Chapter Ninety Nine
+25 BONUS
“You seem lost in thoughts; what are you thinking about?” Thane enquired. It was late at night, but my mind was very much awake, and of course, Thane noticed that.
“Nothing,” I lied.
“Are you by any means thinking about Axels‘ proclamation?” He asked, and I was silenced. I always thought Thane was very good at reading people, but what if… it was more than that? There was no way he could have read that off my face alone.
“Thane, I think you can read minds.”
“Does that mean I guessed correct?”
“Yes, and how… how did you do that?”
“I am a really good guesser, I think?”
“No, it is more than that; I feel like there is something more, something you aren’t telling me.
“Riley, look at me,” he says, and I do just that. “I am not a mind reader; that would be cool but it only happens in books and movies, I cannot do that. Axel told me about it earlier; when you had been kidnapped, he thought it was his fault, and so I guessed.‘
“Because I am an open book?” I questioned.
“No, I find you mysterious; believe it or not, you always amaze me,” he says, and that warms my heart.
“I have something to tell you,” I say to Thane. He would find out either way, so I had to tell him the truth. “The soldier who had sold me to Slade was Jake,” I confessed to him, but there was no surprise on his face.
“I know. I also know that you felt so much guilt for his sister’s death, and so you covered him.”
“I’m sorry, Thane, I just… I didn’t want him hurt or dead.”
“I won’t do anything. I respect your choice, and so I would let it go,” he says.
I remembered Slade’s words about Thare getting soft, all because of me. I knew him as the ruthless Alpha, and he had told me once that he never showed mercy, yet he had done that over and over again…. for me.
“Thank you,” I say to him, cuddling into him, his hand wrapped around my waist.
I was going to be completely genuine with him.
“I don’t know what is going on with me; I… don’t like the thought of Axel with any other person; does that make me selfish?”
Chapter Ninety
“No,” Thane says, but of course, even if I was, he would never say that to my face. “I wanted you close to him; this was bound to happen.”
“So you are okay with… this?” I questioned
“No. I am not.”
That surprises me; Thane was always ‘okay‘ when it had to do with Axel
“You are not?” I repeated, stunned.
“It had never once been an issue in the past because Axel doesn’t easily get emotionally attached, but with you, it was different. He wasn’t supposed to fall in love, but I cannot blame him. You’ll get to choose who you want to be with.”
“I don’t want to choose… I love you more,” I say to Thane.
“And you want us both,” he said, exactly what was on my mind.
“I’m sorry…
“Don’t be. I’ll like to know that you are safe, even when I am not by your side.” He says, kissing me on the forehead. “And if this makes you happier, your mother is back.”
I had so many things to say to my mother–things we should have talked about a long time
ago.
I knocked once on her door, and she pulled it open.
“Mom,” I cried out, hugging her, I couldn’t believe she had almost died. “I’m so sorry everything, for being a complete bitch, for not visiting as often…”
for
“Shush,” my mother says. “You have nothing to apologize for; I, on the other hand, have some making up to do.” She says, letting me in, and I shut the door.
I followed her to the living room, and she took a seat.
“I have missed you,” she said, and for some reasons, she looked brighter, she was back to the woman I had known and grown up with!
“I missed you too.”
“I heard about what happened to you,” she says, and the smile disappeared from her lips.
“He didn’t hurt me,” I say quickly.
“I heard that too,” she
e says.
“Would you mind explaining why ‘Freya‘ went out of her way to help me, all because of you?” I asked and she let out a chuckle.
Chapter
“It took the hard–headed woman so long to agree to it, and I am glad she did
“So… you are friends with her?”
“I had known her for some time; friends wouldn’t be the right words, but something like that
“She had been the person who helped you, the one you didn’t want to talk about
“Smart girl. Yes, she was. Freya hates the man’s guts, maybe even more than I do,” my mother admits.
“Of course, he had hurt her too…”
“No, the physical suffering he had put her through is not the only reason, she hates him for putting a distance between her and her son, though that is only one of the many reasons.”
“Oh,” I said, in loss of words. Thane had shared the truth with me about his past relationship with his mother; it didn’t seem like Freya cared about her son one bit.
“How is Thane doing?” my mother asked, and I wondered when she started caring about him “He is doing fine; why are you interested?” I asked with a smile on my face.
“What he did earlier–sparing my life and then he came to your rescue too–1 had never expected he could do such things; I always believed the man was like his father, but maybe I was… wrong.
“So you are what?, okay with him now?”
“Well, for the time span before we leave this place, I am,” she says, and that’s when I recalled I hadn’t told her. I should have told her what I felt for Thane, how much I loved this pack despite everything that had happened, and how I would love to remain here and build up a life.
She seemed so happy, and… I couldn’t, I couldn’t spoil that.
“I “Yes, you are right,” I say instead.
Chapter One Handed
