Chapter 104: Unexpected Talk - Callista's POV

I curled up on the bed while Riven went to shower. For some reason, I never let my gaze stray from the shut door. My heart pounded in my chest as I heard the water running behind it.

I thought about today, and how I got here up to the moment I saw him again. It seemed surreal now that I was here to stay with him at his side. It seemed even stranger that I would start the training I was supposed to begin well over a year ago.

And my parents…well, they had just let me.

I guess after spending the last few months watching me wither away, it had made them see that I wasn’t strong enough to stay away. Not that they were sure of my decision to begin with.

My mother was worried, but my father…he was overjoyed for that one brief moment, because it meant that his daughter was staying at home. But all that joy faded the moment he saw heartbreak in my eyes at being turned away. Of course, they had supported my decision even if they didn’t understand it.

And they went along with it until I started losing weight.

All summer they had been after me to see Riven. And oh, how I wanted to, but I kept replaying the night he sent me away over and over again in my head. I didn’t know how to get around it, let alone deal with the aching heart he left to break.

I sighed and leaned against the bed, sniffing the air. His scent was so saturated here that it had my wolf ready to come out and roll onto the bed.

“If only I could have smelled you like this,” I whispered to myself.

I needed his scent. It was so soothing that I was ready to fall asleep, and this time I knew I would be at complete peace instead of all the nightmares that had plagued me.

My eyes grew heavier and heavier until the door cracked open. I had been so busy basking in his scent that I hadn’t even noticed the water shutting off. When I sat up, I smiled and rubbed my eyes.

“Oh, Riven, you’re—” I stopped rubbing my eyes and looked at him, my smile fading. He was standing there in nothing but a towel, just as I had moments before. “You’re done.”

He let out a throaty chuckle. “I seem to have stolen your breath.”

“Possibly,” I said, my eyes landing on his bare chest.

It wasn’t the first time I had seen his bare chest and stomach, but this time it felt different. We were…different now.

Riven had been lean and muscular back then and I knew he was bigger. I knew he had put on more muscle and had gotten bulkier, but seeing him without a shirt showed me just how much. My eyes dragged over his tan skin, trailing their way down to his towel, then going farther. I glanced at his toned legs, then jerked my gaze upward.

“You really have grown.”

“Yes,” he said with a laugh. “All the better to protect you.”

“I wonder why your wolf allowed you to…grow… and mine—” I trailed off, then slowly closed my eyes as I huffed.

She had mourned him and he looked as if he never mourned a single day that we were apart.

He approached me then and sat on the bed at the foot. “Look at me.”

I barely lifted my gaze, only to find him staring intently at me. “What is it? You really should go get dressed.”

“I will get dressed in a minute, but this is more important,” he murmured. “The bond was quiet.”

I winced at his words. “Yes.”

I couldn’t deny it, because I knew what I had done. Though I wasn’t too certain about what I was doing, my parents had told me that there was a way to block your mate from feeling everything. They could still tell if you were alive and your general well-being, but it kept any painful feelings locked away unless it was dire.

I had done just that to keep him out.

But I had thought that was what he wanted, so I made sure it never spilled over or became dire.

“If I had known the pain you were going through, I would have come immediately,” he said, blowing out a slow breath. “The condition puts me at a…disadvantage. If I didn’t have this problem, then I would have been a good mate.”

“You are a good mate,” I whispered, cutting him off. “All you have done is try to protect me.”

“I would have been an even better one if I didn’t have the one thing lurking inside of me that could wipe out everyone, including you,” he replied. “There’s nothing I can do about the past, but I can try to forge a better future.”

“Do you think we have a shot?”

He nodded. “With everything I’ve done, I think I’ve—”

The way he paused made my eyes widen. He was completely frozen, his eyes like saucers as he stared at me.

“Riven, what’s wrong?”

His throat worked as he swallowed hard. “It’s nothing. I just—”

I rose up, crawling across the bed to be by his side. He had broken out into a sweat that had nothing to do with the steam of the shower.

“Riven. Are you—”

He shook his head, then stood. I rose to my knees on the bed, reaching for him, but he moved too far away.

“Stay back.”

“What’s happening?”

He choked on his words, his mouth opening and shutting as he tried to control it. That was when I realized that the demon wasn’t as quiet as he had said.

“You haven’t gained any control over him at all,” I said, my voice breathless.

He reached up, his hand clawing at his chest. “I’m…fine.”

“No, you’re not. I have eyes and can see you’re struggling.”

I helplessly watched him as he walked across the room, fumbling every step. Without thinking, I jumped off the bed, hoping that I could help him, but when he saw me coming, he turned.

His solid black eyes met mine. “Stay…back..”

“You told me you were better,” I whispered. “You talked about the medicine and your training.”

The door to his room flew open. Raze stepped in, his black eyes gleaming in the dim lighting.

“Ah, I see my brother is—” His words cut off as Riven turned to face him. “Not home. Please be a dear and get back.”

I glanced at Raze, my eyes widening as I stared at him. He had been said to be worse off and fully under the demon’s influence, but seeing him standing here now, he was in much better shape than Riven.

“How often—”

“Never,” he said, one look from him stopping me cold. “He has had this thing under wraps until now. Now, please stand back. He’d have my head if you got hurt.”

Riven whirled, his dark eyes locking onto me. I heard Raze mutter something under his breath just as Riven lunged for me.