Chapter 97: A Painful Reunion - Callista's POV

My eyes fluttered as I stared across the training grounds at Riven. He had told me to go home, commanded me to leave, and I had.

Honestly, the first few months I did fine, mostly because it felt surreal. I couldn’t get my head ‌around not being around my mate, but I managed. Then it all settled in.

My dreams turned into nightmares. They came every night. I saw him destroying my pack over and over again after tender moments of us finally making it to our mating ceremony. It was always after our ceremony.

I thought maybe those were what he had been seeing and just hadn’t told me. Maybe he was trying to save me, even if it hurt me more. But he never told me.

The times I saw him at the academy were from a distance. He even made sure his junior year was spent away from me in different classes.

I sucked in a breath, remembering how the last several months had been. The tug to be with him had become unbearable. Some days I couldn’t even breathe. This last summer had tested my limits, and I finally broke.

My parents couldn’t stand seeing me suffer any longer. I had dropped weight to the point I was nothing but a thin rail. It’s not that I didn’t want to eat, but I couldn’t. My wolf was mourning being away from him and I just didn’t have the strength to take care of myself.

I glanced up and our eyes locked as I came back to the present. His entire body shuddered as he took me in.

He took a tentative step toward me, then stopped. I did the same. Slowly but surely, we made our way across the training grounds to each other and then we were face to face.

“Why are you here?” He asked, his voice ragged and strained. “I told you to stay away.”

“I…can’t,” I said, my voice cracking. “I can’t stay away anymore.”

My gaze slowly dragged up from his chest to his face, and our eyes met again. I saw everything I ever wanted in there, but there was also so much pain I didn’t understand. Had he been hurting being away from me? Did it do ‌the same to him?

But then I checked the rest of him. Riven had grown larger since I last saw him up close. He always had muscle, but he had bulked up. If I weren’t mistaken, he had even gotten taller by a couple of inches.

“You’re…well?” I asked, my gaze drifting over him from head to toe.

It didn’t make sense to me.

How could his wolf be fine while mine struggled to stay away?

“I’ve been fine, Callista,” he murmured. “But you’re not. Oh, fates.”

He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around me in a tight embrace. My body went slack against his as I let myself enjoy his warmth.

“You’re so frail. What happened to you?” He ran his hands down my back, feeling the bones. “You’re starving. I didn’t believe…oh, fates. What have I done?”

Tears flooded my eyes, then I broke. I couldn’t stop the sob that escaped my throat. “Riven, I—”

“No,” he cut me off. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have sent you away. Never in my wildest dreams did I think you wouldn’t be okay without me.”

“I was…fine,” I said, my voice trembling. “At first.”

“Then what happened?”

I laughed humorlessly. “The shock wore off and then reality set in.”

Flashes of the times I lost control of my wolf came to mind. I would shift between forms repeatedly until my breath was ragged, and I fell over on the floor. No one knew about that. Not even my sister. I couldn’t risk my family finding out.

“But you shouldn’t be this frail. I ‌saw you two months ago, and you were fine.”

I finally pulled back just enough to look up at him. “The past two months have been…harder. Riven, I can’t stay away anymore. I know what you told me to do, but I can’t.”

He reached up, his hand wrapping around the back of my head and shoving me to his chest. “You should have come to me the moment she rebelled. I just wanted to keep you safe. That’s the only reason I told you to go.”

“Really?” I asked, trying to pull back and failing.

“Yes, Callista. I was scared and didn’t know what else to do,” he whispered. “So, I sent you away. I thought it was the only way and that maybe I could be…cured. If I had known this would happen—”

“You probably would have still sent me away, wouldn’t you?”

He paused at my words and sucked in a breath. “I would do anything to keep you safe, but if this is the cost, it’s—” He stopped, his entire body shaking. “No, it was better to send you away and try to find a way. Suffering is better than death, but I can’t stand to see you like this either.”

I laughed, though nothing was funny. It was definitely a complicated situation. A male never wants his female to suffer. It goes against their nature to provide and care for their mate. But when the alternative is death or a possible death, what do you choose?

Neither option is great, but hearing the pain in his voice assured me he did it out of love and wanting to keep me safe. It wasn’t because he hated me or didn’t want me anymore like I started to believe.

“So, you still care about me?’

“Of course I do!” His voice rose with each word. “Did you think I didn’t?”

“Yes,” I said shakily. “The demon can be convincing and you kept your distance well. Even the few times I passed by you, you acted like I didn’t exist.”

“I did it to make this easier,” he murmured. “Fates, I thought it would help.”

“It didn’t. That’s when the whispers started.”

His entire body froze. “What whispers?”

“I heard your demon,” I said, my voice low and haunted. “I could hear him while you were away. He invaded my dreams. Sometimes I heard him when I was awake.”

I shut my eyes, remembering the times I lost control or even some of my nightmares. He was there, chanting and telling me how unloved I was, along with how Riven had tricked me. The worst one was when he said that the bond was forced and it was all a lie.

I shivered and Riven held me closer.

“What did he say to you?”

“That it was all a lie,” I whispered. “That you hated me and never loved me.”

His arms loosened, though he never fully let go. “That’s not true.”

I was finally able to pull back, but then I saw someone coming out of the corner of my eye. My parents were coming, along with the Alpha King.

And just by the look on my father’s face, I knew this wasn’t good.