“Yeah. Well, she did not expect me and three other men in her coven to turn on her. My blood rage took over. The four of us came up with a plan. One lured Ophelia out of the large house we had taken over, while the rest of us barricaded the house. No way out.” He sniggers.
“Then what?” I ask quietly.
This story makes me see a part of what he went through, why he found it hard to fall for anyone else again. Clearly, this Olwen also meant more to him than he is letting on. He knew she was not his mate, yet he was happy to keep her, maybe even turn her.
That thought makes my heart hurt even more.
“We set the house on fire. Another way to kill a vampire is to burn them. Once they were screaming trying to break free, we had Ophelia on her knees, screaming at losing her coven. The fuckers who did some of the worst shit known to any supernatural.”
“Did you kill her?” I already know the answer, but I want him to say the words.
Nodding. “Fuck, yeah, I did. Decapitated her right there and then.”
Smiling at me, I see the pride in his eyes at ending the person who took his first love away.
His first love.
The words bounce around my head.
“You see, after Olwen was killed, I set it in my head that I would never commit to another woman, my mate included. From Wales, I came to the US. Built a new life for myself, traveled around, fucked my way through every state. Fed when needed. Worked and got by until I met Camo and Winger. They know everything about what happened, how badly it hurt me.”
We stare at each other as I take in his words. I have heard all about how he joined the club, how he fucked any flame who flashed him some skin.
“The day we found you, I got a feeling in my chest that my mate was near, so I planned on leaving Massachusetts for a while to escape the person, go visit another KOA club. Then we found you while on the run for the club and it was like a sledgehammer to the chest. Seeing you so badly hurt, I knew that I needed to get to you, but then I saw how you were hurt, and I knew deep in my soul I could never inflict any more trauma on you being a vampire. So I did what I did; I fucking hurt you.”
He kept hurting me for years, because of her.
Because of what I went through.
I felt heartbreak every day because he thought he was doing what was best, but all I can focus on is that he did not love me because his heart belonged to another woman. Fucking hell.
“You saw me as weak. Not good enough.”
He shakes his head, but I do not let him speak as I wrap my arms around my middle, as if it will stop my stomach from churning, and ask what I need to know.
“Were you going to turn her?” My voice is low and shaky.
He says nothing, his eyes telling me everything I need to know.
A sob bubbles up, my chest feeling tight, and I drop my hands to my sides stiffly.
He was going to turn some human he fell in love with, but he won’t turn his fated mate, or even bond with her. I understand that he was younger then, and thought that he would be with her for all of eternity, but that would mean that once he met me, he would either run away from or kill me, or she would.
Moving across the room to my suitcase, I pull out an old band T-shirt and slip it on over my head.
“Delaney.” He says my name, but everything is muffled by my blood pumping loudly in my ears.
I would have given this man everything. And he won’t do the one thing that should be as natural as breathing with me.
“I need to go. As grateful as I am for you finally telling me your story, it feels like I can’t breathe. Hearing you say that you shared your heart with someone else, and were more than ready to turn her, to spend the rest of your life with her, mate be dammed, fucking hurts.” Tears break free, rolling down my cheeks.
He reaches for me, but I step to the side, and he clenches his jaw while staring at me.
“NO.” My voice stops his reach.
“Babe.” His voice is firm, but it shakes.
I have never heard this emotion from him before, and it makes my steps falter.
