Page 52 of Fated to Her

“Oh no, don’t drink that. I have bottled water,” Emery tells her, grabbing a bottle from the fridge and handing it to her. Emery uses her shirt to wipe her face, not wanting to alarm Addie, though I can tell she knows we’re arguing.

“Thanks,” she says before walking over to me.

“Are you coming to bed?” she asks, gazing up at me. She looks uncertain, and I know she can pick up my anger through the bond as she nervously glances at my father.

“Please, come to bed, Eli,” she whispers, meeting my eyes again. She’s scared, scared I would get hurt.

I’m not a boy anymore; this pathetic man no longer instills fear in me, only rage. Hatred so strong I would feel nothing upon his death, but he is right about one thing—his place is safe. Not even hunters dare set foot in that forest or near my father’s pack. They are called savages for a reason, but could things have changed enough that she wouldn’t run upon us taking her there?

“We can talk more tomorrow, son. Go be with your mates,” my father says before looking at Addie.

“Go rest, dear,” he tells her before getting up himself.

He nods to me, and he heads down to the other end of the house. I escort Addie back to the room before closing the door and locking it; I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sleep, knowing he’s under the same roof as her. Cyrus, I know, is safe from him and can handle anything my father dishes out. Addie, however, is human and fragile in more ways than one.

Chapter 16

• Adeline •

Cyrus is reading his book, when we come back, flicking through the pages quickly as I climb in beside him.

Eli, however, sits in the chair beside the bed, staring at the door. Well, glaring at it, his chest rising and falling heavily. The feelings through the bond are tumultuous and angry; he’s a ticking time bomb.

I pat the bed beside me, and he looks at it before shaking his head and settling his gaze back on the door.

“Go to sleep, love,” he says, and I can feel his tumultuous feelings running through him, which only scares me.

Cyrus tugs me over to him, draping his arm across my waist. “Go to sleep. You don’t need to worry about Eli,” he whispers before kissing my jaw.

I close my eyes and hear Cyrus doze off, yet I can feel Eli is awake through the bond, keeping me awake as well. I don’t know how Cyrus can sleep through it. Maybe he’s so used to his behavior after centuries that it doesn’t matter anymore, but knowing he is awake and in a bad mood frightens me.

Opening my eyes, he’s still staring at the door, his entire body tense like he expects it to burst open any moment. I wriggle out from under Cyrus’s arm. Eli’s eyes snap toward me from the movement. I climb off the bed.

“You should be sleeping,” he says but moves, giving me room as I climb on his lap and rest my head on his shoulder.

“I can’t, knowing you’re awake,” I tell him.

“You wouldn’t be able to sleep either if you knew what he let happen,” Eli whispers.

“Then tell me. Might help you go to sleep.”

“No, Addie. Some things are best kept to yourself,” he says, looking away.

Still, I can feel whatever it is eating at him, haunting him, churning within him, making me wonder if it is to do with his older sister. His emotions are everywhere, guilt being the main one, which makes no sense when he does nothing wrong.

“Clarissa?” I ask him, and he turns his face, peering down at me.

“We should have run before he took her,” he says, looking away.

“Weren’t you a child?” I ask him.

“I was ten. I knew he would kill her but was too scared to run from him.”

“That isn’t your burden to carry. You did what you had to do to survive,” I tell him, and I feel him shake his head, not agreeing with me.

“When Sam took me, sometimes I would just go along with it, do what he wanted, so he wouldn’t hurt me. I thought it was my fault because I didn’t fight back. I just let him have his way so he wouldn’t hurt me. But now? Now I know it would have happened, anyway. You do what you have to do, Eli, to survive. Fear is the strongest emotion of all. Sometimes, no reaction is the best action if it means surviving. What happened to her is not your fault. You couldn’t save her, and it wasn’t your place to. Those monsters did that to her, not anything you did or didn’t do.”

He doesn’t say anything, but I feel his lips press against my forehead. Eli shifts slightly, pulling my legs onto his lap.