He pulls his hand away, silently waiting for me to say something. But as I’m staring back at this beautiful man, who seems to somehow soften my hard exterior, I’m faced with an undeniable truth. Even if I did finally allow myself to believe that he actually does care for me, it wouldn’t matter. His loyaltylies with Thane, and if his brother were to wake up tomorrow and decide to take me as his prisoner again, Kole would stand by his side. He would watch silently as Thane comes up with new ways to make me suffer, and although I can somewhat understand why his hands are tied, that’s just not someone I need in my life.
“It doesn’t really matter if I believe you, Kole.” His jaw clenches, but I don’t stop. He needs to hear this, and I need to say it. “You’ll always choose your loyalty to Thane over whatever sort of friendship is between us. No amount of time will change that.”
“But you’re free now,” he interjects.
I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter, and if you really do care about me like you say, then you would understand why I can’t just ignore the truth that you’d stand by his side and watch him torture me all over again if that’s what it came to.” I stand up as the emotions begin to claw their way to the surface. “I can’t do this back and forth with you anymore. The line has been drawn, and you and I will always be on opposing sides.”
I turn and stride for the door, feeling the tears burning the backs of my eyes.
“So, that’s it?” Kole asks, darting in front of me to keep me from leaving. “You’re just going to walk away from this…” He pauses for a moment, looking confused. “Friendship?” he finally adds.
“I have to!” I say, throwing my hands out in defeat.
“No.” He shakes his head. “I don’t accept it.”
“Well, you need to. After you take me back tomorrow, we’ll never see each other again, and none of this will have even mattered.”
Kole
She’s right. About everything. I’m going to lose her forever because of my loyalty to Thane. But fuck, what am I supposed to do? He’s my brother and the only family I have. I can’t just take a stand against him. But I also can’t exactly blame her for not accepting that. If it weren’t me stuck in this position and it was some other guy, I would tell her he’s not worthy of her… friendship? Fuck, that’s really what she called this connection between us. I mean, I guess I’m not sure what to call it either, but I sure as shit wouldn’t call what I feel when I’m around her a friendship.
Maybe that’s all it is to her, though. But if it is, then why does Sienna get a pass? She’s loyal to Thane too. So, why is she held to a different standard? Yeah, Grey can tell herself it’s just a friendship with us, but I’m not buying it. This pull to her is too strong for her not to feel it too. But unlike Thane, she can’t blame a mark. She’d actually have to admit to herself that she feels something real for me, and I doubt her perfectly shaped, stubborn ass is going to do that.
All I know is that I can’t lose her. Not now, and not ever.
Chapter 26
Today is the day I take back my life. I’ll gather everything I need tonight and be on my way first thing tomorrow morning.
I turn around and take one last look at the room. There’s a bittersweet feeling tugging on my heart. On one hand, I’m happy to be leaving this place behind, but I can’t ignore the fact that I’ve grown to feel a sort of comfort in this particular room. For a moment, it actually felt like mine. But that was an illusion. This wasn’t a safe haven; it was just another cage Thane locked me in.
“Going somewhere?”
I whirl around to see Thane standing over me and instantly take a step back to put space between us.
“I’m going home.” I eye the staircase, but Thane’s enormous body is blocking my path to it. “Kole said he’d take me back.”
“He said I bit you last night.” Thane’s head falls, almost like he’s ashamed of himself.
“You say that like you don’t remember doing it…”
He runs his right hand down the back of his neck, still avoiding eye contact. “The last thing I remember was running into the forest to look for you. After that, the eclipse sort of took over.”
My heart sinks, knowing he doesn’t remember anything that happened between us last night. I guess I should be thankful for that, but instead I feel embarrassed. It’s bad enough that I haven’t stopped thinking about how good his fingers felt touching me, but now he’s basically told me it wasn’t even worth remembering. Eclipse or not, it hurts to hear.
“Did I do anything else? Did I hurt you?” There’s a hint of fear lacing his words.
“No,” I lie. “You just bit me, and then Kole showed up.” His shoulders sag as he lets out a weighted breath. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to get the hell out of here.”
“Not until you’ve had breakfast.” Thane counters my sidestep with one of his own.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Really? Because I’ve heard your stomach growl twice since we’ve been standing here.”
I wrap my arms around my stomach like that’ll somehow muffle the sounds of hunger. The truth is, I’m starving after walking away from dinner last night, and a breakfast that’s actually cooked sounds pretty damn enticing.
“Just breakfast,” I finally agree. “And then I get to leave.”
