YOU ARE WHAT I NEED [COMPLETED]

33

The tension in the room was suffocating, the silence sharp and cold. Selene could feel her brother's frustration simmering beside her. His thoughts were loud in her mind, screaming for vengeance.

I should snap his neck and drain him dry. What's stopping us?

Selene forced herself not to chuckle, though the situation was far from amusing. This was serious. Conner, Devin's best friend and ally, stood in her family's home, surrounded by people who despised him, yet there was something odd in his demeanor—regret. Selene's father stood stiff and hostile, glaring at Conner with barely contained rage. The air was thick with suspicion.

Selene finally broke the tense silence. "How can we trust you?" Her voice was sharp, cutting through the air like a knife. Her eyes locked on Conner, waiting for any sign of dishonesty.

Conner shifted his weight, his expression solemn. "I don't expect you to trust me," he began, his voice low and tinged with regret. "But I'm not here to start a fight. I'm here to fix something... something I've been responsible for."

Selene felt a flicker of curiosity despite the tension. "What exactly are you responsible for, Conner? Why are you really here?"

Conner sighed deeply and glanced around the room, avoiding eye contact with her father. His face twisted with old pain, a sorrow that seemed to run deep. "I became a hunter for the wrong reasons," he admitted, his voice heavy with guilt. "It wasn't about protecting humanity, or any noble cause. I became a hunter to hurt someone. To hurt Cathy... and her people."

Selene blinked, confused for a moment, but she didn't interrupt. Conner wasn't done.

"I fell in love with Cathy a long time ago," he confessed, his voice strained. "But she didn't choose me. She fell in love with someone else. A human. A man who had no ties to the supernatural world. I couldn't stand it. I was human too—why him? Why not me?" His fists clenched at his sides as the bitterness in his voice deepened.

Selene's father growled low, a warning sound, but he stayed silent for now. Selene's brother scoffed in the background, clearly impatient, but Selene gestured for him to keep quiet. She needed to hear this.

Conner took a shaky breath and continued. "I thought if I hurt her, she'd come to me. If I took away what she loved, maybe she'd realize that I was what she needed. So, I became a hunter. I went after her people, attacked the supernatural community she cared for. I wanted to see her suffer."

Selene's father stepped forward, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "And how did that work out for you, Conner? Because from where I'm standing, Cathy still doesn't want anything to do with you."

Conner flinched at the remark but didn't deny it. Instead, his expression darkened with even deeper regret. "It didn't work," he said, voice hoarse. "All I did was push her further away. Then... I went too far."

The room went deathly quiet as the weight of his words settled over them.

"I killed him," Conner whispered, his eyes distant as if reliving the moment. "Her husband. I killed him out of jealousy, out of spite. He was lying in a hospital bed, vulnerable, and I took his life because I couldn't stand that she loved him and not me."

Selene's heart skipped a beat. The shock of his confession rippled through the room. Her father's eyes flared with a mixture of anger and disbelief, and her brother stiffened beside her, ready to attack at any moment.

"You killed him?" Selene's father spat, his voice like venom. "And you think we'll just stand here and listen to your sob story? You have a lot of nerve, Conner."

Conner didn't flinch under her father's fury. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. I know what I did was unforgivable. But after I killed him, I saw what it did to Cathy. I saw the pain I caused her, and I hated myself for it. That's when I realized it wasn't about her choosing him over me. It was about my own weakness. My jealousy. And that's why I've stayed away for so long."

Selene could feel her own anger rising, but beneath it was a twisted sense of understanding. Conner had been consumed by his emotions, much like Devin was now, blinded by rage and grief. It didn't excuse his actions, but it explained why he was here.

Selene's brother growled under his breath. "You expect us to believe you're here to make amends now, after all these years?"

"I'm not just here to make amends," Conner said, his voice firm. "I'm here to stop Devin. He's making the same mistakes I did. He's blinded by grief and anger, and he's going to destroy himself—and everyone around him—if someone doesn't stop him."

Selene's father narrowed his eyes, clearly still skeptical. "And why should we believe that? Why should we believe you care about stopping Devin when you've done nothing but hurt Cathy and her people?"

Conner turned to face him fully, his gaze steady. "Because I owe Cathy. I owe her for the life I destroyed. I owe her for the pain I caused her, and I can't let Devin take her daughter, or anyone else, the way I took from her. I'm trying to stop history from repeating itself."

The silence that followed was deafening. Selene felt her stomach twist as the pieces fell into place. This wasn't just about Devin's vendetta or a simple revenge plot. This was personal for Conner. He wasn't here out of loyalty to his best friend. He was here out of guilt, trying to atone for his own sins.

Selene's father finally spoke, his voice a cold, quiet warning. "If you're lying, Conner, or if you betray us, I'll kill you myself. Do you understand?"

Conner met his gaze without flinching. "I understand. But I'm not lying."

Selene exhaled slowly, her mind spinning. This was far from over. If Conner was telling the truth, they had a chance to stop Devin before things escalated into full-blown war. But if he wasn't...

Well, they would deal with that if it came to it.

But for now, Conner had revealed his secret—a secret that changed everything. The woman he had loved, the woman he had tried to destroy, was none other than Cathy, Claire's mother.

And with that realization, Selene knew things were about to get a lot more complicated.