A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 74

Chapter Seventy–Four 

‘Was last night real?‘ I asked myself, staring up at the ceiling in bed. 

So many things had happened, so many truths had finally come out. 

...And I felt... lighter. 

I‘d woken up after deep sleep, unsure how long had passed, but my body had been grateful for the uninterrupted rest. 

Though a part of me was angry at myself for taking the risk of their reaction, I would be lying if I said I wasn‘t happy with the outcome. Or I at least meant that in Aleric‘s case. Cai… well, I had to believe that what I did was for the best. 

The fact that I wasn‘t locked away in a hospital right now pending a psych evaluation meant that Aleric had actually believed me. It was something I‘d been worried about the entire time I‘d been back. I knew how insane it sounded when being told the first time. Some days even I still couldn‘t believe it. 

I slowly got out of bed, my body still aching in several places, and got changed into some clothes. There would be things I‘d need to start working on and I needed food and water before I could begin anything. 

But as I walked out into the living room, I was surprised to see Aleric on the couch reading documents. H e looked comfortable as if he‘d been there for some time. It was strange since I thought he would have been out for the day. 

“...You‘re finally awake,” he greeted without looking up. “Was starting to wonder if you fell into a coma.” 

I frowned, still groggy from sleep. “How long was I out for?” 

My voice felt raw as I spoke, causing me to cough from the dryness in my throat. The amount of crying and yelling had probably taken its toll there. 

“A bit over a day,” he replied, leaning over to hand me one of the two coffees sitting beside him. 

I took it from him and was instantly grateful for the small relief it provided after having a sip. Water probably would have been better but I wasn‘t about to turn down the caffeine. It was nice of him to have gotten me one. 

“How did you know I was going to be awake now? The coffee is still warm.” 

He laughed a little. “I didn‘t. They were both mine.” 

I stared at the beverage in my hand and suddenly felt a little conflicted given the recent revelations. Truthfully, it felt a little weird between us. He had confessed to me and I‘d turned him down, called him a murderer, and now I was sharing his coffee. And yet somehow he was acting as if nothing had happened, his expression not revealing that he felt phased in any way. 

“Aleric-” 

“Relax,” he cut me off. “I hadn‘t drunk from it yet.” 

Instantly, I felt a little stupid for even worrying about something as minor as that and quickly pushed it aside. It shouldn‘t have been a big deal anyway. Though I wished I knew what he was thinking. One of the most frustrating things about Aleric was that he was so unreadable. 

“Have you been here long?” I asked, trying to focus on anything else. “I‘m a little surprised to see you‘re still here.” 

He snorted and finally looked up at me, amusement in his eyes. “Still? No, I left for a whole day, came 

Chapter Seventy–Four 

back and you were still passed out. I‘m just taking a shift for guard duty since I was going to be working in my room down the hall anyway.” 

My cheeks immediately burned a little from embarrassment, having made an assumption once more.. Really, I just felt a little bad because of the circumstances. I didn‘t enjoy the feeling of having to be constantly babysat, as if I were a burden on everyone. 

I cleared my throat and tried to brush it off once more, deciding to take a look at what he was so focused on instead. I quickly walked behind him and leaned over, scanning the pages over his shoulder. 

It looked like a status report on a new Alpha who‘d recently succeeded his father; Harvey Gallagher. Though no one really knew anything about him here yet, I could recall from the past that the boy was around our age and far too naive for the position he held. Mostly, I just remembered how easily he surrendered to an alliance under us when propositioned. 

never really cut out to run the pack on his own at such a young age. If you were to extend a hand out and send him someone experienced to help him through

and was momentarily confused. “How–? Nevermind. Sorry, I‘m still getting my head around... all of that.”

weird to finally be able to speak freely without needing all the excuses for how I knew what I did. Strangely as though I‘d removed restraints, allowing me to work as efficiently a s possible now.

sat down on the couch beside him and grabbed the documents from his hand to look at them more closely. All the things he was looking into weren‘t that major and all of them could

you going to finally tell me what happened with Cai?” he suddenly

sip, causing me to almost choke on the coffee.

airway for a moment, all the while the thick smell

I thought bitterly to myself

continued to

happened,” I said to which he just looked at me, waiting for me to tell him the

sighed and leaned back into the couch, hugging my

his mate,” I finally

“Ah.” 

know how it would affect me. Even if Aleric supposedly had feelings for me now, he already knew about my prior relationship with Cai. How could he forget? He‘d literally

didn‘t know. I just figured it would make the most sense to contact him

we were

“Yeah... I know.” 

Chapter Seventy–Four 

with Cai and my chest ached a little. I missed him. I shouldn‘t... but I did. Was it wrong of me to even feel that much? Would it be okay if I still wished, even

been through, it felt so... abrupt. Final. Though maybe that‘s how things were always fated to end between us. With painful finality.

then escaped me thinking

“What‘s so funny?” 

a small smile on my lips. “Just… It‘s crazy how things turned out. The very fact I

you

look at him, my

who killed

turning

Tobias, during a meeting being held in the Winter Mist. Tobias came to negotiate the alliance tax given their large increase

The fuck? Wouldn‘t that make things between you

this life until after we‘d already become friends. He was training me in fighting for a while before his exchange was over. And, well... then he came back and confessed to me... and then Myra died... and then....” I took a

reminder of how quickly that could

other version of... me... right? Because of

but he was trying his best to understand it anyway. Who could blame him in his position?

to tell

started at the very beginning from before we were even officially mates, then moved on to Thea, the Goddess, about our time together and what we did, and finally about some of the things I’d done up until now since coming back. But unlike the first time I told Cai about the past,

finally confessing my sins... and it felt weirdly liberating; natural even. Though not technically the same person, it was easy to blend them into one when it came to recalling our history. And whether he hated me or not afterwards, it didn‘t have nearly the same weight as when I‘d feared Cai‘s judgement. Cai had been an innocent, his death a byproduct of my own naivety, but the person it all started with was the very person sitting

trust I‘d had after Myra died. I‘d driven myself to find Aleric first because I‘d felt he couldn‘t judge me for my mistakes given the weight of his own. But they weren‘t * his*. It‘s just that his features gave me that false impression,

Chapter Seventy–Four 

truth to him. 

things I was telling him about, there

face unreadable as he took it all in without interrupting. The things I told him couldn‘t have been easy to hear if he truly was different now. Our combined death toll was easily in the thousands by the end, his own insanity being the

was I meant

my voice almost completely gone by the time I was finished. I spoke for so long that the sky had

minutes, both of us needing

word since I‘d stopped speaking. “I‘ve been completely honest with you, telling you every painful detail of my past... and now I‘d like you to

what did you want

wincing at the thought. “...Why you hated me so much

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