V
Chapter Forty One
RILEY
“I will fix this, Riley, but I need more time.‘
“No, do
you know what you are going to do? You will send Isabella away; things would go on just as they used to.”
“I can’t do that. I still need her. Next full moon, there is every possibility that I would lose control. I don’t want anyone hurt, so until I figure out a way to get through this without her, she has to stay.”
“You love her, don’t you?”
“Riley, I…”
“Don’t lie to me; you’ve always loved her.
Earlier you were absent from the pack; where had you been Thane?” I asked him; his silence told me all I needed to know.
“I was back at Bella’s cottage; I had visited her grave just to be sure.”
“Just to be sure Isabella was really ‘bella‘, right?”
“Yes.”
“And she is the very same one, isn’t she?”
“You want to know the truth? Yes, I care about Isabella; the fact that she had been dead for years doesn’t stop me from caring because she had been my mate, the first woman I ever loved, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving you.”
“So you expect me to be what? okay with this?”
“No, I don’t have the right to ask that of you, but this is the truth you wanted from me.”
Isabella had been there to help him; could it be a coincidence? I didn’t think so, but she had told me earlier that it would be just a matter of time and the bond would grow stronger; she must have already known this would happen.
“You can’t have us both, Thane.”
“It’s you I want.”
1/2
Chapter Forty One
“You keep saying that, but she is your fated mate. I see history repeating itself; it has been Ryker, and now… it’s you.”
“I’m nothing like him; I will find a solution to this.” He walked to me. “I’m sorry I left. I am proud of you, Riley. I never did think you had it in you. But you should know that no one is unkillable, even the elders could die. I will find a way, and this is my promise to you, Riley.”
A knock on the door interrupted us. “I guess they’ve found the bodies.” I said to him.
I shut the balcony door, even if I knew that wouldn’t hinder Daemon from coming in; I still needed that false sense of security. I held onto the gun Thane had given me. He had told me to leave the main door open; this way he could hear if anything went wrong.
There were so many thoughts on my mind.
Thane had marked her. I wonder if she was satisfied now, knowing the claim she had over him. I hated it; I hated all of it, and yet, she couldn’t be sent away because she was still of ‘use.‘
And then I thought of Daemon; I should have known it wasn’t Thane; it had felt different, but I ignored the feeling; I didn’t question the condom either; Thane would never hurt me during sex the way Daemon did, and yet I never did complain because a part of me had liked the brutality.
Worse, I shot him twelve times, snapped his neck, and threw him over the railing just to make sure he never did survive. He would be furious, and by now I knew I was no longer in his good graces; if he found me, he wouldn’t hold back in hurting me.
I stared at my wrist; they had only begun healing, and I was sure Thane had seen this. I hated myself for being this so easy.
Thane returned as quickly as he could. “Maybe it’s time I take you everywhere I go.” Thane suggested.
I remembered when I had attempted that with Bailey, she only needed to kill two of the pack members to get me alone. “That won’t be necessary; I had made a mistake, one I won’t fall for next time.”
