Chapter 322: The Walk

Rebecca’s POV

​There was more urgency in his voice the second time, and I finally swallowed hard. Yes?

​What’s wrong?

​I frowned. What’s wrong? Nothing.

​Silence followed, and I could almost picture the look on his face. That deep frown he always wore whenever he knew I was hiding something from him.

​Don’t lie to me, Rebecca.

​I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see me. I’m not lying.

​You are.

​And how exactly would you know that?

​There was a brief pause before his voice returned, quieter this time. Because we’re mates. The bond between us exists even without my mark. It isn’t strong enough for me to know everything you’re feeling or thinking, but when your emotions become strong enough, I can sometimes feel them through the bond.

​My fingers tightened around my dress.

​And right now, I can feel that you’re hurting.

​My throat tightened. Of course. Apparently, I couldn’t even have a private emotional breakdown without my mate somehow getting a notification about it. Wonderful.

​Please tell me what happened, Kaden continued.

​For one stupid second, I wanted to. The words almost came spilling out before I could stop them. I wanted to tell him about the party, about the people staring at my stomach and whispering behind my back. I wanted to tell him how humiliating it had felt to hear strangers wondering who had gotten me pregnant and why I didn’t have a mate mark. More than anything, I wanted to tell him how much I hated that their words had actually gotten to me.

​But I couldn’t.

​Maybe because part of the pain was tied to him.

​It’s nothing, Kaden.

​Rebecca.

​Please. I closed my eyes. Just let me be.

​The connection went quiet. For several seconds, I expected him to argue. The Kaden I knew would probably demand an answer, threaten to come here himself, or somehow turn my emotional breakdown into a royal emergency. Instead, all I heard was a quiet sigh through the bond.

​Okay. I won’t force you to tell me.

​My eyes opened in surprise.

​Then his voice softened even further.

​Just know I’m here, Rebecca. If you need me, for anything, I’m here.

​Something painful squeezed inside my chest. Before I could change my mind and tell him everything, I closed the mind link. The warmth slowly faded, leaving me alone with the silence again.

​I stared at the ceiling, but this time I couldn’t hold back the tears burning behind my eyes. One slipped down my cheek, and I wiped it away angrily before covering my face with both hands.

​Pregnancy hormones.

​That was obviously what this was.

​I was pregnant, tired, emotional, and had just survived one of the most uncomfortable birthday parties of my life. Of course I was crying. Perfectly reasonable.

​Except deep down, I knew it wasn’t just the pregnancy.

​This wasn’t how I had imagined my life.

​When I was younger, before everything became so complicated, I had wanted something simple. I wanted to meet my mate, fall in love with him, and have him love me back. I wanted a mating ceremony, his mark proudly displayed on my neck, children running around our home, and the kind of family I had spent most of my childhood wishing I had. More than anything, I wanted someone who chose me because he loved me.

​Instead, I was pregnant with the child of a man I loved but still didn’t know if I could forgive.

​There.

​I had admitted it again.

​I loved Kaden.

​Unfortunately, loving him didn’t magically erase everything he had done. It didn’t erase the prison cell, the breeder agreement, the collar around my neck, or all the times he had made me feel like something he owned instead of someone he loved. Now I was carrying his child while living away from him, connected to him by a mate bond that seemed determined to pull us toward each other no matter how desperately I tried to figure out what I actually wanted.

​I squeezed my eyes shut.

​There he was again.

​That man seriously needed to start paying rent for the amount of space he occupied in my head.

​A weak laugh escaped me, and I wiped the dampness from my cheeks. I stayed there for another few minutes before finally becoming tired of my own thoughts. Lying on the bed wasn’t helping. If anything, the longer I stayed there, the more my brain seemed determined to find new reasons for me to feel miserable.

​I needed air.

​I sat up and changed out of the emerald gown, replacing it with a pair of loose leggings and an oversized sweater. After washing the rest of the makeup from my face and tying my hair loosely behind me, I slipped my feet into comfortable sandals and quietly left my room.

