Chapter 21 Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Where Were You Last Night?
~ Lykon
The world had gone quiet, but my head was anything but quiet.
Two days. Two damn days she had been sick, and the whole time, Roy had been there. He was always around her. Talking to her. Sitting by her bed like he belonged there. I watched them from the corner of my eye, pretending I wasn’t looking, but I saw everything. The way her face softened when she talked to him. The way her lips curled into a smile at his dumb jokes. The way her eyes sparkled, like he gave her a piece of peace I had never been able to give her.
She was too free with him. Too open. Too... comfortable. More than she had ever been with me.
Every time I saw them, I felt it. That sharp, deep cut inside my chest. It was the same feeling I always got when she tried to act like the mate bond between us wasn’t real. Like it was something she could just toss away and pretend it was not there. But I felt it. I felt it every second. I heard it in every heartbeat. It was there, screaming inside me, burning under my skin. And yet, she looked right through me. Like I was just another wolf. Nothing special. Nothing important.
Like I was just... there.
She chose to laugh with Roy. She chose to lean on him. Not me. She chose Roy most of the fucking time. I was her mate, not him. It should be me! I should stand by her side on the battlefield!
Thinking about this made me sick. It made me so angry.
I’d never been the soft type. Even if i don't remember who i was, i had that feeliny. I felt I was not one of those wolves who begged for attention or threw myself at anyone’s feet, not even hers.
But this? This had pushed me too far. My anger wasn’t loud or wild like some wolves. It was cold. Sharp. Like ice sinking into bone. I had kept my distance, locking myself in my room, away from her, away from all of them. I didn’t want to see her. I didn’t want to see her smiling at him again.
If she wanted Roy, she could have him, or he could have her. I didnt care.
I wouldn’t beg. Not now. Not ever.
My body still ached from the burns, the marks I carried from that night. I hadn’t told anyone what I had done. Nobody knew. And I wanted to keep it that way. She didn’t need to know. Nobody needed to know. I burned that pack to the ground, alone. I had torn through them like they were nothing. My claws. My fire. My rage. All of it left scars, and not just on them. The fire had touched me too, left its own ugly proof across my back.
I didn’t regret it. I only regretted that she didn’t see me the way I saw her. That I would burn the whole world if he had asked me to. That I would destroy anyone who looked at her wrong. But then, she still let another wolf stand closer to her than me.
The room was quiet, and the air heavy, until I heard it.
The door creaked open.
My back stiffened. I didn’t turn around. I didn’t have to. I could feel it. Someone was standing there. Watching.
“Who’s there?” I asked, my voice low and sharp. Like a warning, but I was met with silence.
When I turned, there was no one. The door was slightly open, but the hallway was empty.
Whoever it was, they were fast. My nose picked up the scent before my eyes could. Ignas. She had been here. Watching me. Then she ran. My wolf pushed forward, snapping at the leash I kept on him. Without thinking, I moved. Fast. I bolted out of the room, my feet pounding the ground, chasing her scent through the hallway.
I caught sight of her at the far end, her back to me, her steps quick and sharp. She was running. From me.
That only made me push harder.
I chased her through the halls, my breathing steady but my chest burning. She wasn’t slowing down. If anything, she was running like her life depended on it. But her legs were still weak from the poison. She wouldn’t outrun me. Not tonight.
She slipped through the last door and into the garden, and that’s where I caught her.
I grabbed her arm, pulling her back so hard she collided hard into me, forcing her to stop. My grip was firm, almost too tight, but I couldn’t help it. My anger, my pain, all of it boiled in my chest. My voice came out sharp and cold.
“What do you want?” I hissed. “Why did you come into my room?”
Her chest rose and fell, her breathing heavy. Her lips parted, and for a second, I thought she would make an excuse. But her words hit me like a fist.
“Why are there burn marks on your back?”
I stiffened.
I narrowed my eyes, my jaw clenching hard enough to make my teeth ache.
“I asked you a question,” I growled. “Don’t answer me with another one.”
Her hand curled into a fist at her side. Her eyes shined, not with fear, but with something else. Anger. Pain. Worry. I hated it. I hated that she looked at me like that, like I was some broken thing.
“Lykon!” she shouted my name, her voice sharp and shaking.
I ground my teeth, turning my head away. I couldn’t look at her. I couldn’t stand the way she said my name like that. Like I was breaking apart and she saw every crack.
The silence between us stretched, heavy like a stone on my chest. Her voice broke it, soft but steady.
“Where did you go that night?” She whispered.
I stared at her, and for the
first time in a long time, I didn’t know what to say. So I said nothing.