Chapter 40 040
LYKA
I couldn’t believe what I had just learned. The realization struck me so hard that it felt unreal, as though my mind was playing cruel tricks on me. There was no way it could be true. No way he could do that and walk away as if nothing had happened.
My chest felt tight as I decided to go find him. I needed answers....needed to hear it from his mouth....because the truth was too heavy to carry alone.
Maybe it’s because I fainted from exhaustion last night, I tried to reason with myself. Maybe that’s why he didn’t bother… maybe that’s why.
Clinging desperately to that fragile hope, I grabbed the cloak and wrapped it tightly around my body before rushing out. The fabric barely covered me, but I didn’t care. My heart was pounding too loudly to think about modesty.
My legs trembled beneath me as I walked, shaky and weak, dragging myself forward as though my body was still protesting everything it had endured. Every step felt heavier than the last, but I refused to stop.
I made my way to the lakeside.
And there he was.
Derrick stood by the serene lake, staring at the still water as though it held answers to questions I didn’t yet understand. His upper body was bare, the morning light tracing over the marks my fingers had left on his skin the night before. Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I quickly looked away, embarrassed by how easily my body remembered him.
“Erm… erm,” I cleared my throat awkwardly.
He turned around at the sound of my voice. His face....so handsome, so familiar....looked gloomy, distant, almost unreadable. But I was too consumed by my own turmoil to question his mood.
“You’re awake?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yes… I am.” I hesitated before lifting my hand and pointing to my neck. “And I found this… gone.”
I didn’t need to explain further. I knew he understood exactly what I meant.
He sighed, a slow, heavy sound that sent dread curling through my chest.
“It isn’t gone,” he said calmly. “Because it wasn’t there in the first place.”
I gasped, my breath catching painfully in my throat. The words sounded ridiculous....absurd....and yet they cut deeper than anything I had imagined. Anger brewed inside me, sharp and burning, and I struggled to keep it under control.
“What?” I whispered, then louder, “Did you not mark me last night?”
I was surprised my voice didn’t completely break. It trembled, but I held it together with sheer will.
“Am I obliged to?” he replied nonchalantly. “We both needed each other. I don’t think I have that kind of obligation toward you.”
My breathing stopped.
Obligation?
He had no obligation to mark his mate… but he had no problem sleeping with her?
“What… what did you just say?” I stepped toward him, my vision blurring. My legs faltered, and I nearly collapsed, but Derrick rushed forward and caught me in his arms.
I shoved him away immediately.
“Get your hands off me!” I yelled, glaring at him as my body shook violently....not from weakness this time, but from rage and heartbreak colliding inside me.
“You should go back inside,” he said, his voice low. “You don’t want to catch a cold....”
I cut him off sharply. “I’m asking you why you didn’t mark me!” My voice cracked despite my effort. “Did I look cheap to you? Who in the world sleeps with their mate and....”
The words died in my throat.
Shame burned my face, and I looked away, unable to finish the sentence. Unable to believe I was standing there, begging for something that should have been mine by right.
I felt exposed. Humiliated.
‘I could feel that he wanted to…’ Alexia purred softly, but her voice faded, heavy with sorrow. I could feel her heartbreak mirroring mine.
We had both been played.
He wasn’t ready to mark us....but he hadn’t minded touching us, claiming our bodies, taking everything while giving nothing in return.
“Last night, I knew it was all hormones,” I continued, my voice trembling as tears streamed down my cheeks. “But you should have controlled it. You should have controlled yourself. How dare you touch me like that?”
I wiped my tears angrily, frustrated with myself. Why was I crying? Why did it hurt this much?
“I… I know you’re mad,” he started.
I cut him off again. “Is it because I’m a rogue?” I asked bitterly. “Because I’m nobody? Is that why you’re treating me like this?”
He shook his head slowly.
That hurt more.
He could have lied. He could have made excuses. I would have listened. I would have tried to understand. But telling me outright that he never intended to mark me....that shattered something deep inside me.
It was worse than rejection.
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to do,” I said coldly, glaring at him through my tears. “But I hate you.”
I turned around without looking back, tears blurring my vision as I walked away from the lakeside, leaving him standing there alone.
I didn’t care if he had reasons.
I didn’t care anymore.
The first night between mates was supposed to be beautiful....blissful....the beginning of something sacred. That was how it always happened. That was how stories were told.
But mine?
Mine turned into a nightmare.
A nightmare I desperately wanted to forget.