Chapter Seventy Six - On the Edge - Damian's POV

Blood and smoke fill my nostrils as the memory of my brother comes to mind. I can almost hear the sound of his ragged, heavy breathing as he chased me while I glanced back over my shoulder and locked eyes with him. I remember the way he looked at me. It was as if I was already dead. 'You are the one who will die first," he said as he threw a blade at me that tore through my side before I could process the betrayal. My mind is pulled to the present as Maya shifts on my lap. Does she regret knowing the truth? It doesn't matter. I can't afford to care if she does. I can hear my own heartbeat, and it's too loud. Too fast. Too uncertain. Maya hasn't said a word yet since I laid out the entire truth. She just sits there, staring at the fireplace while occasionally glancing at me. I can't tell if she's just processing or if she's already trying to figure out how to leave me. My hands fist in her loose shirt right across her abdomen. It's foolish. I should have never told her. No one wants to be tied to someone cursed, hunted, and doomed. It's bad enough she's human and I'm a wolf shifter, but this may be the final nail in the coffin. And yet part of me hoped that this would bring us closer. I exhale sharply, shoving that thought aside to the back of my mind. Hope is a dangerous thing when you are literally cursed. Hope is what gets you killed. Just like when my brother agreed with my father and thought killing me was the answer. My father used to tell me that hope makes us weak. It makes you hesitate when you should strike. And my brother? Well, Lorcan never hesitated. I guess he takes after his namesake. That's why he almost won. The memory of the blade landing in my side flashes behind my eyes. I can still feel the burn of it, the way blood soaked the front of my shirt and the way he gripped my throat once he caught me. 'Father is right, one of us has to die and it has to be you," he had said. I blink, shoving the memory back to where it belongs, which is in the past. But my fingers twitch at the ghost pain in my side while my mind tries to bury it. The silence between us stretches on. The weight of the truth hangs there like a wall. She hasn't moved, but she's still here. How much longer until she runs? I should give her space and let her think, but patience isn't my strong suit. 'Say something, Maya." My voice comes out lower than I intended. It's a plea disguised as a command as I hold onto her. She flinches, only slightly. If I hadn't been holding her, I would have never noticed. A ragged exhale escapes her as she reaches up to run her hand through her hair. 'What am I supposed to say? That I understand? That I'm okay with this? Because I really don't understand anything." 'I never said for you to be okay with it. I'm not okay with it, either. But I told you the truth because you deserve to know what is coming," I whisper. 'My father's rhetoric has spread far and wide amongst the wolves. That is why there are rogues and everyone at my border." She finally looks at me again, swallowing hard. 'And if I don't want to be caught up in this mess?" I force my expression to remain neutral, though every part of me is ready to lose my mind. 'Then I will let you walk away." The words taste like poison. Her breath catches, but only for a second. I don't know if it's because she didn't expect me to say that or if she's actually considering it. The thought of her leaving and of me letting her just walk away claws at something deep inside of me. Technically, it doesn't do me any good if she's not willing. We're all going to fade to nothing anyway, if that's what she chooses. And sadly, I don't know if the curse will leave her unscathed. It will go after her because she is part of it. I lean forward slightly to where my mouth is near her ear. 'You may think of us as monsters, but most of us are no different from you." Her fingers tighten against her thighs. 'No, that's not -" 'You think I wanted this? I don't and never did." She stares at me, and for a moment, we're just two people caught in a battle we didn't start nor do we want. We're both bound by a fate neither of us chose. 'So, why did you tell me all of this?" I exhale slowly, dragging my other hand down my face while the other rests against her abdomen. 'Because whether we like it or not, you're the only way this ends." She grows silent as her gaze grows distant again. There's something in her expression that makes me question everything. I wonder if she'll run screaming now that she knows the truth about the prophecy. Oddly, several tense seconds pass and then her shoulders slump. 'I'm not running." Her words are soft, but they hit me like a thunderclap. I don't realize I've been holding my breath until it leaves me in a slow, measured exhale. 'You're not?" My voice is quiet. She shakes her head. 'No, but that doesn't mean I understand any of this or am accepting the part of being your mate just yet. I still want you to train me." 'Fair enough," I mutter. I don't really expect her to understand when I don't understand most of it either or why my father tried a new approach to interpreting it. 'Then why are you staying besides for training?" 'Because I need to know what's next," she whispers. 'You may think I don't feel it, but I feel something for you. It's just hard to explain and I feel like it's too soon." My free hand lands on the arm of the chair, tightening. She's not outright rejecting this, but she's not embracing it fully. It's like we are teetering on the edge and about to fall. And it's dangerous.