Chapter 39 Kaden's POV
"I don't think I can forgive you."
The words cut deeper than any physical wound ever could. Deeper than any battle scar, any injury, any pain I had ever experienced.
Because I deserved every syllable, every ounce of pain behind them.
"Elara, please," I said, keeping my voice as gentle as I could. "Let me explain-"
"Explain what?" Her voice rose, cracking with emotion. "Explain how you took my virginity and rejected me the next morning? Explain how you made me trust you and then destroyed me?"
"I know I hurt you. I know what I did was unforgivable-"
"Then why are you standing here asking for forgiveness?" She was shaking now, her whole body trembling with the force of her emotions.
"Why are you pretending you care when you proved you didn't?"
I took a step toward her and she immediately backed away.
"Don't touch me, don't come near me."
"Okay. Okay, I won't." I raised my hands, showing her I meant no harm. "Just breathe. Please, you are going to make yourself sick."
"I don't care."
"I care the baby-”
"Don't you dare use the baby as an excuse to pretend you care about me!"
The accusation hit like a physical blow. "That's not what I'm doing. I care about both of you."
"You didn't care enough to keep me. You didn't care enough to honor the bond the heavens gave us. You didn't care about anything except your own fear!"
She was devastatingly right.
"You are correct," I said quietly.
"I was a coward. I panicked when the bond felt too strong, too overwhelming. And I made the worst decision of my life.”
“But Elara, please believe me when I say that I regret it every single day, every single moment."
"Regret doesn't fix anything."
"I know but I'm trying I'm trying to make it right-"
"By keeping me prisoner? By posting guards outside my door? By controlling every aspect of my life?" Her voice was getting louder, more desperate.
"That's not making it right. That's just making yourself feel better!"
"I'm trying to keep you safe!"
"I don't want to be safe if it means being trapped!"
We stared at each other across the room. Her chest was heaving, tears streaming down her face. I could see the exhaustion in her eyes, the emotional toll this was taking on her.
"Take me back to my quarters," She said finally, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. "Now."
"Elara-"
"Now, Kaden. I can't be here. I can't look at you right now."
The words hurt, but I nodded. "Okay come on."
I grabbed a shirt from my closet and pulled it on, then led her out of my room. The hallways were empty at this hour, everyone asleep. Our footsteps echoed in the silence.
She walked as far from me as possible, hugging the opposite wall. Like even being near me physically hurt her.
When we reached her quarters, she reached for the door handle.
"Wait," I said.
"What?"
"Let me stay just until you fall asleep just to make sure you're okay."
"I don't need you to-”
"Please." The word came out more desperate than I intended.
"I won't talk, I won't come near you, I will just sit in the chair by the door. But I need to know you're safe. That you are not going to collapse or hurt yourself or-"
"Fine." She cut me off. "But you stay in that chair. You don't move, you don't speak."
"I won't."
She entered her room and I followed, closing the door behind us. She went straight to her bed and climbed in, turning her back to me, pulling the covers up to her chin.
I sat in the chair by the door, exactly as I'd promised.
The silence was oppressive. I could hear her breathing quick and shallow at first, gradually slowing as exhaustion began to take over.
Minutes passed, maybe an hour. I wasn't sure. I just sat there, watching her in the dim light from the window, making sure she was okay.
Finally, her breathing deepened. She was asleep.
I waited another ten minutes to be certain, then slowly, carefully, I stood and moved closer to the bed.
Not close enough to touch just close enough to see her face.
She looked younger in sleep, vulnerable. The anger and pain that had twisted her features were gone, replaced by a peaceful exhaustion.
My hand moved toward her before I could stop it, wanting to brush the hair from her face. I caught myself just in time and pulled back.
"I'm going to fix this." I whispered, so quietly that even if she'd been awake, she wouldn't have heard.
"I'm going to make it up to you. I'm going to prove that I'm worthy of you and our child. Before the baby is born, I swear I'll find a way to make this right."
It was a promise to her to myself to the Heavens who had given us this bond in the first place.
I would fix what I had broken even if it took the rest of my life.
I turned to leave, to go back to my room and let her rest, when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out quickly, not wanting the sound to wake Elara.
It was Ethan.
I stepped into the hallway before answering, closing Elara's door quietly behind me.
"What is it?" I asked, my voice low.
"We have a problem." Ethan sounded stressed. "A big one."
"Tell me."
"Victor Voss just arrived
at the pack house. Selena's father. He is here with three of his personal guards and he is demanding an emergency meeting with the council."
My blood ran cold. "When?"
"Now he is already in the council chamber with the elders they sent me to find you."