The sandy beach of Silstone stretched out for what seemed like miles, buzzing with life.
It was never quiet. Not even at night. The buzz of conversations drifting on the breeze and the music spilling from bars somehow found a perfect balance. It wasn’t unpleasant, not like the constant murmurs in the prison lounge had been. Still, during the first couple of days Ehlian struggled to find comfort.There were too many alphas, topless and flaunting their toned bodies. He should enjoy that, he really should, but if one of them looked at him for longer than a second, he immediately thought of Grasson and the missing someone who should be by his side to protect him.
By the third day the unsettling feeling started to ease. Being surrounded by a buzzing crowd of people who had come here to relax and have fun was strangely therapeutic. It felt like facing a fear and realising he wasn’t in any danger. For the first time there was hope that he was on the slow path to returning to normal.
The beauty of the beach stood in stark contrast to the too-artificial city behind it. The holographic trees did little to compensate for the lack of greenery, and the flashing advertisement boards stretched as high as some of the buildings.
Apart from a few boat rides, they spent their days on the beach, talking and sunbathing. Ehlian had long, relaxing naps under the shade or spent his time digging for the famous silver coins in the sand: shells that shimmered with a silvery gleam under the sunlight.
He shared the same room with Willian, their beds separated by a nightstand. They stayed out late tonight and Ehlian hoped it would exhaust him enough to fall asleep. But like many other nights, he was struggling. Damn his stupid mind and body. He had perfectly pleasant naps on the beach, but when it came to bedtime the past reared its ugly head.
He clenched his pillow as a memory began to emerge, bubbling up and breaking through to the surface. He fought to suppress it—the vivid images of Hayce towering over him, loud slaps and moans filling the room, and then a rough whisper,“He’ll never lay a hand on you.”
Ehlian forced the memory back until the images faded away.
As if on cue, his holowatch beeped quietly. He sighed, got out of bed, and tried to move as silently as possible to avoid waking Willian.
He stepped out onto the terrace. The flashing lights of the city nearly blinded him, obscuring the stars and making the sky seem brighter than it truly was. He tapped his holowatch and a map of stars and constellations projected before him. Raising it to the sky, he aligned it carefully, and there it was, the floating prison passing overhead hundreds of miles away.
What was Hayce doing now? Looking down at Arox the same way Ehlian was looking up at the prison? Or was he pouring himself a drink, sitting at his pack’s table in the lounge, taking a shower—or worse, fucking his new little omega?
“It’s time to stop, Ehlian.”
Willian’s voice startled him.
As if caught red-handed, Ehlian quickly closed the map. “It’s just—you can’t see the stars here. Too many lights.”
“Ehlian.” Willian gave him a pleading, tired look. “Don’t do this. I know you sneak out most nights, even during the day sometimes, to catch the prison passing by.”
Ehlian couldn’t quite meet Willian’s eyes. He had started doing this not long after his release. It was pathetic, humiliating even. It didn’t make sense. Hayce had used him for his selfish needs and discarded him like useless trash. There shouldn’t be this aching longing he felt deep down to his core.
“Hayce wouldn’t care what I do,” Ehlian spat, angry with himself for being so weak and irrational. “He never cared. The joke’s on me—I actually thought I’d found someone better than Geald in a fucking prison.”
“He was your best choice up there, I admit it. We both know it. But that’s where it ends.” Willian walked to the railing and leaned against it. “I know you're still struggling to adjust to having full access to your power again, but you’re putting toomuch energy into focusing on him. Your power amplifies those feelings and thoughts. That’s why you’re still clinging to theideaof him, not who he really is.”
Another reason it sucked to be a telepath.
“I can’t just…” Ehlian ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I can’t just erase these memories.”
“Well, you could, but I wouldn’t advise it,” Willian said calmly. “Nobody does. Your memories make you who you are.”
Well, Ehlian and his mind didn’t want to be made up of these stupid memories. Sometimes it was really tempting to wipe all of them, even the distant ones of Hayce from before prison when he had only known him through the lens of articles.
“What if you start by removing that alarm from your holowatch and stop watching the prison float by?” Willian suggested. “Take it slow… step by step.”
Ehlian sighed, hoping he could follow through. “That might be a good start.”
Willian waited, as though expecting Ehlian to do it immediately and delete the alarm, but instead, Ehlian instinctively casted another glance at the sky.
“This is worse than I thought.” Willian said, cursing under his breath. “You need to see the High Sage when we get back to Alkrion.”
“It’s notthatbad,” Ehlian argued. What was wrong with him? Hayce had cast him aside cruelly, so emotionlessly, Ehlian could still feel the coldness of it. And here he was, hesitating? Unable to take such a small step?
“Didn’t you say Hayce had full access to his power?” Willian asked. “He could’ve tampered with your mind.”
“He had no reason to do that.” Ehlian scoffed at the idea. “He wanted to get rid of me. He got bored. Couldn’t even sit out one week before moving on to his next omega. My early releasegave him the perfect excuse. Even without that, I probably wouldn’t be his omega anymore.”
“I shouldn’t have listened to you,” Willian said after a moment of silence, the brilliance of his brown eyes dimmed. “I should’ve visited you more often.”
