CHAPTER 114
CHAPTER 114
How did I say that out loud? I thought, burying my face into the sheets. Oh, my goodness! Thankfully, Edward came at the right time, and I was able to bolt out of there right in time.
I shouldn’t be this embarrassed, right? I mean, I did say that I would give us a chance, but… I don’t even know what I was thinking! How on earth did I lose control over my bloody mouth?
I froze when I heard a knock at the door, but I released a sigh in relief, realizing that Eric would probably not have knocked. I opened the door to reveal a usually fiery blonde wolf.
My brows rose in surprise, and I opened the door wider for her. She stood there blinking at me for a few seconds before I noticed her trembling bottom lip. My heart broke for her all over again.
The moon goddess honestly wasn’t being fair to her. How could one of the sweetest souls I knew be doomed to have such an ass for a mate? It just didn’t make any sense.
With a sad sigh, I pulled her into the room, shut the door behind her, and wrapped my arms tightly around her. I held her tightly in my arms and waited for her to let it all out—the pain, disappointment, anger, and frustration. She cried for the loss of a mate that she never had. The years of expectation and longing that she had for someone she never knew.
I wonder how it felt for her. All their lives, werewolves are told that they can only love one person, and from childhood, they live just for that one person. They live their lives hoping to meet the one person who was basically engineered for them.
I guess the other person not wanting them back or being an absolute ass wasn’t part of that perfect equation. Was this how Eric felt when he realized that I was human? Because, as a human, I do not necessarily need a mate like werewolves do, but now that I have gotten to experience the mate bond, I can say that it really was a beautiful thing.
When she had let it all out, she pulled away from me and sniffled, trying to wipe her tears away, while I guided her to the sofa in the corner of the room. We sat there in silence for a while.
I could tell that there were probably a thousand and one things going through her head in that very moment, and she was trying to process them all, so I just held on to her hand and waited for her to be done processing everything.
“I want to leave Ana.” I looked at her, confused. Leave? As in leave the room? “I don’t think I can handle staying here anymore.” For some reason, it felt like she wasn’t talking about the room.
She turned to look me in the eyes, and for the first time, I could see how truly broken she was. This wasn’t the kind of heartbreak you’d recover from after a few weeks of crying your eyes out…. It was the kind that took years to heal from, maybe even a lifetime.
It actually dawned on me now that I might never get to see the cheerful blonde I met again, and that realization hurt more than I thought it would. I felt tears gathering at the corners of my eyes.
She definitely wasn’t talking about leaving this room… she was talking about leaving the castle, maybe the entire werewolf world. Would I ever see her again? Would she ever be okay? Resentment welled up in me towards that douche of a mate that she had been cursed with, and I would have hated the goddess, too, but she gave me Eric.
Keeping my tears at bay, I held her hands tightly, “Just promise me one thing, Cee.” I asked, taking a deep breath to get rid of the heaviness that had settled in my chest.
I wanted to ask her to promise she would come back… to promise me that she would never forget River and me, but that would have been the most selfish thing I could have asked. “Promise me you will be happy. That you’d do whatever you can to forget that rotten man and be happy.”
A fresh batch of tears welled up in her eyes as she nodded vigorously. Not long after, she was a sobbing mess in my arms again. When it was just me in the room again, I allowed my thoughts to wander.
How would things be here without Cierra? I know we don’t see each other as much these days, but even in the times we were not together, knowing she was close by was a comfort on its own.
But I know she needs this. If she stays here, it will be a constant reminder of him; she might even be unlucky enough to run into him, too. Shutting the room’s door behind me, I head out to the garden to get some fresh air and clear my head.
As soon as I stepped into the garden, the cool evening breeze cooled me down instantly. It felt like half of my worries were carried away in the cool night air. I took in a deep breath, feeling my shoulders relax as I took in the wonderful scenery.
Just being here brought back memories… good ones this time. Dad’s favorite thing to do after cooking was gardening, and as a result, we had a wonderful garden in the backyard. Mum couldn’t be bothered less about some weeds and flowers, but she loved watching Dad and me do all the dirty work.
We would spend an entire Saturday in the garden and somehow not get tired at all. You could never get bored with anything with Dad around; his colorful personality was enough to keep you interested for hours.
He was the center of our world, I thought, feeling my lips stretch into a wry smile.