Chapter SeventyTwo 

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

Truthfully, I didnt 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 shouldnt have found her so soon

Caius knight dies at the age of twentyone 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 couldnt 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 doesnt 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.

No,I said flatly, grabbing the keys and dagger by my side to leave. No, Im 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 Im not just referring to us. I mean this whole plan for my escape too. Its rushed and clumsy.” 

Weve got everything sorted. Well 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 Id 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 Im quickly realising that maybe thats not the case.” 

He frowned. Why would I be in contact with Iris for this? I havent 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 were back to square one; avoiding a war between two territories because of me.” 

Lilapler Seventy Tw

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

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

never touched me tonight knowing he had someone bonded to him. I was too familiar with the

figure it out myself. Go home, Cai,” I said,

I felt as Cai then grabbed my wrist and tried to pull me to

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

this exact situation already

when he reached out to grab me, my instincts got the better of me.

slower than my Beta heir days, I still managed to quickly bring the

me,” I

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

and forth from

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

hand tightened on the

asked him, my eyes narrowing with the

do it and he was trying to call that bluff. But

of me made me feel sick. It made me regret so many of my actions and question why I had let things

who I really was, what I was actually capable of, something he was apparently

forget where I came from. Never forget why I‘m

wait. With my spare hand, I grabbed at his shirt and pulled his torso down so I could speak directly into

test someone who has killed

are you talking about?”

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

of me,” I said. “I was your dooth. I killed you. I did it for my own political advantage....”

never wanted him to hear.

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

just my words hanging in the open as

To realise the full gravity of who I really was. I 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,

through with it; to sever that tie that had become a lifeline for me. Cai

just that; a dream. An illusion. And it was time to wake up and acknowledge that this wasn‘t a fantasy, that being with him was always something that was never going to end well. Because now look at where

let go of that delusion and

to move

my hand and push me away already. He could have overpowered me within seconds without any effort on his part... but

needed him to at least believe I would, to

two

hand fall back to his side, acknowledging that there was nothing he could do to change the

it was of him to still look at m e with those eyes. As if I hadn‘t just confessed to murdering him. As if a

to be involved with him anymore; even though a part of my mind was still screaming at me to

taking a few steps backwards

home, Cai,” I said, my voice finally betraying my exhaustion. “Go

I left.

car, the key in the ignition,

didn‘t know where to go, yet I realised that all paths ahead were likely the wrong choice. And so I just drove.

Chapter SeventyTwo 

second

or give in to

my best to compartmentalise the aching inside, I tried to focus on what to do now.

and Tytus, yet to run away meant risking my life to the mercy of the world... and Tytus. There was no safety for me. Not really. Maybe if I could get in contact with Iris I could try and find

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 was the same person I had just threatened with

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