The 27th

Chapter 32

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It started with a dull, high pitched ringing in her ears, downing out the soothing, mellow voice of Arias speaking to her. At first, it was just annoying but now, as it grew louder, it began to hurt.

"Thaelia?" His voice was muffled and she knew he said something but not what it was. "You okay?" He asked again but her concentration never strained from the table, her hands clenched on top of the wood as if she were in pain.

He reached across the table, his large, warm hands cupping her cheeks, bringing her eyes up to meet his concerned ones. At the skin to skin contact, the ringing dissipated, leaving behind a minor but manageable pain.

"Sorry." She blinked a few times to regain focus.

"You okay?" He asked again and she nodded, her face still cupped by his hands.

"I'm sorry. I'm fine I just-" She back her face away and he reattached his hands as she shook her head. "I'm fine."

"I know it is much to hear. Much to think of." He started tracing the callouses on his hands as he spoke. "I not make you do anything you not want to. I not hurt you. I not lie to you. I cannot do that to you." Her golden eyes that held him at her full attention both comforted him and made him anxious. "I provide for you, even if you not want me, not want to mate. By fate, I your mate but we not have to. We be friends if you want."

She watch as his hands fiddled nervously, looking sad, almost afraid by the words he spoke. He truly wanted her but would be willing to remained friends if it meant he could be near. He meant every word he said but the female Thaelia was afraid as well. She was scared by his words, not by what they meant but she was scared that they were not truthful.

She liked him, she knew that much. He was attractive and he had cared for her thus far but she has been around people for several years that build a false facade that promised hope. Hope was her downfall. Her trust was given yet never met, so what would make things so different now?

"I'm just scared." She blurted out. She had not meant to say it but she had this strange feeling to always be honest with him. "Not of you, of course." She reassured him when she saw his expression. "I-I guess I'm just scared of the truth because I don't know what that is right now."

"We find it together." He gave her a side smile, reaching out to hold her hand, caressing her smooth skin with his thumb.

The rest of the day was spend quite pleasantly. Thaelia spend her time exploring every nook and cranny in the house, finding things she has never seen fire, further learning about Arias and his culture.

He was a very homey creature, she realized. His house was very comforting, full of warmth and hearth, of nature that seemed to be brought inside by the large windows.

He was also very tall, taller than the other men she had seen so far. They were all larger than average but Arias seemed to be just a head taller. She had noticed this when she tired to get a glass of water and could not reach the cups. At her struggle, he aided her in getting one down and then began to shift everything around so that she would be able to reach them.

At that, she took note on how the door frame was lifted a few inches higher than most and she recalled how he had to duck his head to get through the openings of other buildings. Though, despite his added height, which could be considered intimidating, she found it rather endearing. He was very gentle with her and tended to stay within small crowds rather than large ones, observing rather than interacting. From what she had gathered so far, he was a big softie.

As the day passed and the sun set, the two of them found themselves on the couch, warm tea in their hands as they watched the sun set. The sky was lit up with an array of bright colors. The pastel colors had gravitated her attention. She had only seen a glimpse of those alluring colors through the gaps in the trees during their travels but she was now able to see the full picture for the first time. She found herself unable to turn her head until the last color left the sky, bringing out the stars she had slept under the past few weeks.

"Is it like that every night?" Thaelia had found herself leaning onto Arias, embraced by his warm as the encircled her back with his arm, pulling her closer.

"Yes. The sky looks that way at sun up too." He spoke quietly, brushing the hair away from her face as her eyes fluttered close.

"I would I like to see that." She muttered, relaxing further into his warmth.

"Go to sleep. I wake you when it comes." He shifted her into his arms, carrying her to what would be their shared room and settled her in before heading to a spare one. It felt strange to attempt sleep alone when he had held her in his arms to keep her warm during the night for so long.

Eventually, they both found sleep as as they did, a blizzard had been brought in. Though, both could have easily slept through it, Thaelia awoke to ringing in her ears, much louder and painful then before.

As thunder and lightning sounded in the sky, it send a piercing heat through her ears, making her cry out and sit up in bed, clutching her head. As another sounded and was met with the same undesirable feeling, she cupped her ears, hoping to muffle the noise, but to no avail. Everything so loud, her own quietly whimpers sounding like screams.Even listening her own, harsh and ragged breathing seemed to hurt, another whimper leaving her lips.

"Arias." She whimpered, crawling out of bed only to fall, eyes spinning as if she were off balance from spinning in circles. "Arias." Her call was quiet but roused him immediately, running to her room to aid her. Finding her on the floor, he pulled her to his chest to lift her up, setting her back into bed.

"What is wrong?" He scanned her for injuries but she continued to clutch her ears, crying loudly when he spoke.

"Everything is so loud." She whispered to him. "It hurts so bad."

Knowing what was going on, he pulled her into her and adjusted her to lie on his chest, one ear pressed directly over his heart. "Listen to heartbeat." Her free hand clutched the bed tightly while her other hand still covered her ear, his own hand covered her to try and muffle more of the sound. "Focus on quiet noise."

Yet again, at his touch, the constant pain eased away but her ears were still sensitive to noise, now only hurting at the crack of lightning or the sound of thunder. "What is happening to me?" She sounded scared and so, he held her tighter.

"Not be scared. You get you wolf hearing."

They remained like this for hours, Thaelia unable to sleep due to pain and fear and Arias unable to sleep know she was in pain and was fearful. He himself had gone through this many years ago, as he was beginning to shift but his pain did not last this long. First, his ears hurt, then his eyes and then he began his shift. This process spanned over a few hours for him however, she was only experiencing sensitivity to her ears for a long period of time, and he felt helpless.

In the end, when the stormed had passed, they two slipped into sleep one more, though, this time, they found it together, in the comfort of each others arms.