Chapter 133: The Mask He Wears

Chapter 89

Valdus

I blink at Aphrodite while she blinks at me. My hands still have her wrists pinned, her legs still wrapped around my waist. I slowly look over at my father and watch him blink, then slowly close the door.

I took a deep breath in, then let it out, releasing her wrists. I unwrapped her legs from around me and got off her. "I guess there's soup. You can go down — I just need to change."

I stood at the foot of the bed, running a hand through my hair. Her cheeks were tinted red, and she quickly nodded before hurrying off the bed and out of the room.

I licked my lips — well, tried to — but my fangs were still out. I took a deep breath and bit down on my lip, my fangs piercing the skin and sinking in. I groaned, and they finally retracted. I licked my lips, tasting blood, but the wound was already healing.

I walked to my closet and grabbed a t-shirt and some shorts. The sun was already down, so there wasn't much point dressing up. I walked out and made my way toward the kitchen.

I found Aphrodite eating like there was no tomorrow, and my heart sank a little — I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen her eat. This was the only memory I had of it.

My father was eating too, alone at the table, slowly working through his soup, though mostly he just stared at it. His face was still sad, his eyes even duller than before, the grey streaks in his hair more visible than ever. And I looked up.

I promise, Mom.

I walked to the stove, grabbed a bowl, poured in some chicken soup, and picked up a spoon. Aphrodite was sitting at the island while my father stayed at the table.

I looked between them both and felt my heart pick up slightly.

I held the bowl close to my chest, looking at the two of them, then slowly made my way over. I turned right and pulled out a chair.

I set the bowl down and looked into eyes that matched my own. He raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Aphrodite, who was getting seconds. I gave him a small smile and sat down. He stared at me as I ate slowly. His eyes narrowed slightly before he looked back down at his soup, pushing it around more than actually eating it.

"How did you learn to make soup? Mom?" I knew I shouldn't have brought her up, but I needed to help him pull himself together, the way I had when I was young.

I saw his body tense, but he kept staring at the soup. "No. Your aunt."

My eyebrow rose as I ate some chicken. "Where is she? I never knew I had an a—"

"You don't need to know, Valdus. Just eat your soup and then go to sleep. It's already getting late." He got up, bowl still half full, carried it to the island, set it down, and walked off toward his room.

I sighed and looked down.

Well. It's a start, at least.

Aphrodite

I didn't know I was that hungry until I tasted the first spoonful of soup. My stomach wouldn't let me stop — I ate three bowls, and my throat felt so much better. When I was finally full, I set my bowl in the sink and glanced over my shoulder at Valdus's back. His head was bowed, shoulders rising and falling with each breath.

So, how's your plan going? Mhmm?

Eris! I still don't understand why you would do that.

Aphrodite, are you serious?! I did that because you refuse to face the damn fact that he's your mate and you were supposed to be together. When he was chained up, you went to him and unchained him. You didn't do that because you wanted to kill him later. If you'd wanted him dead, you could've killed him right there while he was chained, then gone after his father. But no — you broke out of his father's grip and ran straight to him and unchained him. You keep telling yourself you have to be number one, but guess what, Aphrodite — you're not. He is. And now our own damn beta is trying to kill us after we "kill" Valdus? Unbelievable. If we kill Valdus and go back to our pack, what makes you think Brycin wouldn't kill us too? What makes you think he'd stop before we stopped breathing?! What makes you think that, Aphrodite?! Huh?!

I didn't answer her, just looked back at the bowl I'd left in the sink, tears ready to fall.

I marked him so you'd forget about killing him! You've already seen his life. He puts on a mask to make his wolves fear him, but look at him! Look at him!

And I did. I turned my head and stared at his back again.

He wears that mask so no one sees him like this — so no one sees him as some broken wolf. And he is. He's broken. He lost his mother, his father abuses him and his pack, and he's trying to take care of you while learning it all on his own. His father never taught him how to care for his mate — because his father lost his own. He won't help Valdus because it makes him think about his own loss. And you saw what that does to him. You saw how he thought we were his dead mate. So what makes you think it makes sense to kill him and then get us killed next? How does that make sense to you, Aphrodite?!

Hot tears spilled down my cheeks and onto my neck.

I don't know, I said, wiping my eyes.

Exactly. You don't know. So fûckin forget about that damn kill-your-own-mate plan, and start fûckin being the mate and Luna he and this pack need. I know it's hard giving up our old title, but we have a better one now. A Luna title. The Luna of the most feared, most powerful Alpha.

Okay.

I wiped my eyes, took a deep breath, and stared at his back. When I saw him getting up, I quickly turned away and looked down at my hands. I turned on the water and started rinsing my bowl, but his hand pressed against the small of my back as he stepped up beside me. "It's fine, I've got it. Go get some sleep — you need rest, and your throat needs to heal." His hand covered mine, gently moving it away from the bowl.

I wanted to tell him it was fine, but I couldn't. So he gently stepped in front of me and started washing my bowl. I sighed, lips pressed together, staring at his back a moment longer before I turned and headed upstairs to his room. I crawled into bed and pulled the blanket over me, facing the window that looked out over his pack grounds. It was dark, and the stars shined bright. And that's when the first tear fell.

I cried because of everything Eris had said. Her words had cut deep. She was right. If I killed Valdus and tried to go back to Brycin, he wouldn't stop until I stopped breathing.

And she was right about that too. He's broken. He wears a mask to make his pack believe he's as tough as his father, but he never lets them see how broken he really is underneath. I cried even harder, and that's when the bed dipped and he pulled me close. I turned and fisted my hands in his shirt, crying into his chest. He didn't ask why I was crying or what had happened. He simply held me while I cried on his chest.

He rubbed my back while he held me tight against him. And I cried myself to sleep while he held me close to himself.