Chapter 10 - Emily #2
“F-five…” Delilah begins in disbelief, blinking quickly as realization dawns. She clears her throat and continues, “Your magic doesn’t respond to who you want,” she says gently. “It responds to who your soul chose.”
The words slice clean and deep, and I take a deep breath for composure.
“I don’t want this,” I say as I grit my teeth, heat flaring under my skin. “I don’t want him. Not after what he did.”
Delilah doesn’t argue. She just nods slowly, thoughtfully, like she understands more than I want her to.
“Perhaps I’ve ruined the trust we had after yesterday, but I meant it when I said you’re not alone, Em. If you need to talk about it, I’ll always be there for you. If not me, then Ari or Donna or Gwen. You’ll never be alone.”
My heart squeezes at Delilah’s sincerity, and I lift my eyes to find her staring at me with that same openness.
“I’m not upset, D,” I sigh, reaching over the table and giving her hand a gentle but firm squeeze. “As I said, you did me a favor. It needed to come out. I just need some time to process it.”
Delilah purses her lips as she holds my hand a little longer, then she nods. “I’ll leave you to rest,” she says finally, standing up and offering me a warm smile. “Just let me know when you’re ready to resume training, and I’ll come back.”
“Thank you, D,” I say sincerely as I see her to the door.
After she leaves, I step outside, needing fresh air, needing some space. That’s when I see him.
And I freeze on my porch.
Sean stands a short distance away, chopping wood near the ingress of the woods like he’s trying to split something inside himself. His movements are sharp, precise, almost violent, and I frown, wondering why he’s doing handiwork.
I know. I don’t need to wonder. I already know why he’s out there in his backyard with an axe in hand and his T-shirt slung over one shoulder.
He used to pass his time chopping wood to distract himself from his thoughts when his mother was sick.
He didn’t have to say it, but I knew that the act was how he split open the demons that were threatening to consume him.
It’s how he got rid of them. It’s how he survived.
The bond surges instantly, and my heart pounds as I remain frozen on the porch, watching, spying on him as his muscles flex every time he raises his arms before they plummet down to slice the log with the sharp blade of the axe.
My jaw drops slowly, steadily, as if I’m about to start drooling, when he looks up, and our eyes meet.
Sean lowers the axe until it hits the ground, his lips moving as if he’s saying my name in a breathless whisper, as if my name is a secret that still belongs to him.
“Don’t,” I warn, mostly to myself, because from here, he probably can’t even hear me.
Maybe I’m warning myself not to soften toward him, not to become vulnerable.
It’s a warning to my inner wolf, who just wants to throw herself at him as if none of the hurt matters.
It’s a warning to my powers that want to stir at the mere sight of him.
Sean pulls his T-shirt forward and uses it to wipe the sweat from his forehead before he begins walking toward me.
Behind him, the morning sun is still rising into the sky, rays of warm light filtering through the canopies of the trees in the forest, casting a soft, ethereal glow around him.
Suddenly, he’s not the cruel man who broke my heart, but a divine being chiseled in the image of our creator and stealing my breath.
He approaches me and slows down only a meter away. “Can we talk?”
I shake my head slowly, saying, “I don’t want to talk.”
The magic flares in my palms, pulling at me, tugging me closer despite every instinct screaming to run away from him. My inner defenses come up like metal bars, and I snap out of the daze and take a step back, lifting my hand and tearing my eyes away from him.
“We need boundaries,” I tell him, forcing the words past the ache in my throat. “I won’t do it again. I won’t be hurt again.”
He doesn’t say anything and listens. Truly listens.
“It’s why I left your house. I need space,” I tell him. “I can’t use my powers if my mind is all over the place.”
“I’ll take it slow,” he says softly. “As slow as you need.”
Something inside me cracks, and I turn away before he can see it, hugging my arms around my chest. “We can never be together,” I say dryly, the words burning my throat like a lie I’m forcing myself to speak. But it’s a truth my mind knows because it’s the only way to protect my heart.
“I-I understand,” he says behind me, voice cracking with something like disappointment. I close my eyes and will myself to stay with my back to him until I can hear his footsteps fading back toward his house. He got the message loud and clear that I wasn’t really in the mood to talk.
The truth is, I just don’t have the strength to face him right now.
Alone again, I let out the breath I’d been holding, my palms glowing faintly as the truth settles heavy in my chest.
My magic wants him. I felt it when we kissed. I feel it every time he's anywhere near me, and especially when he touches me.
And maybe my heart always did.
But I will never trust him with it again. Not after what he took from me. Not after what he left behind.