~Kezziah
I’m not sure what compelled me to do it.
Maybe it is the mate bond between me and him that suddenly becomes apparent the moments our lips touch. The second it dawned on me, I pulled away though, not leaving enough time for either more or Alden to experience it long enough to grasp it in the moment. It was only until I pulled away and looked back into his stunned eyes that I realised what I had done.
Alden blinks a few times, then tenses. In that moment, all my ideas Fate had plotted alongside me crumbled into nothing. I had just revealed we are mates. There is no longer any way to hide from this.
I watch as Alden’s fingers reach up to touch his lips. He is clearly trying to fathom how this could possibly be the truth.
I’m struggling too.
“Somehow I knew this would be the case. Yet at the same time, I didn’t expect to feel like this,” Alden murmurs, looking down at his fingers. I look at the rings that adorn his hands. All silver with a meaning unknown to me. This is definitely not the right time to ask, but at the same time, I don’t want to talk about this…
Honestly, I would rather ignore it. At least until everything with Time calms down. What if he finds out and kills Alden? I’m not sure why he hasn’t already, but one step too far and who knows what’s going to happen.
“I didn’t mean to kiss you like that,” I say quickly. He’s still an Alpha after all, and if he weren’t my mate, the repercussions for spontaneously kissing him could be serious.
He’s looking at me as if I’m crazy.
“You can kiss me whenever you like,” he says, his tone almost comically serious. He seems to catch what he said, sitting up straighter. “I mean, you’re my mate. By your reaction, I doubt you want to anymore, but you should know that regardless, I’m okay with it at any time.”
His rambling is cute and endearing, and maybe I would have smiled were it not for the heavy weight on my shoulders. As much as my attraction for Alden has grown, this feels forbidden. As if we are breaking many laws.
“I think we should fully address what this means,” I say slowly, digging my head into my hands.
“Yes. You’re my mate.”
I glance up at Alden again. He’s an intelligent man, so I’m surprised he is so clouded by my feelings. Maybe I’m not taking the full brunt of it because of the faux matebond entwined within me. Or maybe I’m scared. I feel scared. As much as I want to tell Alden we should run away to never be found by Time, I know that cannot happen.
“You can’t mark me or anything. Not with Time’s brand already on me,” I remind him. His expression turns grim, the reality of this coming to the forefront of his mind. “What are we going to do?”
Alden moves from where he was sitting on the couch opposite me to sit next to me. He grabs my hands, and for a fleeting moment I only concentrate on what it feels like to finally touch him. Just the feeling of his fingers wrapped around mine make it seem like for a moment, everything is okay.
“I have an idea.”
“What’s that?” I ask, turning my entire body to face him. I trust Alden. I never used to, and maybe it’s just the mate bond, but I trust that he will do all he can to keep me as his mate, and to take me from Time.
“I’m close to finding a cure for you. My lab is so close to a breakthrough I’m almost certain you’ll be free from Time soon. Of course, we have little time before it is exposed what we are working on, however, we haven’t had any troubles yet,” Alden explains, tightening his grip on my hands.
That reminded me. “When I was taken by Fate to get this ring, he mentioned how Time was distracted with something else. Maybe he’s forgotten about me.”
Alden’s expression is telling. He wants to ask more questions about how I obtained the ring, but right now, there are more important things to deal with. Here I am hoping something terrible is happening in Time’s life so we can remove the bond.
It’s suddenly so high stakes.
“Either way, we are going to remove that mark. And then we will find out why he did it. But for now, we need to keep you safe. I have a place you can stay. With the ring, he shouldn’t be able to find you,” Alden says gently, smiling slightly at me. Warmth blooms in my heart knowing someone cares. Someone wants to help me.
“And where will you be?” I decide to ask. It feels scandalous to ask, as if I’m still young and trying to smuggle my boyfriend into my room at night.
Alden seems to catch on, a smile touching his features. “I’ll be there.”
I’m not sure where he is sending me, or how long I will be there, but hearing him say he will be there gives me a spark or excitement. For the first time since Time ruined my life, things have started to look better. And with Alden around, this will be an excuse to know more about him. He is still so incredibly elusive to me.
Reaching up, I touch Alden’s face. Just his cheeks. His skin is soft. After staring at him for so long, it’s satisfying to be able to touch him. I want to reach up and kiss him again.
“I’ll get you there tomorrow. For now, you should head to bed. I can’t imagine how tired you are,” Alden says gently, caressing the hand that was touching his face. “As much as I want to talk about this all night, we have tomorrow. And I can see how tired you must be.”
I am tired.
“As tired as I am, I don’t know how much sleep I’m going to get knowing all this. And knowing we haven’t discussed it,” I argue, fighting back fatigue for information. I want to know more about Alden. And honestly, I just want him to touch me more. Again, it feel so strange to think that.
“I’m excited to get to know you better, Kezziah,” he says softly, brushing a piece of hair behind my ear. “Tomorrow, though.”
As reluctant as I was, I agreed.
That night I slept surprisingly well. No haunting dreams by that strange figure who only visited me once many nights ago. They left a warning, but since then, they haven’t appeared in my dreams. It must have been a one time thing. Even the idea of Alden being my mate didn’t keep me up.
The next morning I woke, excited to escape this damned institution for wherever Alden’s safe house is. Of course, Sermon had to come to interrupt me, however, it was only to take me to breakfast.
My last breakfast here.
And naturally, I was the centre of all the girls attention. At least I was the centre of Etta’s attention. Amilia wasn’t around, and Melena didn’t care for my presence at all. As usual. It felt so strange sitting down at our usual table with the girls I haven’t seen for a long while. They have missed out on so much.
“Where’s Amilia?” I ask, sitting down at the table with my oatmeal. I miss her. She was the first person here to befriend me.
“She had her brand removed and she left,” Etta says, her smile clearly showing disappointment. Now she is stuck her with Melena and her bad attitude. “What about you? What have you been doing. We were worried?”
Melena’s jade green gaze on me is as harsh as all the other girls around us, who are listening in, ready to see if their rumours are true.
“I got upgraded in rooms. Made friends with one of the nurses and she managed to get me a room in their quarters,” I explain, hoping they don’t see through my lie. How could I tell them it’s because I’m mated to Time and to Alden. What a strange, unlikely thing to happen to someone.
Etta’s smile falters. That’s not as interesting as she hoped.
“Oh. Everyone has been saying it’s because of Alden. That he feels sorry for you after what Time did to your family-”
Melena nudges Etta hard in her side. She yelps. “God girl. Do you not know how to keep your mouth shut.”
I blink a few times, my throat going dry, my heart stopping. How did they know? Who in here could have possibly found that out? This has to be some kind of joke, or has someone from my past life come here to spread these facts about me? I don’t understand how anyone could know…
How anyone could know Time killed my parents.