Klaus
“It takes one passionate kiss to fall in love with your mate,” I whispered in her ear after breaking the kiss, lingering my lips there to remind her what people said about the mates and their kisses. “That’s what I felt when I kissed you for the first time, I knew that I won’t be able to fall out of love and that’s why I chose to push you away from me, my life, and pretended to never care while deep down, I was in pain, too, I was hurting myself, too.”
The moment I had decided to get my mate at any cost, I was preparing myself to confess the truth to her. It wasn’t that tough to accept my mistakes and feelings for her, my pride and ego didn’t bother me for the first time.
I started confessing, “I saw you standing on your balcony many times with a sad face after your sister's death but resisted the urge to comfort you. I knew that you needed me and only I could share your pain but by not showing up, I wanted you to hate me,” it hurt me even when I uttered that, remembering how I was a di-k to her.
Her eyes twinkled with the tears, she suppressed her lips hard not to break down into tears and fought back the tears. “I needed you that time but…” she sobbed, “but you didn’t show up when I needed you the most.”
Holding her hands in one hand, I brushed her tears that didn’t obey her and dared to come out from those beautiful blue oceans. “I know, I know and for that, I’ll spend my whole life in regret. I’m so sorry, Scarlett. You deserved a better mate, unlike me who brought just pain in your already miserable life.”
“It’s not the time to feel guilty, it’s time to clear her doubts and make her stay,” Todd whined in my mind, crouching like a cute puppy. After all, he was a part of me and we had to share each other’s pain so he knew that it was hurting me to be the reason for her tears.
“So you deliberately hurt me…? To make me hate you,” Scarlett asked with a nonchalant expression on her face.
Letting out a nervous sigh, I sat on the grass of the garden where I lied to her, from where I started hurting her, pulling her along with me so she could sit beside me.
Stroking her soft hands, I peered into her aqua blue eyes which sparkled with a hint of curiosity and pain. “Please, try to understand me, Scarlett. I didn’t hurt you deliberately. I was hurting myself, too. I knew that the complexity of my life will hurt you badly in the end so I was trying to save you from this pain that you’re feeling now after knowing that, your mate is engaged to-”
“Enough, Klaus,” she cut me off, drawing her hands back from mine. “What’s with you Alphas making all the decisions by yourself though it affects someone else’s life, too? Do you think that you have the right to make the decision that includes me, too? Where do I stand in your life?”
Her voice raised suddenly, her aura changing to the strongest one.
“I did it for you, so as not to hurt you more,” I defended myself though I was wrong.
“And now, are you happy with your little secret coming out and look, I’m hurting less, right?” She implored in a sarcastic tone, her anger wasn’t irrational.
I was freaking out, I had nothing to say that would make her feel better. Swallowing hard, I locked my gaze with hers. “Look, I know that I’ve hurt you and I was wrong and-”
“And didn’t I deserve to know the truth when you made the decision of hurting me by your preposterous theories of calling mating bond and Moon Goddess ridiculous?” Her body was shaking in anger and I couldn't even calm her down.
“You thought that you’ll confess your feelings and she’ll forgive you but you never thought about the consequences of your stupid decisions,” Todd remarked, rolling his eyes, absolutely not helping me.
She stood up from the ground, surprising me. “You don’t even have an idea how much I needed you and how much you hurt me while lying to me, pretending to not care, and hiding the truth from me. I don’t even know when you would have told me about your fu-king engagement if it wasn’t Marcus, perhaps never.
“Yes, I deserve a mate who’ll treat me better and won’t make me feel like trash, won’t keep stuff from me so I, Scarlett Walkers, rejects you-”
“No, no,” I rose to my feet and put my finger on her lips to stop her from rejecting me. “Please, give me a last chance to explain things in a better way. Please, listen to me,” I begged her and at that moment, I couldn’t care less about my Alpha ego.
Losing her would bring my death and I didn’t want to die with the separation. I wanted to die while fighting for her. She didn’t say anything but closed her eyes and let the tears flow carelessly.
Sometimes you don’t need to wipe the tears off, you need to let them out so all the pain you were suffering from could also come out and you feel peace so I let her cry in silence.
Grabbing her hands, I patted them soothingly. “I never saw my future with Amber. I knew that she wasn’t my mate and I lived the twenty-four years of my life bearing the pain of being engaged to someone who wasn’t my mate. I never even look at her or any girl for that matter, it was always you whom I loved, whom I didn’t want to hurt but ended up hurting anyhow and I’m guilty of all of my actions. I just wanted you to hate me so you would reject me and I’ll live my whole life with the pain of separation from you. Perhaps that would be the best punishment for me but then, I realized that I can’t let you go. I can’t live a life without you, I can’t stop loving you.”
A tear rolled down my cheek and she immediately wiped it off, cupping my cheeks later. We both were crying, hurting, beneath our eyes was only one emotion - pain.
“I love you, Scarlett Walkers,” I said with a small smile on my face. I finally confessed and after telling her everything, I could feel like breathing again. A load from my chest faded away as soon as I confessed.
Her lips broke into a trembling smile, she was forcing herself to smile, and that hurt like shit. I wanted to make her happy, I wanted to be the reason for her smile, not the tears.
“Please, Scarlett, stay,” pecking her hands with my kiss one by one, I mumbled. “Please, stay. I’ll not give up on my mate. I’ll fight for you.”
Showing her my true intentions, I waited for her response. When I saw her lips trembling, I assumed that she was struggling to say something so I pulled her in an embrace.
I didn’t have enough time, Alpha Harold had already called war on us and I needed to be ready before he would take any reckless step and my pack members would get hurt. The orange hues in the sky proclaimed that it was getting the time of twilight.
“I’ll reject you, Klaus. It will make your life easier," she startled me and continued, "there is no way that you can win against the Dark Moon pack and I don’t want your pack to suffer because of me,” she muttered in a cracked voice, struggling hard not to cry again.
“You’re not the reason for my problematic life, Scarlett. It’s the engagement that I can’t break. You’re the only peace among my complications and I’ll fight for you, I can’t live with someone else,” I said, looking at her with a perplexed gaze in hope that she would understand.
She sighed heavily before averting her eyes from me. “I can’t see you with someone else, nor can I see your pack’s catastrophe.”
“I’m going for the Alpha duel. No one will have to fight for me, it’s my fight and I’ll come back alive just for you, Scarlett,” not wanting to keep more secrets, I revealed it to her.
It was the only way I could save everyone including my mate. Even if I die in the duel, at least I wouldn’t have to live with the pain anymore.