A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 73

Chapter Seventy–Three 

“... What the fuck are you doing back here?” Aleric asked. 

He stood in my doorway, arms crossed, staring at me like I was insane. 

But I didn‘t care. My mind was made up. There was no way I was going to have this conversation tonight. 

“No,” I answered flatly. 

“No‘?” 

“No, I‘m not doing this now,” I clarified. “I‘m too tired. We can talk later.” 

I rolled onto my side, facing away from him, and pulled the blanket up over my shoulder. Maybe if I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, he would just leave on his own accord. 

“Aria, you need to tell me what‘s going on,” he pressed. “Joseph told me you came back over the border and I thought he was joking until I caught your scent by the stairs. Did something happen? Were you caught?” 

“No,” I mumbled, repeating myself once more. 

“Stop that. Regardless of how tired you are, this is more important. I need to know if something went wrong.” 

I groaned out in frustration but reluctantly sat up, my head immediately pulsing with a migraine.* 

“Nothing went wrong, Aleric. Just let it go.” 

“Obviously something went wrong or you wouldn‘t be here.” 

He was getting angry at me and it was only making me more irritated that we were actually having this conversation. 

“Fine then,” I snapped back, turning to look at him. “You want to know what went wrong? The entire thing. The whole plan. How stupid do you think Tytus is that he wouldn‘t find out that you were planning to hide me in the Silver Lake?” 

His eyes widened a little in surprise. “You’re joking, right? Cai didn‘t organise to move you somewhere else?” 

‘More like didn‘t want to move me somewhere else,‘ I thought, recalling our earlier exchange. And that was only after finding out about Caitlyn. 

“Evidently not,” I answered, not wanting to elaborate further on the other reasons I‘d returned. 

“So... what? You‘re just going to come back here and pretend everything is normal? That you didn‘t almost get killed here? After risking everything to get you out?” 

“I don‘t know, Aleric!” I yelled back. “I don‘t know, okay? I don‘t know what to do about me, or Tytus, or Cai ... and I *especially don‘t know what to do about you.” 

He paused, frowning. “...About me?” 

Ah, fuck. I’d said too much. 

“Wait, are you angry at me because of what I told you in the car?” he asked, piecing together my silence. 

I rubbed my eyes, hoping that this was just a bad dream.“...No.” 

But I didn‘t sound very convincing. 

Chapler Seventy–Three 

“Seriously? How is that fair on me? You were the one who was angry at me for originally not telling you.” 

That did

me once more despite my exhaustion. Crumbling that final piece inside me that still cared about what he

said to me throughout my

you say ‘lives‘?”

“This version of you who is so goddamn unpredictable that I feel as though everything I learnt the first time around is completely useless. That it was meaningless. That I

s that fair?” 

are you

you as if you were a monster. Because i n my eyes you were, Aleric. You were my torturer, my abuser, and you would parade that bitch Thea in front of me like a prized possession you loved more than anything; never caring what it did to me, never caring that it hurt me. Me, your mate.”

“Aria–.” 

gave you everything,” | continued, my eyes now filling with tears. “Everything. Anything that was within m y power to give, I gave it to you. You wanted the world to kneel before you? I gave you the path to do it. You wanted my heart,

in

it for you. I did it so that maybe you would love me... so that

JOU 

don‘t then everyone dies. And so that‘s what I did. I worked hard to stop the same future from happening, to stop myself from becoming your Luna, to stop you from trapping and hurting me again... and to stop myself from ever having to love you again... because I couldn‘t bear the thought of living through your rejection twice. That alone had been more painful than

You‘re saying I apparently rejected you? Hurt you? ...None of this is making any

escaped my lips, realising

out of thin air by Selene and sent back. No, no… you have to die first, Aleric. I died. And guess whose face I saw in my nightmares every single

with this, his face quickly starting to pale, and my smile only grew despite

through my neck at the trial grounds. You killed me, Aleric. You killed me once I was no longer of any use to you anymore. And you wondered why I was so scared of you for so long? Why I‘m so angry at you

Chapter Seventy Theo 

you put me through?”

to speak but no words came out. Instead, he just looked at me, his eyes full

at my hands which were now balled into fists, tightened

what‘s unfair this time...,” I choked out slowly. “And you don‘t get to say that you love me. It‘s nine years

he kneeled down to eye level,

at me,” he said.

wiping at my face.

me,” he

me but I just shook my head once

“Aria, look.” 

to finally meet his gaze, to meet his green eyes that

will make what happened to you okay,” he said, his expression serious. “Because the reality is... it‘s not okay. And I can apologise for those things if you want, to say that I‘m sorry but, at the end of the day, even if I did, it

did.” 

“You have time to change, time

his grasp and looked back

wrongfully convicted of crimes you had no part in, that you died for those very charges,” he continued. “And yet you want to persecute me for sins I‘ve never committed? When have I, m e personally, ever hurt you, Aria? When have I ever given you a reason to not trust me? It‘s true that there i s nothing I can say to make right what happened to you, but I hope that my actions over these

he was right.

to convince myself of, but it still didn‘t lessen the sting. The cold truth was... I was never going to get my sincere apology. And the things that I went through were never going to be okay. Because the person I needed to hear the apology from was dead in another timeline that was now destroyed. *My* Aleric was gone. And, knowing him,

reason to not trust him. In fact, he had proven to me time and time again that I could. And yet I still refused to let myself give

be,” || said, moving away from him. “I can‘t become a Luna again, always living in your shadow and hoping that what i do ensures my survival

nupied scrantyce 

back passively i in the shadows as a Luna anyway. I just

that much different. It still sounded basically the same

things have been? Hate me for the rest of your life if you want, but I would rather we work together than end up divided in a civil war for power, something that benefits neither us nor the pack. I‘m not so naive as to assume you haven‘t at least considered taking over once you‘re of age. Especially after what Tytus has done to you.” 2

knowing the impact it would have on Aleric. At the time, I couldn‘t

it was

was true then this was the best way forward

thing I ever expected to hear from his mouth This would mean no Alpha commanding servitude from a Luna But more

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