He shook his head, his hands cupping my cheeks. “No. It will never happen. Not in this lifetime. Not in the next. And not in all our lifetimes together.”
My eyes welled with tears at his words.
“Then I’m yours. In this lifetime. And all the lifetimes after this. You’re more than enough for me, Riley. You have no idea how much better you are than what I wanted in a mate. Not because you’re an Alpha, but for the way you made me feel special.”
“Because you’re special. Don’t forget that.”
I flung my arms around him as I pressed our bodies closer, letting his warmth envelop me. “I love you, Riley.”
“I love you too, Nadia.”
We stayed hugging each other until I finally had the courage to open my mouth. One try, if he didn’t want it, then I would stop.
“Did you know that those gifts from Zahra that you waited to come were just kept in her storage room all these years?”
“What do you mean?”
“She sent you gifts on your birthday—year after year after year. And they always come back unopened.”
I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t.
“I never received gifts when I was younger,” I added, my voice almost inaudible.
“Tell me about it, if you want to.”
“My uncle and auntie never gave me one. I thought it was ordinary. Not until I met Katarina. On my twelfth birthday, she gave me three boxes of gifts. And then she would shower me with more in the coming years. Before I turned sixteen, I told her one gift was enough. And she complied. That year she gave me one box only. But I should have known better. Inside that box were multiple gifts wrapped into one.”
“I never really knew Katarina, but I’m glad she was there for you.”
“She was. And she still is, until now.” I smiled at the memory of her arriving here a day after I came back, bombarding me with her lectures on how stupid I was to run away without letting her know and without a concrete plan.
“And I promise you, I will shower you with gifts from now on.” Riley’s words snapped me out of my own thoughts.
“I already have the best gift, Riley. The one in my stomach. I don’t think you can top that.”
“It’s the best gift I received too, after you… But I still want to promise you that you will never ever feel that you’re not important or that nobody cares about you, as long as I’m here. As long as I’m alive.”
“Thank you…” I answered meekly before I pulled away from his body and coiled my fingers on his collar, fixing and twisting them while biting my lips.
“You want to say something?” He asked.
“Those gifts that Zahra kept all these years, I was wondering if you wanted to have those? Maybe you can open those gifts with me, and we can relive our childhood together? At least we can have one memory we can share, something we both didn’t have when we were younger…” I bit my lower lip as I held my breath, trying not to look at him.
He let out a sigh and curleda finger on my chin, tilting my head up. I met his piercing blue eyes as they bore deep into mine. “Will it make you happy if we open those gifts together?”
I nodded my head.
“But how will we get it here? I’m not going there. Not yet.”
“I understand. But I can arrange that.”
“Okay. But don’t stress yourself with that. And Nadia, I know you want me to meet Zahra but I’m not…”
“Shhh...” I placed a finger on his lips to stop him from talking. “At your own pace. Zahra and I can wait. Take your time. Her love for you won’t change no matter how long it takes.”
Chapter 76
RILEY.
