Page 69 of Redeeming His Omega Mate

My brows furrowed, confusion settling into my chest as I tried to make sense of what he was saying.

“What is he now?” Kael scoffed. “Your protector? Where was he in the last seven years? Where was he when you were getting battered by rogues that night? Who saved you, Tala?”

Damian’s teeth clenched, his body going rigid beside me. But before he could speak, Kael cut in again.

“How do you go back to your vomit, Tala?” His voice was laced with bitterness. “How do you go back to someone who tossed you aside like you didn’t mean a damn thing?”

Anger flickered behind Damian’s eyes. His breathing was slow and measured like he was trying to hold himself together.

“I never tossed her aside.” The words came out like a growl. His eyes were fierce, locked onto Kael.

Kael didn’t back down. His stare was just as lethal and unyielding. The tension in the room was suffocating enough to choke on.

“You think you know everything,” Damian continued. “But you know nothing.”

Kael scoffed. “I know enough.”

Damian attempted to step forward, but I tightened my grip on his arm. He stopped, but just barely, his body taut beneath my fingers.

Kael, on the other hand, stepped forward instead, meeting him head-on, challenging him, and daring him to make the first move.

But before he could get too close, I moved between them, pressing a hand against Damian’s chest, my presence forcing him to stay still.

“Please,” I turned to Damian, my voice soft. “Let me talk to him alone.”

Hesitation flickered in his gaze. He didn’t want to leave. He was ready to stand there and stay until Kael left. But I pleaded with my eyes, telling him to trust me.

After a long, tense beat, Damian exhaled sharply and took a step back. His gaze lingered on Kael for a minute longer, a silent warning in his gaze, before he turned and walked away.

Though something told me that he wouldn’t go far.

I turned to Kael, his gaze still seething with anger.

“Kael, I know you’re hurt—”

“Damn right, I’m hurt!” he exploded, his voice raw. I flinched. “You had seven fucking years to tell me the truth, Tala. And what did you do? You lied. Over and over again to my face despite everything I did for you.”

I swallowed hard, my throat tightening with guilt. “I never thought I’d have to confront my past again,” I admitted. “I didn’t think there was any need to revisit the worst moment of my life. I wanted to start over. And Kael, I am forever grateful that you gave me that chance, that you saved me that night.”

“Are you really?” he scoffed.

“Kael—”

“Don’t.” He stepped closer, his entire being trembling with barely restrained rage. “Don’t feed me more lies, Tala. Serena already told me everything.”

“Serena doesn’t know everything.”

“She knows enough!” he bellowed. “She knows you lied. She knows you pretended not to remember your past. She knows you and Damian had a thing, and that thing gave you a daughter.” His face twisted in pain, like the words themselves physically hurt him.

“So yeah, Tala.” His voice was quieter now but still edged with fury. “She knows enough.”

The anger radiating off him was ferocious, but underneath it, I heard the pain.

“I never meant to deceive you, Kael,” I said. “I was trying to protect Aria. To protect myself.”

“Protect?” He let out a humorless laugh. “You don’t get to act like you were protecting anyone, Tala. Because if you really wanted to stay away, if you really didn’t want to come back here, you would have told me the truth from the start.”

“And then what?” I challenged. “What would you have done, Kael? How would you have reacted to the fact that I’ve been lying to you for years?”

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