Beautiful in her rage

Beautiful in her rage
Dali’s eyes flickered. Her heartbeat raced. Alexa had a more prominent reaction; she rose to her feet, wasting not even a second before she dashed out of the room, followed promptly by Marisol. 
Dali sat back. Not because she had no interest in how Kiara was feeling, but mainly because she knew the last thing Celyn would want was to see her there in the room.
As for Chase, hearing that the woman he had killed—the woman they were all trying to save—was awake, he froze. 
He turned to see that he wasn’t the only one in the room. Dali was sitting right there, glancing ahead. And for the first time since he met her again, he could see a flash of vulnerability in her features. She suddenly wasn’t the same woman mocking him and talking down on him a few minutes ago. She was suddenly small.
He stared ahead. Kiara and Dali, from what he recalled, had a fairly good relationship. They engaged in conversations when he saw them that one time. 
Now why wasn’t she running towards the clinic along with them? Why was she sitting here all alone with the company of her thoughts?
Why was she suddenly a reflection of the woman he used to know?
He took a step towards her, but he could already see what next would happen if he intended on having a conversation with her. She would probably cuss him out. She would ridicule him.
Was that really a bad thing?
“Dali?”
Her eyes flickered with that. Her gaze suddenly darted to him. And the first thing that replaced the shattered look was a glare so deep Chase thought he would die if looks could kill.
His bravery was unmatched; even met with such, he took another step forward. He was standing in the middle of the room now, facing the woman who sat still on her chair. 
Their eyes locked on each other.
“Why are you not there? From what I remember, you and Kiara used to be friends.”
Dali scoffed. “Oh, you really do have a good memory,” she said. He sucked in a breath, waiting for the rain of insults that would follow. 
“So I hope you recall when you sank your claws into her?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Did you also remember what led up to that moment? How you made me run to them where they were hiding from you? How you used me to get to them and killed her in the process?”
To be perfectly explained; Dali was filled with guilt for what happened, and she was blamed. 
But why was she blamed? Kiara was simply just a normal random healer. How would that have anything to do with Dali? So many people died, nobody held it over her. Why was this so important?
Why was Kiara so special?
Chase nodded his head. “I do remember what happened.”
“I don’t think you remember enough,” she said. “Do you wake up every night with your heart racing and soaked in your sweat because you relived everything that happened?” she asked, rising to her feet.
“Are you haunted by the choices you made?” She took a step forward. 
“Do you regret everything that happened the second it happened?” She took another step forward.
“Do you look at your reflection in the mirror and hate what is looking right back at you?” She drew nearer to him.
“Did you stop yourself from being in a healthy relationship because you snatched that chance away from your best friend by having your fucking mate kill her mate?!”
She yelled in his face.
And he was met with raw emotions. Her eyes red with guilt and her body shuddering with the hate running through her veins. 
Chase did not flinch. He met her gaze head-on. Not out of anger or dominance, but something he could not even pinpoint. 
Basically, he stayed there, meeting her gaze, because he wanted to see what he did to her. He wanted to see what she was striving so hard to shroud with this new persona. He wanted to see her raw. He wanted to see the consequences of his actions.
And fuck, was it beautiful.
His mind was riveted by what he was seeing. 
He pushed his lips down from stretching into a smile. 
And it was at that moment that the realization dawned on him. Kiara was Celyn’s mate. And that was what made Kiara so special. Because Kiara had been killed. Her best friend’s mate had been killed by her own mate.
Of course, Dali wouldn’t go with them. Celyn possibly still blamed her for what happened. 
Chase parted his lips, but before a word could come out, Dali was already walking out of the room.
He was left standing there alone. 
Once again, she was right. He didn’t remember enough. He wasn’t haunted by the choices he made. He never regretted everything that happened the second it happened—fuck, he even celebrated. 
But yes, he did look into the mirror and hate his reflection, but that had nothing to do with the misfortune he brought upon the healers. And did he stop himself from being…
Wait, what?
A healthy relationship?
Chase furrowed his eyebrows and ran after Dali. 
A healthy relationship?
Had she considered being with that fucking healer? 
He had been nothing but drowning in the rejection she served him years ago, but she was already getting ready to move on? Where was she moving on to?
Was that the reason why she rejected him officially now?
Was this feeling jealousy?
No, it wasn’t. It was just the need to see her as wretched as he was. He didn’t want the guilt she felt towards Celyn to be the reason she was single. No. He wanted to be the reason. Because of the mate bond that connected them, he was unable to get physical with anyone else for years. He was unable to love anyone else.
But she was already set, wanting to move on?
That’s not happening.
As he ran after her, he was stopped by Damon, who suddenly appeared in front of him.
“What happened?” Damon asked.
Chase had nothing to say to him. He continued to follow Dali, but she never even turned towards the direction of the clinic. Instead, she went to the hut she resided in. She walked through the doors, staring at him as she closed the wooden door.
Now that made him stop.
What was he thinking?
He had made her suffer more than enough. Her life changed. She lost her light, she lost her smile, and he wanted her to be more miserable?
She was just as miserable as he was. But she was productive with it. She built this village, masked her pain, and pretended to be sane, but he had drowned himself in alcohol. 
They were two different people with different coping mechanisms, and that didn’t mean she was any better than he was.
Their pain was different. 
Damon jogged to Chase again. “I am fucking talking to you. What the fuck happened? What did they say?”
Chase turned to face him. “You and I will have to go rescue our people. I don’t know when, but we have to go.”
“Just the two of us?” Damon asked, looking around at the number of healers present. It was clear what was going through his mind. 
“The healers want nothing to do with us. They will not be helping us. We have to do this ourselves.”