Alejo

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I definitely hadn't been able to think straight when I had come back to see her about to leave. It had gotten me so angry. Though not really. I had felt hurt, but it was easier to feel angry than hurt. That had all faded away as soon as she had told me the reason though. She didn't want to leave me. She had just let her thoughts spiral down a destructive path.

I could breathe a sigh of relief.

"Besides, you should know by now that even if you left, I would be able to find you and bring you back. No matter where you go. And I will. If you leave, I'll find you," I told her. I had meant for the words to come out playful. To try to make a joke to lighten her mood. But my voice betrayed my true feelings.

Temporarily, I was afraid that it would make her upset because what I had said sounded toxic, even to my own ears. But of course it didn't, because Morana was perfect in all possible ways. Instead, the tiniest shadow of a smile showed itself on her lips, and some final tension left her. The tears that had started again also went away.

I wouldn't actually do that though. At least I didn't want to think I would. If she left and didn't want to be around me anymore, I wanted to think I would respect that decision and let her go without putting up a fight or following. But the truth was, I wasn't entirely sure. She was my life and a little part of me knew that if she left, I would follow.

Why though? Why did I feel this desperately about a person who wasn't my mate? So desperately I had even performed the energy replenishing spell, though I knew it was a dumb idea.

The energy replenishing spell...

Upon seeing Morana, all the tiredness had temporarily disappeared from me. But as I remembered it, exhaustion crashed into me.

I felt myself sway where I stood and took a few steps back. Sank down on her bed, with my hand over my forehead and head bent down.

"Alejo, are you okay?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah," I answered and tried to push away the tiredness. "Yeah, I'm fine."

She moved around a bit and then I could see the light in the room come on, even with my eyelids closed.

"You're pale as a ghost!" she exclaimed, but I shook my head.

Yes, I felt like shit. But she had been through hell that evening. I needed to take care of her, not the other way around.

Though her care warmed me and also made me hopeful that the worst for her was over. That she had somewhat managed to calm down and forget about the night's event just a little. She had to have, right? Otherwise she wouldn't be fussing over me.

"I'm fine," I said and looked up again as my hand fell away from my face.

That was a big mistake.

I saw how her eyes widened as they followed my hand. I looked down to see what she had noticed and knew in an instance.

I had been too fast before. Too desperate to quickly make it back to her so I hadn't even noticed the dried-up blood on my wrist. It went in two clear lines from the place the cut had been and to the side. There was not a single trace of the cut though. Magically sealed and just a memory.

I flipped my hand over to cover it up, but it was too late and also a stupid decision. There were traces of blood on the top of my wrist also, and anyway, Morana grabbed hold of my hand and twisted it back up.

I looked away as I saw that clear evidence of what the coven did to me. What my own mother did to me. I never wanted to stop and think of it. It simply was the part I had to play. Bad dreams I just wanted to forget.

"Is that blood?" Morana asked, and her voice shook slightly. "Is it your blood? Who did this to you?"

I turned back to her to tell her it was nothing. That she should forget about it and not worry. But even though her voice shook, her eyes were fierce with determination, and I knew she would do everything to get the truth from me.

So instead I pulled her towards me. Since I was sitting and she was standing, I could lean my head against her stomach and my arms landed around her waist.

"I'll tell you, okay? But right now, I'm exhausted," I told her and took a deep breath of her scent. I wasn't sure what she smelled like, but it felt like home.

"Oh, alright," she answered and moved one of her hands up to my head. She ran it through my hair while I listened to the steady rhythm of her breathing, and it felt so calming that I was slowly falling asleep as I sat there.

I felt a bit like a small child. Loved and cared for in ways I wasn't sure I had ever been.

"You should drink some of that tea first though," she then added.

"No," I mumbled and held her tighter. "I just want to stay like this."

"Do you really think I'm above forcing it down your throat considering how much of it you've made me drink?" she teased.

Her words made me pull away a little so I could look up at her. She looked down at me with a gentle smile and equally gentle eyes. She looked so caring and nurturing that I felt slightly ashamed of the thought her words had made me have. The thoughts of that she could gladly get to force it down my throat as long as the tool she used to get it into my mouth was her own.