CHAPTER 54

My eyes opened slowly. The last four days have been the best for me. Absolutely exhilarating. It was absolutely needed and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Brayan and I spent it like a couple. Just sex, eating and talking about life. The only thing that dampened my mood was the fact that he wouldn’t bite me but I understood his reason.

He respects custom and it’s against his custom to bite me outside of the fourth ritual. We confessed our love for each other countlessly over the last few days.

But like they say, all good things come to an end and this was about to.

I grabbed his phone and sent a quick text to Garret to come to the cabin from Brayan’s phone. I received a positive response few minutes later.

Brayan was knocked out from sleep. He would be until mid day tomorrow courtesy of the pills I slipped into his drink.

He’ll be upset when he wakes up but it was for the best that I did this. I didn’t want him interrupting my plans or stopping me. I would always love Brayan. I won’t be able to love another like I loved him but we had no future together and it was only going to drain me if I kept waiting around for something to change.

I needed a new environment. A new scenery with positive energy and people who loved me. I needed to heal and become the best version of myself.

But first, I needed to make things right. Starting from seeing Brayan’s family. I needed to apologize. It was the first step to my healing process.

I heard the sound of a car outside and I stepped out into the cold morning.

“Paisley?” He was surprised to see me. I smiled at Garret.

“I received a text from Brayan’s phone”

“That was me. He’s still asleep. I want to see his family and I didn’t want him to stop me”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea”

“Maybe not but it’s absolutely necessary. Please”

“Okay but I’m telling him you forced me to” I nodded and slipped into the passenger seat. He drove in silence but he kept looking at me from time to time.

“Do you have something to say?” I asked still looking outside my window.

“How have you been?” His voice was soft and showed concern.

“I’ve had better days” I whispered leaning my head on the car window and shutting my eyes.

The drive continued in silence until the car stopped. I opened my eyes. We were outside the house. My palms became sweaty and I rubbed it on the material of my coat.

“Are you going inside?”

“Yes” i opened the door.

“Thank you for bringing me” I smiled at him.

“You’re welcome” I moved away from the car to the front door. My nerves were getting the best of me and I suddenly started regretting my decision to come here.

I looked back but Garret was already gone. No turning back now. I was here already might as well do it.

I pushed the door open and entered inside. The living room was empty but i heard a sound coming from the kitchen. I followed it and found Rivka.

“Hey” she jumped dropping the plate she was holding.

“Ma’am Paisley?” Disbelief written clearly on her face.

“Yes” I smiled at her.

“Is the lady expecting you?”

“No but please inform her I’m here. I just need to speak with her”

She nodded. “Please sit. I’ll get her for you” I nodded and sat tensely on the stool while I waited for her.

Two minutes passed and I heard the sound of footsteps. She stepped into the kitchen with a stoic look on her face. Her dressing robe secured tightly around her petite frame. She had dark eyes and bags.

“I told you never to show your face before me” her voice was calm. It feared it but also encouraged me to speak.

“Yes. I’m sorry for showing up unannounced at your home but it was the only way I could get to see you. To talk to you”

“Enough has been said already Paisley. I prefer it if you’re no longer mentioned in my home but you seem to be a leeching pest. Brayan has not been the same since you. None of us have” her voice was thick with emotions.

“I’m sorry again. There’s no justification for what I did or would have done to you guys. You loved me and made me comfortable in your home but I lied to you. I’ll always be sorry for that” she didn’t respond to that.

“Like you, I love my family so much. I was doing this to protect them and the entire village from the wrath of the beasts because my sister had run away and there was no bride to present to you”

She scoffed. “Wrath? Nobody would have hurt your people just because you didn’t provide a bride”

“We didn’t know that back then but now I do. If we had known about this then none of this would have happened. Our leaders didn’t help matters. They made it known that there would be repercussions if we ever failed to provide a bride like we were supposed to. You know about this. You were also a chosen like me” if there was anybody who understand the fear a chosen family experienced, it would be her.

“My family was scared and they forced me to even though I made it clear that I didn’t want to be part of this. They were supposed to find her quickly and bring her back. I wanted to say the truth at one point but Silas already found about it and intervened. He held my family captive and threatened to hurt them if I didn’t make sure the mating was successful”

“I really didn’t want to continue because you people were good to me but I was in a tight corner. Their lives were in danger and I had to do something to protect them at least. That was the only time i lied. My feelings and actions of love were all genuine. I didn’t fake any of them and when I realized that Nevaeh wasn’t going to be brought back, I embraced my fate. I was okay with the mating because I truly found my happiness” I finished saying in one breath.

Her face had softened but she still didn’t utter a word to me.

“I just wanted to apologize for the betrayal and pain. I’m genuinely sorry and you don’t have to worry, I’ll never show up here ever again”

She still didn’t say a word or stop me as I walked out of the kitchen and to the front door.