A Gift from the Goddess

Chapter 75

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. 

pack on his own at such a young age. If you were to extend a hand out and send him someone experienced to help

up over his shoulder at me and was momentarily confused. “How–? Nevermind.

freely without needing all the excuses for how I

look at them more closely. All the things he was looking into weren‘t that major and all of them could be easily resolved. Though, I could probably write up a few pointers to nudge him in the right direction and give insight into

me what happened with Cai?” he suddenly

another sip, causing me to almost choke

clear my airway for a moment, all the while

should have stuck with water,’ I thought bitterly to

he prompted after I continued

happened,” I said to which he just looked at me, waiting

into the couch, hugging my legs to my chest a little.

found his mate,” I finally admitted.

“Ah.” 

how it would affect me. Even if Aleric supposedly had feelings for me now, he already knew about

figured it would make the most sense to

were romantically involved.

“Yeah... I know.” 

Chapter Seventy–Four 

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,

abrupt. Final. Though maybe that‘s how

me thinking back on it

“What‘s so funny?” 

crazy how things turned out. The very fact I was involved with Cai

you mean?”

to look at him, my expression turning

who killed him in

turning into a small

negotiate the alliance tax given their large increase in pack size but your only counteroffer was his head. Never made

things

only within the Winter Mist so I had never met Cai personally. Because of that, I had no idea who he was in 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 deep breath, steadying myself. “...It was an extremely dark time for me. Cai helped me through the worst o fit and made

was a reminder of how quickly that

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

understand it anyway. Who could blame him in his position?

so I proceeded to tell him everything.

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, I didn‘t hold

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

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

Chapter Seventy–Four 

truth to him. 

was telling him about, there was no mistake that it had been me. That this was my past I was telling him about and, unlike him, I actually had done these things.

entire time, his 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

everything if this new partnership was going to work. How was I meant to convince him of why certain decisions would end terribly if he didn‘t understand why I thought that way?

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

we sat silently for a few minutes, both of us needing a moment to take in everything I‘d just

word since I‘d stopped speaking. “I‘ve been completely honest with you, telling you every

did you

me why...,” I said slowly, wincing

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