Chapter 7 #2
“I never much thought about the mating ceremony day before because it hurt to think of that day. My parents coached me for years on what I had to say, how I had to run after I rejected you and all the reasons it must be this way. That day, when my hands trembled as I put on the red cloak, was hard to remember. I walked the path so many others had done, to accept their mates, and stood in that temple of the Gods, before a priest whose face I could not see, who looked down at me. I rejected the bond, and it tore me apart. Before I ran, I remember thinking there was something about that priest that I couldn’t put my finger on.
” I pause. “I think I remember now. Or at least, I have a suspicion. I never saw your face, but I heard a wolf howling when I ran, and I’ve heard that howl since then. ”
“It was me.” A long silence echoes between us.
He was there that day, all those years ago.
I rejected him in person. Oh Gods. “The ceremony. I told you I didn’t have much family to turn to.
I had an aunt and uncle, but they were distant people.
They sent presents for my birthday, but they weren’t very good, and they certainly didn’t offer to let me live with them when my parents died.
There weren’t many places to turn when you’re thrown into an orphanage in Starlight City as a kid with no money or good family to step in. ”
He exhales slowly before continuing. “I’d always felt a calling to the Gods.
Now I know it as more than that. One God in particular was calling to me, but back then, when I was a kid—young and lost—I decided that becoming a priest was the best thing for me.
I did everything they asked, until that day.
Until the day I saw you, long before you rejected that bond, where I begged to be the one to oversee the ceremony.
I thought I could lift my hood, tell you that I’m your mate, and we’d walk off together to plan our future when we were both old enough.
” He pauses. “Little did I know you’d have other mates.
Little did I know you would reject the bond.
I felt my world crashing down when you did, and my Nexus was broken.
I immediately decided I didn’t want to be a priest anymore.
I rejected it all and decided I needed to find you. ”
He shifts slightly to cup my face. “Those scars on my back—that was my punishment for leaving. It’s meant to be a life choice, not one to walk away from. But I all but ran after you, Gwen. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
So that is what has been holding him back for so long; that’s the thing he wanted me to remember. I climb onto his lap. My hair falls down between us. He covers the back of my neck with his hand, pulls me in, and he kisses me softly. “I’m sorry I caused you pain, Alek.”
“Don’t be sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I wanted you to remember first. It was important to me that it’s not just something I told you—that it’s something you remembered for yourself.” He kisses me again, much more like a gentle caress.
“I think I always knew. I just—I buried a lot of my memories because of the pain. I didn’t want to reject you or the bond, so it was really hard to run away.
I’ve had to face a lot of things since then, and now…
well, there’s been a lot going on.” I weakly smile back before changing the subject.
“Listen. Like I said, I had a lot of time to think, and I need to talk to you. I want your opinion.”
He strokes my back. “You have my honest opinion always.”
“I was not meant to be a twin,” I murmur.
“That was not how the original Morrigan was meant to be. She was on her own and her power was hers. Yes, she was powerful and out of control, and the king theorised that we were twins this time because it was too much power for one person to carry. But it means I am never at my full strength while she’s alive, and I’m always a threat to the world while she is too.
I think the Gods, or whoever designed us, made us twins because to be that powerful, there must be an ultimate sacrifice for the power.
A death of one of us.” I look out over the city.
“I know I can lure her to me. I can ask Severi to find a way. My mother gave me something—she told me it was for the worst day. The box never had much meaning to me, but there was one memory attached to it that I can’t shake.
I was only a kid, really young. She told me the box was for the day that I finally became who I was meant to be and took life.
She cried so hard. She was so upset for the rest of the day.
I always thought giving up her baby was what broke her.
But I think it was because she knew we are fated to kill one of us.
” I meet his eyes. “I think I need to kill my twin sister.”
“It’s the right thing to do, and I’ve long suspected the same.
You both can absorb powers; you both are powerful in different ways.
With her gifts, you could be at full strength and heal.
” He strokes my hair back from my face. “You would be a Goddess. Not just your Nexus…but you. You were born to be one, but killing your sister…it is a terrible act. Even with everything she has done. You have to be certain.”
“I am.” I look across the city. My voice shakes. Death is not new to me, but my twin sister? I will never love her, not when she has made so many bad choices…but I cannot walk away from this fate. “Because if I don’t do this, I won’t be able to stop her and the king. This world will die and burn.”
“I support you and I am proud of you for making this choice.” He pauses. “What makes you think she’ll come to see you alone?”
“Because I’m going to give her the box that my mother gave me and tell her she left it for her daughter.”