​The house was peaceful as I walked downstairs. Mother was nowhere in sight, and I was grateful for that. I loved her, but I really wasn’t in the mood for another round of "Rebecca, what’s wrong?" tonight.

​The moment I stepped outside, the cool night air brushed against my face, and I took a long, deep breath. Better. Much better.

​Mother’s garden was quiet at this hour. Small lights lined the stone paths, while night-blooming flowers filled the air with a faint sweet scent. I walked slowly with no particular destination in mind, enjoying the silence and trying to empty my head for once.

​I had almost succeeded when I rounded the path near the large stone fountain and spotted someone sitting there.

​Callum.

​Of course.

​Because apparently being alone tonight was against some supernatural law I didn’t know existed.

​He sat on the low stone edge of the fountain with his phone in one hand, looking completely relaxed. I briefly considered turning around before he noticed me, but his head lifted before I could take even one step backward.

​"Rebecca?"

​Too late.

​"Hi."

​His eyes moved over my face, pausing long enough for me to know exactly what he had noticed.

​My red eyes.

​Callum slipped his phone into his pocket and studied me for a moment. Thankfully, instead of asking the obvious question, he tilted his head slightly.

​"Do you want me to ask what happened, or pretend I can’t see that you’ve been crying?"

​I stared at him before letting out a small breath. "Option two, please."

​"Done." He lifted one hand and made a wiping motion in front of his eyes. "I suddenly see absolutely nothing."

​A laugh escaped me before I could stop it.

​I shook my head. "You’re ridiculous."

​"I’ve been called worse."

​"I’m sure you have."

​He smiled as he stood from the fountain. "Were you going for a walk?"

​"Yes. I needed some air."

​"Mind if I join you?"

​I hesitated for only a second before shrugging. "Sure."

​Callum fell into step beside me, and to his credit, he didn’t ask another question about my red eyes.

​For the next few minutes, we continued walking while he told me a ridiculous story. I knew what he was doing. He was distracting me, but he was doing it without making me feel like I needed to be fixed or questioned.

​Strangely, that helped.

​Eventually, the conversation faded, leaving a comfortable silence between us. I stared at the gravel beneath my feet for several seconds before finally speaking.

​"Callum?"

​"Hmm?"

​"I heard them."

​He didn’t ask who I meant. His expression changed immediately.

​"The people at the party," I continued. "I heard what they were saying when we were leaving."

​Callum released a slow breath. "Rebecca..."

​"I know I shouldn’t care. They’re complete strangers. Most of them don’t know anything about me, and I probably won’t see half of them again." I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling cold despite the sweater. "But it still hurt."

​He didn’t interrupt me or immediately tell me that I shouldn’t feel that way. He simply continued walking beside me, giving me the space to say whatever I needed to say.

​"I’ve spent most of my life being Alpha Kelvin’s unwanted daughter," I continued quietly. "Then tonight, for the first time, I met my real father. For a few minutes, I actually thought maybe I could have some kind of relationship with him. Then I walked back into that hall, and suddenly everyone was staring at me like I was something shameful he’d brought into his family."

​I swallowed, hating how vulnerable the next question made me feel.

​"Do you think they’re right? Do you think I’m an embarrassment too?"

​Callum stopped walking.

​I took another step before realizing he was no longer beside me. When I turned around, he was staring at me with his brows pulled together, like he genuinely couldn’t understand how I had reached that conclusion.

​"What?"

​"You heard me."

​"I did." He paused. "I’m just trying to understand why you would ever think I’d agree with them."

​I looked away from him. "I’m Lord Drake’s long-lost daughter. I’m unmarried. I don’t have a mate mark on my neck, and I’m pregnant." A humorless laugh escaped me. "Apparently, that’s enough to make me tonight’s favorite piece of royal entertainment."

​Callum’s jaw tightened.

​"One of them said Lord Drake must be embarrassed to find me like this."

​"He’s not."

​I looked back at him. "You can’t know that."

​"I can know what I saw."

​I frowned.

​Callum stepped closer, although he still left enough space between us that I didn’t feel crowded.

​"Lord Drake looked like a man who had just been given back something he thought he had lost forever. Whatever Lord Drake is feeling about finding you, Rebecca, shame isn’t part of it."

