Page 51 of Betrayed Auctioned Mate

I spin around, startled. “Yeah. Uh, yeah, of course. Goodnight.”

He nods to me and pads away down the hallway.

I made some minor progress in calming my nerves this evening. I poured myself a glass of wine from the stash in the top cupboard and settled at the kitchen table under a blanket. I even light a candle to burn as I work.

However, not long after Ado retired to bed, I heard it through the walls.

It’s the sound of him speaking softly.

At first, I think he’s talking to himself, maybe going over the mission details again. But there’s something about the tone of his voice that pushes me from his chair. I’m not sure I can describe what it is.

Leaving my glass on the table, I creep down the hall, the candlelight sending my shadow flickering against the wall ahead of me as I move. My hand hovers over the doorknob in his room.

The sound of his voice is clearer now. It’s not a conversation. It’s a plea.

“Let me go back to her… please, let me go back. Let me save her…”

I freeze up like a prey animal. Even my wolf quiets inside me, and she isneverquiet.

The murmuring continues, clearly heard now. I push the door open just a crack and peer inside.

The room is bathed in shadows, the only light coming from a sliver of moonlight filtering through the curtains. Ado is lying in bed, twisted in the sheets, his face contorted as if in pain. His hands clutch at the blankets as if trying to hold onto something that is slipping away. His breathing is ragged and uneven.

“Let me go back, Aris,” he mutters again, his voice breaking.

That was my heart breaking, I think, as I reckon with the agonizing pain in my chest.

He’s tried to explain himself so many times. I never allowed him to—I knew I couldn’t allow words alone to convince me of his truthfulness. If he betrayed me again, I knew I’d never get over it.

All that time, I thought I was alone. I was so sure, even now, that no one had even wanted to rescue me. That I’d been deemed too useless.

But this whole time, Ado was trying to find his way back to me.

Warmth spreads in my chest, the sickly, hot sensation of heartburn. I feel sick and rejuvenated all at once.

This whole time, I wonder if he was telling the truth when he told me he had thought about me for all those years? Did he think about me like I thought about him? All this time, I’ve been doubting him, questioning his intentions, pushing him away when he was trying to protect me. I feel the sting of my own mistrust like a double-edged sword.

I inch closer to the bed, my footsteps light, careful not to wake him. He’s still trapped in the nightmare, still whispering those same words, over and over.

Without thinking, I reach out and take his hand.

His skin is warm, his fingers tense as they curl around mine. I squeeze gently, trying to ground him, trying to pull him out of whatever dark place his mind has taken him.

“Shh,” I whisper, my voice barely audible. “It’s okay. You’re here. I’m here. I got out. I got out of there.”

Ado’s breathing starts to slow, and the tension in his body gradually eases as he relaxes into the mattress. He doesn’t wake up, but the nightmare seems to lose its hold on him. His murmurs quiet, replaced by soft, steady breaths.

I sit on the edge of the bed, watching him in the dim light, listening to his breathing in time with the rise and fall of his chest beneath the sheets. The room is silent again, but everything is as loud as a storm inside me.

Love you. Meant it.

Instead of returning to my room, I lie on the other side of the bed, careful to keep a small distance between us. I rest my head on the pillow, my eyes fixed on him, as if he’ll disappear if I look away.

His face is peaceful now, free from the torment of his nightmare. I focus on the sound of his breathing and sink into sleep.

Chapter 26 - Ado

I wake alone in my room, but I can smell Keira somewhere nearby, as if her presence has permeated the whole house. If I could wake every morning surrounded by her aura like that, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

---