Echoes Of War

55

I wake up to Killian's gaze, his eyes back it's normal dark black color. Reaching out, he grasps my hand, stopping me midair, as his concern palpable.

"Are you? Did he hurt you?" He asks his voice filled with worry.

"No, you didn't hurt me," I assure him, squeezing his hand gently. "Rhys actually told me about your childhood, I mean memories that you both share...about when he-I mean you transformed into your wolf when you were 10."

As I caress his face, his tension seems to ease, replaced by a sigh of relief. "Thank the Moon Goddess," he says softly as he draws closer, we lean in towards each other.

"I am sorry for losing control like that, and letting Rhys into the surface." He apologizes, his voice laced with regret. "Hey don't apologize," I reassured him, smiling softly at those beautiful dark eyes.

"I'm actually glade he introduced himself to me," I add as recall Rhys calling me his mate, and I can't help but laugh at that, "also how come he calls me 'mate'"

But his silence afterwards leaves me wondering if he'll answer,

"Killian, why did he-you, why did you call me that?" I inquired searching his eyes for an explanation.

He sits up, and I follow suit, my heart pounding in my chest as he takes hold of my hands in his as he draws little patterns.

With a heavy sigh, I brace myself for his words, feeling a tinge of fear creeping in.

"Because you're our mate," he explains, and I'm left utterly stunned, pulling my hands away from his touch. Rising from the bed, I wrap the sheets around my naked body, my curls falling out of place as I struggle to comprehend what he's just revealed to me.

He moves to reach out to me, and I halt him with a raised hand, needing space from him to process all that he's saying; "How long have you known?" I demand, my voice cracking a little bit, his initial silence speaks louder than anything else in this room. "I deserve to know that," I insisted, as his hesitation only fuels my frustration, and when he finally meets my gaze, I can see the guilt in his eyes.

The revelation cuts deep, leaving me feeling wounded, used and betrayed. How could he possibly keep such a secret from me? After all the walls I was able to built around myself and my emotions, letting someone in only to discover this deception--it's almost like I am unable to breath properly, like all the air is being sucked out of my lungs.

"Since from the every first day," he finally admits, my breaths quicken, my chest tightening with emotions, as a tear escapes, a silent testament to the pain I am unable to control.

Turing my back away from him, I grapple with the whirlwind of emotions threatening to consume me. The revelation of being his mate sends shockwave through me, shattering the fragile trust I had placed in him. How could he keep such a secret from me? I feel exposed and vulnerable, and I hate this feeling.

As I struggle to process it all, he approaches me cautiously, his touch tentatively yet it also brings a sense of peace and comfort. Part of me yearns to lean into his warm embrace, to seek solace but the wounds he's inflicted runs deeper, and it's one that I can't ignore because he's the one who inflicted it. Him, someone whom I have learned to trust.

His words, a desperate plea for understanding, hang in the air between us but I can't bring myself to respond, instead I turn away and make it for the door. Needing space and some fresh air.

With a heavy heart, I grasp the door handle, feeling the weight of my decision pressing down on me. "Please don't go," he pleads for me to stay, but I know deep down that I can't ignore the betrayal that lingers between us.

As I look down at the hand, a sense of finality washes over me. If I walk out of this door, I know that there's no turning back, and I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me enough to share something that important like this that can change the course of our relationship.

"I can't," I whisper, my voice barely audible in the tense silence that hangs between the two of us. "I can't be with someone who doesn't trust me and keeps lying to me,"

"Gods knows how much I know about you—about us is even true,"

"That was it Kel'enas, there's no more lies." He tries to assure me that this was it, but yet I can't being myself to believe him. Not after everything that's happened.

"I can't," I whisper, feeling tears falling down my eyes, "No relationship built on a lie has ever survived," with a final exhale of the breath I didn't know I was holding onto to escapes me, I push open the door, and step out in the unknown, leaving him behind.