Chapter 69: I’m Sorry
Elián;
"You’re back." Elien’s voice floods my mind through the darkness, and I take a deep breath.
"I’m sorry if I’m an inconvenience... but I’m not certain I want to go back to where I come from," I reply, with my voice echoing in the void, and there’s silence.
"Huh. You hate your life that much?" He questions, and I fall silent
"It’s okay. I hate mine too. We’re quite alike, to be honest. I think we’ll be fine." He replies, and I smile faintly.
"How come I only get to talk to you when we have near-death experiences? I wish I could talk to you whenever I want. There are so many questions I want to ask you." I speak, and he sighs.
"Yeah. There are lots of things you need to know since you’re clearly the one in most control of my... our body. We need to figure out how to communicate with each other... without you constantly putting our lives at risk, of course." He replies, and I smile.
"Sure," I whisper.
"For now, you’re going to Howleroot. That witch doesn’t like Omegas, so be careful." Elián says, and my brows knot.
"Witch? What witch?"
"Rhydian’s mother. She’s a handful of problems. Be careful with her." He informs, and there’s silence again.
"Oh... Looks like you’re waking up. Don’t worry. We’ll figure out a way to communicate. Talk to you soon." His voice comes again, and just like that, I feel something wrapping around me.
I moan softly as I groggily pull my eyes open. Ugh. My body feels so numb.
It takes a few seconds for my vision to adjust, and when it does, I turn to ice.
Right in my face... is Rhydian’s face. My eyes dart down and realise he’s in bed with me, and he has his arms wrapped around me like I might try to run away as he sleeps.
Did... Did we have sex!? He didn’t touch me, did he!?
I quickly lift the duvet off us, and a little bit of relief comes to me when I find that I’m fully clothed.
He groans in his sleep as my movement disturbs him, and my blood turns to ice in my veins when he suddenly pulls me closer to him.
What... what the fuck is going on!?
Why am I in bed with this... cow!? And where the fuck am I??
The door slowly opens, and my eyes dart at it.
Alana enters with a tray in her hands, and as soon as her eyes land on me, she pauses.
My eyes dart between her and Rhydian, who’s holding on to me like he intends to inhale me.
I beg her with my eyes to help me, and she giggles softly before walking and shutting the door behind her.
"Why are you laughing? Help me!" I whisper desperately to her through my sandpapery throat, and Rhydian shifts again.
"Aww... But you look so cute together." She whispers back, and my jaw drops.
"Elián?" Rhydian then croaks, and I freeze.
I slowly look back down at him and find him squinting at me.
For how long has he been asleep here? And why on earth is he in a bed with me!?
"If you’re not too busy crushing my ribs... I’d like to breathe, please..." I reply, and his eyes widen as he sits up, pulling me along with him.
"You’re finally awake!" He exclaims like an excited kid as he grabs my shoulders, and as he shakes me, I groan.
"Keep going like this, and I may not be for long," I reply, and instead of letting me go, he pulls me into a hug.
I stay frozen in his embrace as my mind glitches.
Okay. This is weird. Why is he hugging me?? Have I woken up in some alternate dimension of this world?? What’s going on??
"Does anything hurt?" He questions as he pulls me away from him, and I blink at him as I remember.
That’s right. I got stung by a scorpion because of him. TWICE!!
I pull up my shirt to look at my side where I was stung, but I find nothing there.
I look back up at the baffon who almost had me killed, and he blinks at me.
"You know, you’re very lucky I didn’t die!" I scold as I point a finger at him, and his eyes dart down to my finger.
"I would have turned into a vengeful ghost and haunted you with scorpions all your life!" I add, and to my surprise, he smiles.
A bright, genuine smile that causes my brow to knot.
"What? You think I’m joking?! I tried to save you, and you almost got me killed. What do you have to say for yourself?!" I rage further, and his smile grows as he stares at me like I’m some jester entertaining him. And worse... why do I find his smile to be so... beautiful?
It’s... This is the first time I’m actually seeing him smile. The fool looks good when he smiles. I bet if he knew that, he wouldn’t be such a grumpy ass all the time.
"It’s good to have you back." He says, and my face scrunches in confusion.
I look over at Alana, and she simply smiles at me.
What’s going on? Isn’t he supposed to get mad at me for talking to him like this?
Where’s the arrogant, egocentric ass he usually is??
"Also... I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you." He apologises, and my heart stops.
I look over at Alana to be sure I’m not the only one who heard what I heard, and from the shocked expression on her face, I know I’m not hearing things.
"I.. I’m sorry. Did you just apologise? To... to me??" I ask in pure shock as I press my finger against my chest, and he smiles softly as he nods.
"Yes. I’ve been a jerk to you... And you don’t deserve that. I’m sorry." He adds, and my jaw drops as I stare at him.
I look over at Alana, and she simply looks away.
WHAT... IS GOING ON???
"Is this a prank?" I question, and his brows crease.
"You want me to let my guard down and then you’d deal with me?" I question Rhydian as I raise a brow, and he tilts his head as confusion fills his grey eyes.
"What’s... a prank?" He questions, and I sigh.
Right. They don’t use such terms here.
"I’m asking if you plan to hurt me later for your amusement. I know you don’t like Omegas, so I don’t understand why you’re suddenly acting so different." I speak, and his expression falls.
"If you’re doing this because you plan to play some kind of cruel joke, I..." I begin, but he cuts me off.
"I’m not trying to trick you, Elian. I..." He begins, but stops.
I watch him swallow as his gaze flicks down to the bed before moving back up to my face.
"I’m... truly sorry. For how I treated you." He blurts, and I pause.
"The way I spoke to you... It was wrong. The time I..." He continues, but trails off again. The words sound heavy in his throat, like saying them is costing him something... Costing him his pride...
"The time I got my men to hit you, treating you like that and... not trusting you when you tried to save me... It was... stupid. I see that now." He forces the words out, and my eyes instantly find Alana.
Am I hearing things? Is he saying something entirely different, and I’m just having... I don’t know. Auditory hallucinations??
I jerk when he suddenly reaches out with his massive hands covering my comparatively tiny ones. My eyes widen as I stare down at our hands and back up at his eyes that are now burning into mine, desperately.
"I don’t expect you to forget the things I’ve done, or to just... just forgive me like they never happened. But... if you can find it in your heart to give me another chance, I’d..." He begins again, but stops as his lips twitch, like he’s searching for courage.
"I’d like to try being your friend. If you’ll let me." He adds, and my lips part in shock.
Silence stretches in the room, and the crystals above cast streaks of white light over his face. Lighting that makes his hair look almost white and the colour of his grey eyes to pop beautifully against his cocoa-toned skin.
He looks and sounds so genuine. But do I trust him?
Is... is this a joke?
I don’t... I don’t understand. Why the sudden change??
"Please..." He adds, and I swallow.
I open my mouth to speak, and just then, there’s a knock on the door.
We all turn to it, and my brows knot. Who could it be?
"Who is it?" Alana calls, and a man’s unfamiliar voice follows.
"I’ve been sent to fetch Alpha Rhydian. The Luna is in his chambers and demands his presence." The man speaks, and my gaze turns back to Rhydian.
Luna? Isn’t that like the queen of wolves??
Who is the queen of...
Wait. Luna! As in... his mother? The witch Elien warned me about? Shit.
We’re already at Howleroot?!