Chapter 99: She's My Fated Mate - Riven's POV
Our reunion was cut short as we decided to go into the mansion before anyone else came out to the training grounds. Callista stayed tucked at my side as we made our way down the path.
It all felt like a dream, one I was certain I’d wake up from at any moment. But I hoped that I could enjoy it just a tad bit longer. She hadn’t been in my arms in so long that I almost had forgotten what it felt like.
“Have you—” She started and stopped.
“Have I what?” I asked, reaching out with my free hand to open the door for her.
“Trained well,” she murmured. “You know, with the Alpha King.”
“You could call him Ronan,” I said softly. “He’ll probably ask you to call him that once your parents leave.”
“That’s his name? Ronan?”
I laughed under my breath. “Yes, just no one calls him that.”
“Then why would I?”
The laughter died in my throat as I looked at her innocent expression. “Because you will be his daughter-in-law in six weeks.”
She shook her head in disbelief as we turned to head down the hallway. “It doesn’t seem real that you are his son.”
I huffed out a quiet breath, my grip tightening around her hand as we walked. “Trust me, I still don’t feel like his son,” I admitted. “Not even after being here for over a year.”
That was the truth I never admitted out loud. I still felt like I didn’t belong here. Training under him, listening to him, and then trying to take the medicine that was supposed to suppress the monster inside of me was…pushing me past my limits. It never felt like something that was meant for me. It felt like something I had been forced into, something I was trying to survive rather than accept.
And yet, here I was.
Callista’s fingers shifted slightly in mine, her thumb brushing across my knuckles in a way that made my chest tighten. It was such a small thing, but after so long without her, it felt like everything.
“You’ve changed,” she breathed. “I almost didn’t recognize you with the growth spurt.”
“It happens to all males before they reach eighteen,” I whispered.
She laughed at that. “Well, I saw the others going through it, but yours is…different.”
I glanced at her, catching the way her gaze moved over me, taking in the differences I couldn’t hide even if I tried. She was right. I was bigger, stronger, and harder in ways I hadn’t been before.
Even before we were out for summer, I had walked by Marcus and noticed the size difference. Most of the other Alpha heirs weren’t nearly the same size and they’d all be eighteen within a few months of my birthday.
“I had to become this,” I said simply.
Her lips parted as if she wanted to ask more, but she hesitated. I felt it through the bond immediately. She was uncertain. It twisted something in me.
“You can ask,” I added, my voice softer now. “Whatever you want. I’ll do my best to answer it.”
“Does the…does it still get bad?” She asked, swallowing hard as her gaze dropped down to the ground.
The question hit hard and wasn’t what I thought she’d ask. At least, at first.
For a moment, I didn’t answer. My jaw tightened as I looked ahead, guiding us down the corridor toward the sitting room where I knew the others would eventually gather.
“It’s different,” I said finally.
That wasn’t really an answer, and we both knew it. Callista slowed slightly beside me, forcing me to either stop or drag her along. I stopped.
“Riven,” she pressed gently. “Tell me the truth. Did it get worse with us apart?”
My chest rose and fell with a heavier breath as I turned to face her fully. “It’s quieter,” I admitted. “But he’s not gone. The medicine has helped a little.”
“He put you on medicine?” Her expression shifted, something pained flickering across her face. “But that doesn’t mean you’re better or that it’s controlled.”
“No,” I admitted dryly. “But I’ve done what I had to do. I want a normal life and I’ll do whatever I have to do, so I can.”
Silence settled between us for a second, thick and heavy with everything we weren’t saying, because we both knew what it meant.
A quiet enemy was worse than a loud one. Who knew if the medicine was actually working? For all I knew, he was just obeying, because he wanted me to have a false sense of hope.
“It doesn’t matter,” I added quickly, forcing the words out before she could spiral too far into it. “I have control and more of it than I did before.”
Most of the time. Sometimes he still got the better of me and I felt like an utter failure.
Her gaze searched mine, as if she was trying to see past what I was saying and into what I wasn’t. “Are you sure about that?”
“I wouldn’t be standing here if I thought I couldn’t control myself, Callista.” That admission hurt more than anything else.
“So, you’re telling me that you would have turned and walked away from me again?”
A bead of sweat formed at my brow as I tried to answer her. “If it required it, yes.”
“Okay,” she said quietly, then started down the hallway again.
I felt it through the bond that she didn’t truly believe me and maybe she shouldn’t.
By the time we made it to the sitting area where my father had taken her parents, they were already calmed down and sitting on the couches, waiting for us. I watched their faces as they glanced up at us as we entered.
Her father swallowed hard as his gaze landed on mine. “You’re going to take care of my daughter, aren’t you?”
“She’s my fated mate. If giving my life to save hers is what is required, then I will do it without batting an eye.”
Her father’s face fell. “But you’re the—”
“Next Alpha King?” I grinned sheepishly. “Yes, but being her mate comes before everything.”
My eyes darted to my father’s face and watched him study me in return. He hated that I felt this way and thought I should put being the Alpha King above her, but I would never do that.
He still had my older brother and if I found a way to free us both of this curse, then Raze could take over. Dear old Dad would just have to admit he lied about his son’s death. Surely, it wouldn’t be that bad, considering it would soon spread that I was his second son.