The sound of a throat clearing came from our right and had both of us snapping our heads in that direction. Casey stood there, his face a mask of indifference as he slowly approached us, stating calmly, “Imade sure of it.”
Harpy looked confused and guilty when he asked, “What? Casey, I can explain—”
“I told Nym to kiss you,” Casey cut him off.
Harpy’s eyes widened. “What?”
Casey sighed. “No matter what I said, you ignored it. You ignoredme. I need you to let me go, Har.”
Harpy shook his head, his tears falling. “But I’m not ready to let you go, Case.”
Casey looked straight into Harpy’s eyes when he stated, “Ineed it.”
Harpy looked both stunned and hurt. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Casey sighed, standing right in front of Harpy now. “I’ve been trying to tell you for weeks now. I want to find my own fated and being with you only hurts my heart. Ever since we knew we weren’t fated, my heart has ached. Please allow it to start healing.”
They were both crying as they watched each other, and I hated every second of witnessing their love. My fated hurt over losing his first love. I could almost feel Harpy’s anguish as he realized Casey truly wasn’t meant for him.
“I’m sorry,” Harpy sobbed, crushing Casey into a firm hug. I had to close my eyes and force myself to stay where I stood. This wasn’t about me.
“Don’t be,” Casey soothed. “Enjoy your mate and allow yourself to feel happy.”
“Okay,” Harpy agreed, his tone a soft whisper.
I opened my eyes again, hoping they were done hugging. I let out a relieved exhale when I found them no longer touching. I ached to comfort Harpy, to offer him some sort of calm through all of this. My hand found his, and to my immense pleasure and surprise, he held my hand back, accepting my touch. It soothed me down to my fucking toes. This man had the most power over me and I didn’t even care.
“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Casey offered, then with a small smile, he left us by the bookshelves.
“Are you okay?” I asked, figuring that would be the best place to start this conversation.
“Just feeling a little raw at the moment. This is just so messed up and my feelings are all over the place,” Harpy answered with a deep sigh.
“Want to talk about it?”
He nodded, so I led him out of the row of books and found two armchairs for us.
“I feel so stupid,” he began, slumping in his chair. “I knew Casey and I weren’t fated, and he’d tried to break it off numerous times already. I guess I had a harder time than him letting go of what we had.”
“According to what Casey told me; you’d also been together for years.”
“We have,” he agreed. “We both thought we were fated. We even told our families.”
“Were they disappointed?”
He shook his head. “More worried than disappointed. Our families are close, so they feared we would end up resenting each other, or maybe not wanting to be around so much anymore.”
I could understand that.
“I think the love you two share will make it possible for you to remain friends,” I stated with confidence. “As soon as Casey finds his fated, it will all make sense.”
Harpy nodded, biting his bottom lip like he was gearing up to admit something. “I can already feel the change.”
I tilted my head. “How so?”
“I um, I’ve always found Casey to be attractive—”
I growled at that.
