“Now, you know everything about me,” he said, still sitting on the chair, not breaking eye contact. I gulped audibly.
I looked like a small kid who was caught red-handed doing something she told me not to do.
We sat there looking into each other eyes trying to read each other’s minds. So many feelings and emotions were leaking into me through the mate bond. Anger, hurt, pain, but the remarkably distinct one was vulnerability. My heart ached, and as if he realized that I could feel his turmoil of emotions, he blocked me.
He stood silently and walked toward the door.
“No.”
(This gave me a major déjà vu)
He turned and looked above his shoulders. His eyes were filled with unshed tears, and my heart ached for him. Behind those ocean blue eyes, there was still that ten-year-old boy, I believed. Behind this hard muscular body, there was a soft heart that still knew how to beat.
“Please don't leave me. Not now, not ever,” I muttered and looked down shyly. The words were out before I could edit them. After so many days, he still intimidates me. His lips parted, and he visibly relaxed but remained there. Now it could go any way. I gathered all my courage and walked towards him cautiously.
He didn't move. I reached my hand and touched his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. The sparks were the strongest I had ever felt before—this delicious current could make me lose myself in him.
As if my body was no longer under my control, I threw my arms across him, hugging him tightly. Reed was not an evil guy. At least not to me. He was just the wrong guy who was brought into the wrong circumstances.
First, he was brought into this world without his father. Then his mother was executed. He was paying for the sins he didn’t commit in the first place.
“I am messed up, Esma,” he said out loud; his voice was pained, and my heart tugged at his voice. I would do anything to take his vulnerability. He was hurting from the inside. He didn't deserve it. Hell, nobody deserved this much pain.
“We all are.”
He broke the hug and opened his eyes. They were filled with longing; they were deeper than the seabed, and for a second, I lost myself in them. The moonlight falling on his body was not helping either. He was shining like a dark knight in shining armor. My knight.
“And honestly, you are less than most,” I said and smiled lightly. He mirrored mine, but it didn't reach his eyes.
I took his hand and walked back to my bed.
“Stay with me.” My voice sounded needy even to me.
He stared at me for a long minute but didn’t move. I could feel the turmoil of emotions in his eyes. Hell, even I was in the epitome of good and evil.
My wolf clawed my insides. To let loose and console her mate. I held his hand and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at me intensely, trying to read my face. I could already feel him distancing.
“You were crying?” he said, more like asking, breaking the silence. I looked away immediately.
“I came to look after you in your room. You were crying, sobbing, whimpering, asking someone to stop,” he said, and this time I looked into his eyes. They were filled with concern.
“Then I saw the talisman in your hand.” I could feel the undertone in his voice. He put his hand under my chin to make me look at him again. He looked surprised and upset, if not angry.
The moonlight fell on his face, enchanting his beauty. I could not believe this Greek god, this crazy broken alpha, was my mate.
“You were crying for me,” he said finally as if trying to solve a puzzle himself. I looked down at my lap, trying not to melt under his intense gaze. We sat there silently for I don’t know how long before he finally stood and went to the other side of the bed, adjusting the pillows.
“You need to rest,” he said finally. His voice was low and soft, laced with an unspoken promise. As if proving his words, I yawned. The talisman took all my energy, and now I was very tired.
I laid down on my side before Reed joined me, and soon, we were lying in each other arms like yesterday. His hot breath tickled my neck. We were closer than ever before. We were not like other wolves. But surely, they probably didn’t face half of the problems either of us had faced.
I wondered how on the earth I was sharing my bed with this man. Immediately, Reed’s words rang inside my head.
“She was your sister.”
I turned on my side so that I could look at his face. He was already looking at me possessively.
“Not sleepy anymore?” he asked and tucked the loose hair behind my ear. My cheeks flushed, and I bit my lip, shaking my head. His eyes darkened at my action.
“I saw you in the forest.” Now, this got his attention. He looked somewhat shocked and maybe angry but didn’t say anything.
“You said to the moon goddess that Selene was her sister.” He looked away; I could feel he was not comfortable about this subject, but the curiosity won the best of me.
“Why do you need to know?” he asked, his jaw was set, and his lips were drawn in the thin line.
“Are you a legend?” I asked the one question which was swirling inside my head since I met Hecate. Only a legend could see and talk to the moon goddess. They were myths. Nobody had seen them.
They were the true werewolves—the ones who came in existence along with King Lycan. But, unlike King Lycan, they didn’t live openly. And soon, with time, nobody saw them. Nobody heard about them, and they became myths.
Could Reed be a legend? If yes, this explained so much about how he was so different from the others. He had the royalty of an alpha and the spark of a legend. He could easily win over the whole world.
“I am nothing but cursed, Esma.” He repeated the same words the moon goddess said. His voice again laced with hurt and longing. A part of me regretted asking this question.
I took his hand in mine and kindled our fingers together. “What exactly did she curse you with?” My eyebrows furrowed. My wolf howled in pain, and for some reason, my stomach dipped with an unknown fear. My inner conscience already knew the answer before he spoke, clearing any further doubts or second thoughts.
“She took a part of my soul, Esma. She took my wolf from me.”
My heart stopped beating, as if I couldn’t breathe. He looked at me knowingly and leaned forward, and kissed me lightly on my head.
“Good night, mate,” he said and turned on his side so that his back was facing me.
He had to be miserable as hell on the inside to be such a mess on the outside.