A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 72

Chapter Seventy–Two 

“...What‘s her name?” I found myself asking politely, though I didn‘t really feel present. 

Truthfully, I didn‘t feel much of anything. My body had gone completely numb, falling into autopilot responses as I struggled to come to terms with what Cai had just told me. 

He found his mate. 

But he was only nineteen. He shouldn‘t have found her so soon. 

‘Caius knight dies at the age of twenty–one with no Luna, mate or child‘. That was the future for Cail had known. Yet somehow this timeline had changed enough that he had met her earlier. It was a cruel slap in the face as reality reminded me, once more, that it would refuse to ever let me be happy. Even for just the few years I thought I might have had with him. 

“Caitlyn,” he replied awkwardly. “She seems... nice. Sweet.” 

‘Nice? Really? That was the best he could say about the woman who was supposedly his other half? His soul mate? 

I wanted to ask him how they met but a part of me couldn‘t bear to hear any more details. Knowing her name would be enough. 

“Aria,” he said, tilting my chin up to look at him, to meet his golden eyes. “It doesn‘t change anything for m e... I still want to be with you.” 

Instantly, my body tensed, the gears in my head finally starting to kick back into reality. His words managed to trigger a pain inside me that I was all too familiar with, something I had tried so hard to push t o the furthest part of my mind. It was almost exactly like it was in the past. 

...Except I wasn‘t the girl being abandoned by her mate anymore. 

No, now I was being set up to become Thea. 1 

“No,” I said flatly, grabbing the keys and dagger by my side to leave. “No, I‘m not doing this.” 

“Aria, wait. Talk to me.” 

I stood up and started to walk towards the car but Cai quickly rushed to stand in my way. 

“Aria, please. Can we just talk about this for a second?” 

“No, this was dumb from the beginning,” I said. “And I‘m not just referring to us. I mean this whole plan for my escape too. It‘s rushed and clumsy.” 

“We‘ve got everything sorted. We‘ll get you back to the Silver Lake and take care of you.” 

There it was again. No insinuation of moving me, no mention of Iris or the rebellion. As if he thought everyone wasn‘t going to just assume that the Silver Lake was the first place I‘d go. 

“Tell me, Cai, what exactly was the plan? Do you even have one?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest. “I was under the impression you were working with Iris for this but I‘m quickly realising that maybe that‘s not the case.” 

He frowned. “Why would I be in contact with Iris for this? I haven‘t seen her since last year.” 

A cynical laugh escaped my lips. “This is actually ridiculous. The first place Tytus is going to look is the Silver Lake, especially once Aleric is forced to confess that info. Then we‘re back to square one; avoiding a war between two territories because of me.” 

Lilapler Seventy Two 

“Then we‘ll move you,” he argued. “We can go somewhere else until it‘s safe.” 

“Just the three of us, yeah?” I snapped back snarkily. “You, me, and Caitlyn?” 

should have never touched me tonight knowing he

Cai,” I said, stepping past him to

I felt as Cai then grabbed my

was angry. No, I was pissed. Not because he had a mate; that was always going to be a possibility and I had already accepted that. No, I was pissed because he still had the audacity to look at me and tell me that he wanted me, knowing someone was waiting for him, knowing my history and how

exact situation

to grab me, my instincts got the better of me.

to quickly

me,” I

eyes went wide in surprise but I didn‘t waver. In truth, we both knew he could very easily swat my hand away without any issue whatsoever, but the sentiment was now there. The intention was clear. This was my

said, his eyes flicking back and forth from my face

Maybe his words had meant to come off as appealing to the side of me that still cared for him, but now

instantly, my hand tightened

my eyes narrowing with the threat. “You‘re so

actually do it and he was trying to call that bluff. But in that moment, I

upon another young girl, to repeat that cycle... the very fact he could even ask that of me made me feel sick. It made me regret so many of my actions and question why I had let things even get this far to begin with.

of who I really was, what I was actually

came from. Never forget why I‘m

didn‘t wait. With my spare hand, I grabbed at his shirt and pulled his torso down so I

done it before,” I whispered. “You shouldn‘t test

you talking about?”

away. But do you want to know the truth? The real truth? You see, I knew you in the past, Caius Knight, Alpha of the Silver Lake. Our packs were at war for months, neither one gaining the upper hand... and then you died. At the age of twenty-one, you died alone. No mate. No children.

could look him in the eye. “Because of me,”

in my chest as I confessed the words! never wanted him to hear. “... I did it for my family‘s honour... I did it to make

would give me even a fraction of the attention he had so brutally deprived me olu! That was what

spoke, just my words hanging in the open

needed him to understand that he didn‘t really have feelings for me, just a version of me I‘d let him see. Not some young, tormented girl he met in high school... but a

a lifeline for me. Cai had become a symbol in my head of what I had always hoped my life would become. The dream of a perfect

to wake up and acknowledge that this wasn‘t a fantasy, that being with him was always something

was time for us to let go of

he said, gently trying to

of him to not just force it out of my hand and push me away already. He could have overpowered me within seconds without any effort on his part... but he was trying not to hurt me, Somehow after everything I said, he was still acting as if

though I didn‘t want to, needed him to at least believe I would, to take me seriously, and it seemed this was the only way he was going to

it two for two?”

he let his hand fall back to his side, acknowledging that there

his face, I couldn‘t help but wonder how incredibly naive it was of him to still look at m e with those eyes.

to realise that he should let m e go. Or at least take this as my confirmation that I didn‘t want to be involved with him anymore; even though

quickly pulled away from him, taking a few steps backwards

finally betraying my exhaustion. “Go home and be an honourable man to your mate.”

I left.

in the ignition, and I

to go, yet I realised that all paths ahead were likely the wrong choice. And so I just drove. Without a destination, into the dark, and with my

Chapter Seventy–Two 

second. 

time to relax or give in to the pain just yet... because

my best to compartmentalise the aching inside, I tried to focus

Tytus. There was no safety for me. Not really. Maybe if I could get in contact with Iris I could try and find a way into the network she

only one person, outside of the Winter Mist, who was in contact with Iris, one person who I could trust my life and whereabouts with... and it

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