​My throat tightened again, but this time the feeling was different.

​Callum continued before I could respond. "And as for everyone else, they don’t know a single thing about your life. They don’t know what you’ve survived. They don’t know what happened between you and the father of your child. They don’t know why you don’t have a mark. They don’t know the choices you’ve had to make. They saw you for a few minutes and decided that was enough information to judge you."

​I looked down at my stomach and slowly rested one hand over the small curve.

​"And as for your child," Callum’s voice dropped into a lower, warmer register, drawing my gaze right back up to his eyes. His gaze dropped to the hand resting over my stomach before returning to my face. "That baby isn’t something to be ashamed of."

​I swallowed hard, my hand remaining rested over my small bump.

​"And neither are you," Callum added firmly, taking one step closer. "To be completely honest with you, Rebecca... after learning everything you’ve survived, you are easily the most amazing woman I have ever met."

​I stared at him. He didn’t smile this time, and there was nothing playful in his expression. He looked completely serious.

​"After everything you’ve been through, you’re still standing," he continued softly. "You’re still fighting for yourself. You’re carrying a child, learning who you are, dealing with a family you never knew existed, and somehow you still keep going. I admire you."

​A faint, genuine smile touched my lips, and for the first time all evening, the heavy weight crushing my heart finally lifted. I felt lighter.

​I looked away before he could see how much his words had affected me. Maybe I had needed to hear that more than I realized.

​"Thank you, Callum," I said softly, letting out a slow breath as I took a small step back toward the house. "I think I’m ready to go back to my room now."

​Callum’s expression softened, a subtle smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Let me walk you up."

​"You don’t have to do that."

​"I want to."

​There was something about the way he said it that made me look at him again. He simply smiled.

​"Come on."

​I shook my head, but I couldn’t stop the small smile that appeared on my own face. "Fine."

​We turned and made our way back toward the house. The walk was quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Callum stayed beside me the entire way through the quiet garden paths, matching his steps to mine without rushing me.

​And annoyingly, I found myself very aware of him. His presence. The way he occasionally glanced at me. The warmth of his body whenever we walked a little too close.

​Fantastic. As if my love life wasn’t already confusing enough.

​We walked through the front doors and climbed the grand staircase together. The mansion was completely silent now, wrapped in the dark stillness of the midnight hour. By the time we reached the hallway leading to my room, I had managed to convince myself that this was completely normal. A friend walking another friend to her bedroom. Nothing strange about that. Absolutely nothing.

​When we reached the door to my bedroom, I turned around to face him.

​"Well, this is me," I whispered, resting my hand against the wooden doorframe. "Thank you for tonight. For the walk and... everything you said."

​His smile softened. "You’re welcome. Goodnight, Rebecca."

​I placed my hand on the door handle, expecting him to turn and leave. He didn’t.

​Instead, Callum stepped closer. My fingers froze around the handle. He closed the distance between us until I could feel the gentle heat radiating off his broad frame.

​Before my brain could even register what was happening, he leaned down. His lips brushed softly against my forehead, pressing a long, warm, tender kiss against my skin.

​My entire body went still. It wasn’t a long kiss, and it wasn’t possessive like Kaden’s touch, nor was it harsh or demanding. But something about how gentle, protective, and full of reverence it was sent a strange warmth straight through me, running all the way down my spine to the tips of my toes.

​Callum pulled back slowly. His eyes met mine, searching my face with an intense, lingering warmth that made my breath catch in my throat.

​"Sleep well," he murmured, his voice rich and smooth. "I will see you tomorrow."

​I swallowed hard. "Goodnight."

​He smiled once more before turning and walking down the dimly lit hallway without another word, leaving me standing outside my door in total shock.

​I stood there for another second, completely frozen. Then I quickly opened my bedroom door, slipped inside, locked it, and shut the world out behind me.

​Leaning my back against the hard wood, my hand slowly lifted to my forehead, placing two fingers right over the spot where his lips had just been.

​Oh, for the love of the Moon Goddess. What the hell was that?