Chapter 17 Kieran staggered several steps backward, his spine slamming against the cold car door. Pain shot down his back, but strangely, it could not awaken the numbness spreading through him. Why had he come looking for me? It was because he wanted answers. Kieran wanted to know why I had suddenly abandoned him, why I had left without saying goodbye, and why everyone was preventing him from finding me. Most importantly, he wanted to ask if I still loved him. Yet, when those words reached his lips, they refused to come out. After a long silence, Kieran finally said, "I want to take you home." He told me how he had discovered Cecelia's true nature and how he had dealt with her and Tyra. He spoke of his and the Elders' regret. He described his own madness and breakdown during these months of searching for me. My fingers clutched my phone so tightly that my whole body trembled. It was not relief or grief; it was the sudden, brutal tearing away of a scar. A truth too long delayed, now ripping open a scab that had never really healed, revealing the festering wound still raw beneath. It was too late; everything was too late. I had long passed the point of needing the truth exposed, and I no longer needed Kieran's attempts at reconciliation or his regret. I said, "Kieran, I can't go back with you, and we can't return to how things were. You weren't wrong to bow to the Elders and compromise, and having pups with Cecelia wasn't wrong either. "Your mistake was building a new family with someone else while giving me empty promises, making me waste year after year of my youth by your side. Back then, when I saw you being intimate with her, I kept wondering if I was the other woman." "No, Elise, you weren't the other woman. You're the person I love most." Kieran repeatedly denied this. He instinctively reached for my hand, but I dodged aside. "But that was exactly how it was for me. You had pups with her, sealed a vow under the Moon Goddess, and lived like a true pair in every way. To everyone else, she was your mate. So why did you come looking for me?" There was already an impossibly wide distance between us that neither of us could cross, and I did not want to try crossing it again. "Go back, Kieran. This isn't where you belong." Thunder rumbled across the horizon. I refused to argue further and turned toward my dorm. The second I reached my room, torrential rain began pouring outside. 1/2 Chapter 17 +25 Bonus However, he still stood motionless in the storm. I frowned and was about to pull the curtains closed when someone began pounding frantically on my door. "Ms. George, come out quickly! One of the students, Elliot Watts, is missing!" I immediately threw the door open. "What did you say?" The mountain region had been experiencing continuous rain lately, and several slopes were at risk of landslides. Most of the villagers were elderly and children, left behind by family members working far away. For safety, the village chief had organized an evacuation, and the orphanage students had been kept on campus. However, somehow, one child had managed to slip away. Margaret was so worried she nearly fainted. She immediately reported for help and joined the search teams in a carpet search of the entire mountain village. Meanwhile, all the teachers, except a few who stayed to watch the other students, were also sent out to find the missing Elliot. After hearing this, my heart clenched with panic, too, and I decided to go directly to Elliot's home with a male teacher, Morgan Swanson, to search there. At that moment, distant rumbling sounds echoed faintly from the mountain valley. Morgan and I exchanged glances, both our eyes filled with terror. A landslide was coming! We quickened our pace and ran through the heavy rain toward Elliot's house. Sure enough, we found the trembling Elliot hiding under the bed at his home. Without bothering to ask why he had run back here, I immediately picked him up to flee. However, Elliot struggled violently in my arms. "No, I don't want to go! My mom's still here!" Support C Share 2/2