For Me,There Is Only You |18+|

54. The Unheard Heart

For a long moment, I couldn't respond.

His words hung in the air between us, raw and unguarded.

I had never seen him like this—so vulnerable, so utterly exposed.

And yet, I didn't know how to react.

The weight of his confession clawed at me, demanding something, anything, in return.

But all I felt was an ache—a hollow, gnawing sadness that his fiery passion couldn't burn away.

It clung to me like a shadow, whispering the truth I couldn't ignore.

"All you want is for me to accept you, isn't that right?" I asked, my voice slicing through the suffocating tension.

Zev's golden eyes narrowed slightly, uncertainty flickering in their depths.

He nodded, hesitant, as though unsure of where my words were leading.

"Okay," I said, my tone unsettlingly calm. "I'll accept you."

For the first time, the armor of indifference he wore cracked.

His expression faltered, surprise flickering across his face, so fleeting I might have missed it if I weren't looking so intently.

"But before that..." I leaned forward, refusing to look away, locking him in place with my stare. "Can you do one thing for me, Zev?"

He stilled, his body tense like a coiled spring. "What?"

"Just like you erased Ansel's memories..." My voice wavered, the words clawing their way out of me. "...can you erase mine as well?"

The room seemed to shift.

All the color drained from Zev's face. For a moment, he was utterly still, his eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at me.

"If you could just take away those four days during my heat..." My gaze dropped to the bed where I sat, my fingers gripping the edge as if holding myself together. "...and the night here." My voice broke, trembling with a sorrow I couldn't contain. "Maybe then I could finally accept you. Maybe then Ansel wouldn't have to fight his instincts anymore. He could stop destroying himself... stop tearing himself apart just to keep me safe."

I swallowed hard, my voice barely above a whisper now. "And if I don't remember any of it... if it's gone... then I can finally give you what you want from me.....maybe you both could finally be happy than." I lifted my gaze to meet his, my heart shattering under the weight of my next words. "Maybe I could finally be happy too. I wonder what that would feel like..."

Zev's bare chest rose and fell unevenly, his breaths shallow and sharp.

His eyes burned with a mixture of emotions I couldn't name—anger, disbelief, pain—but I didn't stop.

I couldn't.

"They say you're the most powerful being on earth," I continued, my voice steadier now, though each word felt like glass slicing through me. "So, I hope you're capable of that too."

I stared at him, waiting, daring him to answer.

"You would rather lose your memories than be with me?" Zev's voice broke, the question trembling on the edge of something raw and unspoken.

I shook my head slowly, my throat tightening as tears blurred my vision.

"No, Zev," I whispered. "I have to lose my memories if I want to be with you. Otherwise..." My voice cracked, and I forced the words out, each one a dagger to my heart. "...there's no way. Not if I have to live with the weight of remembering everything."