Chapter Eighteen
RILEY
“There’s something I need to tell you.” Thane said to me, his tone calm but I could sense the gravity of his words, and I gave him my full attention.
“Earlier, I told you that I had been seeing my father.”
“Yes, you did.” I prompted him to go on.
“He wasn’t the only dead person ‘visiting.”
“Thane, I think about Axel too; sometimes I dream about him. I understand that.” I said to him, already knowing where this was heading to.
‘No, it’s not Axel- that wouldn’t have been a problem. It’s Bella, my… dead mate. Though she only visits my dreams, it still worries me; I hadn’t dreamed about her in years, and all of a sudden she is all I dream about, and in this dream… it’s always like we were still together, just how it had been before she died.”
“Thane, I trust you. I know you don’t love her, and it’s just the deities trying to mess with your head, but I know you love me, and I love you too. The fact that you see your dead mate in your dreams doesn’t mean a damn thing.” I assured him.
Yes, I felt jealous that he dreamt of another woman; I could swallow that down because I knew he didn’t want to. It just… happens, and I wanted to make him know he could tell me anything.
“Riley, there’s more to that. Remember the day Isabella had arrived at this pack and I acted very ‘weirdly‘?” He questioned, and I nodded. I did remember. I never moved on from that because it was a rare behavior, the woman seemed to have an effect on him. “When you asked, I told you she looked like someone I knew. I had been referring to Bella.”
“What?” That I hadn’t expected. “What do you mean she looks like Bella?”
“I mean, she is a replica of my dead mate; they don’t just look similar; they look the same–well, if Bella has not aged a second since.I saw her last.” he said to me, I opened my mouth to say something only to shut it again, my mind seemed unable to process anything. “I had confronted her once, to know who exactly she was, but she told me the same crap about losing her memories, which I knew was a lie, but today, she stopped by my office once again, but she was a completely different person. She believes she is my mate, but I buried Bella, so I don’t buy that, but she knows things only I and Bella knew.” Thane paused when he noticed how silent I had been. “Riley,
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Chapter Eighteen
please say something.”
I don’t speak, I remained silent. I had almost forgotten how to inhale, but all I felt was anger, pain, and… betrayal.
“Thane, why didn’t you tell me the truth when I asked?”
“Because I considered how you would feel if you knew my mate’s lookalike was in the pack, I didn’t want to hurt you or make you feel the need to be jealous.”
“Does that also explain why you kept your little conversations with her away from me?”
“For all I knew, she could be a doppelgänger. I wasn’t sure, and I wasn’t going to let that come between us.”
“No, I don’t believe you, Thane.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, and you know that.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
“Riley I love you, don’t doubt that.”
“You don’t understand. Bella was your mate, your first love, the love of your life. You didn’t break up with her; she died, and now there is some possibility that she is back and in this pack. You knew that, and you kept it away from me all this time. What the hell do you want me to think?”
“Riley…”
“No, don’t try to give me those ‘little‘ explanations. You kept this away from me because you still cared, and I can’t even blame you, she is your mate, you would always have to care.”
“It doesn’t mean anything, and I’ll send her away; nothing should ever come between the both of us, we’ve come too far.
“I don’t want you to send her away, Thane.” I turned, walking away from the garden, but Thane followed.
“I want to be alone tonight. I need some space; that’s all I want, space.”
