw the pang of pain behind her eyes. “Ki…” He released his hold on Brendan and inched a little closer. “It’s all right.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, “it’s not. I didn’t think you’d both feel the change when I made my decision. Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure I had made my decision until you both mentioned that you felt it too.” Her breathing became shallow, and she felt the blood rush to her head and throb at her temples. “This doesn’t make sense…”
Rey and Brendan exchanged a glance for a brief moment before turning back to Suki.
She groaned, placing her hand on her head.
“Ki–”
“Love–”
“–breathe,” they both spoke in unison.
A weighted feeling hit her eyes, she closed them slowly and exhaled, “I need a minute to think…” She paced over to her bags and grabbed the smallest one, hauling it up the stairs.
Rey and Brendan looked at each other again before following her up the stairs with her other bags.
Suki threw her bag on her bed, turning to her bedroom door where her mates were following behind her. Unzipping her bag, she slowly pulled the contents of her bag out to unpack.
Frustrated, Brendan stormed over to her and shoved the things out of her hands.
Reynard stepped forward. “Brendan–”
“Enough avoiding, love,” he interrupted Reynard’s interference. “It’s now or never. Do you want him or me?”
Suki kept her gaze down at her bag and stayed quiet for a moment. It wasn’t until Brendan edged closer to her that her eyes squeezed shut as she squeaked out, “Please…”
“Who do you want?” he snapped, grabbing her wrist and making her face him.
Attempting to avoid eye contact, Suki turned her head away and shut her eyes. “I need to–”
“Think?” he questioned. “I doubt that, you know what you want. You know who you want. So say it.” He pulled Suki closer, clenching down on her wrist and holding her face to force her to look at him. “Who?”
Her body trembled as she shook her head, her vision blurred with tears.
“Brendan, that’s enough,” Rey growled, marching towards them.
“Shut up!” Brendan hissed, moving away and pulling her back with him. Puffs of his smoky power whisped off his shoulders. “You want to know too! No more hiding.”
Reynard swallowed and looked away. “I do want to know, but not like this.”
Looking back at Suki, Brendan’s tone became as cold as his shadows. “Just say it!”
“I-I can’t…”
“Why the hell not?”
The tears overfilled her eyes, streaming down her face as she stared at Brendan in disbelief. His anger had taken over again, his emotions spewed out of him through his shadow magic.
“Well? What are you so afraid of?” Brendan roared.
“Both of you!” she cried out. Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the ground, falling out of Brendan’s grip and collapsing into a symphony of sobs.
The room fell silent.
Reynards took a deep breath and stood between Brendan and Suki, pushing Brendan off of her. “Back off and cool off. I mean it.”
Realising he let his anger take over, Brendan held up his hands in defence and stepped back.
“Suki,” Rey spoke softly, kneeling in front of her. He gently hooked a finger under her chin and raised her head so their gazes could meet. “Talk to us.” He cupped her face and swiped away the tears, though they kept falling. “Why are you afraid of both of us?”
She shook her head and continued to weep.
‘Talk to us,’ Rey spoke softly through the bond. ‘It’s us, if you can’t trust us with your thoughts and feelings, who can you?’
Suki curled into herself, her head almost falling into Reynard’s chest as she hugged her stomach. “I can’t…”
“You can, Ki,” he whispered, rubbing her back.
“…You’ll kill each other,” She muttered.
With furrowed brows and widened eyes, Reynard looked to Brendan, who mirrored his expression.
“What do you mean?” Brendan asked. He took a few deep breaths and scanned himself to ensure there were no whisps of his power emitting off of him before he hastened over to Suki and knelt beside her, too. “Why would we…?”
Reynard sighed, “We wouldn’t do that to you; it doesn’t matter how much we hate each other. We swore to be civil, and we promised to accept your decision no matter what it is.”
Brendan offered a weak smile, even though Suki didn’t look at either of them. “Yeah, we care about you too much to do anything to hurt you. Whatever your decision is–”
“We support you,” Reynard finished.
At last, Suki pulled herself up, sitting back on her heels, but held her back straight and strong. Her face was still painted with her tears, but no new tears fell. Swallowing the lump in her throat, her face became a cocktail of serious and innocent, with a touch of fear.
Slowly, she inhaled through her nostrils and exhaled through her mouth. As her mind settled, she palmed her face to rid her tears and finally plucked up the courage to look at both her mates.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she said calmly, swapping her gaze between both of them. “That’s not what I meant.”
Both Reynard and Brendan looked puzzled at hearing her words.
Suki exhaled slowly and continued, “It’s both of you… I want both of you.”