5. The Truth Unraveled
The Truth Unraveled
SUNANDA
I could only stare at Mateo standing in front of me, his words like sharp, cold shards of ice slicing through the fog in my mind. A werewolf. My mate.
I shook my head slowly, the sound of my own heartbeat deafening in my ears.
This wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. I had to be interpreting things incorrectly.
These kinds of things only happened in romance novels.
But this was real life. My life. And there was no way I could take in what he’s saying, staring at the man I barely knew growing up—the quiet mechanic, the loner who’d barely spoken to me.
A wolf. A werewolf.
The thought was so absurd it might have been laughable if it weren’t for the way the room seemed to spin. My mind raced to make sense of it, but all I could hear was the pounding of my heart, echoing like a warning.
“I—I don’t understand,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “How? How could you be... a werewolf?”
Mateo’s hands clenched at his sides, his jaw tight with something that looked almost like pain. But there was a deep, unmistakable guilt in his eyes.
“I didn’t want to drag you into this—my world.
But I can’t keep lying to you,” he signed, his expression thick with regret.
“When you came back to town, I couldn’t stay away.
I knew... I knew it was you. You’re mine, Sunanda.
You’ve always been mine. And I’ve been waiting for you.
Waiting for you to come back, to understand. ”
“Mine?” I repeated, my chest tightening with a mixture of confusion and anger. “You think that makes sense? You think you can just—just tell me something like that and I’m supposed to accept it?”
The silence between us was suffocating. He didn’t answer immediately, his expression unreadable. But I could see the conflict behind his eyes, the storm brewing in his mind.
“I never wanted this for you,” he said after a long moment, his face almost pleading as I read his lips. “I thought if I stayed away long enough, if I kept my distance, the bond would weaken and I would protect you from this. From me.”
“You’re a werewolf, Mateo! You’re telling me you’ve been—what? Waiting for me?” I could feel my chest constricting, the weight of it unbearable. My heart hammered. “I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
He didn’t move, didn’t speak, but I saw the way his eyes softened at my words, the flicker of pain beneath the surface. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off, my voice shaking but determined.
“You’ve been hiding this whole other life from me, and you think I’m supposed to just accept it? You think this is some sort of fate, some destiny I’m supposed to fall into? That’s not how this works, Mateo. I don’t want to be a part of your darkness.”
The words left my mouth like a punch, and I could see the hurt flash across his face. He stepped forward, his eyes pleading, but I held up my hand, stopping him in his tracks.
“Don’t. Just... don’t.”
There was a long, painful silence. Mateo’s eyes darkened with frustration and regret, but he didn’t argue. He just stood there, as if waiting for me to say something else. But what could I say?
I was scared. I was angry. I didn’t know what to do with this. I was just starting my life over back in my hometown.
“You shouldn’t have asked me out,” I said, barely a whisper, but I could see it hit him like a blow. “You should have kept your distance, like you said.”
He took a step back, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Sunanda—”
I shook my head, the tears I didn’t want to shed stinging the back of my eyes. “I don’t know what you want from me, Mateo. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with this. With you.”
Mateo’s expression hardened, and for a moment, I saw something that scared me.
His shoulders were tense, his jaw clenched, his hands trembling at his sides.
Was he going to shift right here, right now?
How much control did he have over this other life of his?
And this is what I was being pulled into? A volatile future of the unknown?
“You think this is easy for me?” he growled, his voice low and dangerous, his hands trembling as he signed what he was saying.
“You think I wanted this for you? To be caught in this world? To have this weight on your shoulders? You think I’ve been lying to you because I enjoy it?
I’ve spent years fighting myself. Fighting what I am—what I need.
And now, when you come back, you think I can just let you go? ”
I scooted back on the bed, my hands shaking as I tried to hold my ground. “You should’ve let me go, Mateo. You should’ve stayed away.”
Things were easier the way they were. Both of us, loners. Both of us in our own separate worlds.
“I can’t,” he snapped, his voice raw, his body tense with the restraint of someone barely holding back. The intensity of his words vibrated through me. “I’ve waited too long. You’re my mate, Sunanda. I can’t just—”
I interrupted him, my own voice rising, shaking with fury as I got off the bed and onto my feet before him. “I don’t want to be your mate! I didn’t ask for this! I didn’t ask for any of this!”
We stood there, inches apart, the air thick with unspoken words, the tension between us crackling like an electric charge. My mind was racing, my body trembling with the fight I didn’t want to have, the fight that felt like it was tearing me in two.
For a moment, we just stared at each other—but the silence between us was suffocating, filled with too many things left unsaid. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run.
“I need space,” I finally whispered, the words barely escaping my lips. “I can’t do this right now. I need... I need to think.”
Regret flickering in Mateo’s eyes, but he didn’t try to stop me. He just nodded, his expression pained.
“I’m sorry,” he signed, but it was too late. The damage had already been done.
I turned away from him then, the ache in my chest unbearable. I didn’t know where I stood with him anymore. I didn’t know what we were, or what we could be. All I knew was that something between us had broken, something I wasn’t sure we could ever fix.
And as I walked away, I didn’t know if I wanted to fix it at all.