Chapter 10

ARIELLA. Of all the things that I expected he would tell me, that one wasn't even on my list. The shock of his revelation almost made me choke on my own saliva. "K-Kayden cheated on me? Don't lie to me, Eli. How did you even find that out? You two aren't even close." "I went to his place when I was searching for you. He was with a girl on his bed." "Stop," I interrupted him, covering my mouth because this was just too much to hear for me right now. Kayden was cheating on me with another woman? How is that possible when he looked so broken at my birthday party when Eli became my mate instead of him? "He was having an affair all this time, Ariella," Eli added, ignoring what I just said. "I confronted him, that's why I beat him up. He confessed that he was cheating on you with a woman he met online. He got a little braver confessing his affair because he wanted to taunt me, thinking that we got together." "Wow. That's a lot to digest for me right now," I admitted, shaking my head. Tears wanted to flow out from my eyes but I refused to let them fall. "I can't believe what you're telling me right now, Eli. You must be lying to me." "You can confront him once we get back home. But right now, we need to talk about something else." I stared at him in disbelief. "What? There's more?" Eli nodded. "It's about our packs. Your father and my uncle are at it again. This time they're fighting about us, and it's only a matter of time before a fight starts between them. You have to get back home and convince your father to stop fighting." I laughed sarcastically. "Of course. That's what you really came here for right? You want me to stop Father because you know that he's a good fighter and half of you would be killed if an all-out war between our packs actually ensued." "I tried talking to your father, but of course he didn't listen to me, Ariella. He even thinks that you're secretly with me. He believes that we're keeping you hostage, and he wants to take you back by force." "And what do you want me to do? Show up there like nothing happened? After what all of you did to me back at the Council? You know what? I don't give a damn anymore about anyone back home, not even my father. The fight you're so afraid of isn't my problem anymore, Eli. I already left. I have no more obligations to my father or anyone else back there." Eli hesitated but told me what he meant to tell me in the first place. "I didn't want you to go, Ariella. Living alone for our kind is dangerous. Please go back home." "But you rejected me," I reminded him. "Staying there would have been hard for me. My father wouldn't even look at me since we became mates, and then you acted so disgusted that I was your mate. Why would I stay at that kind of place? I'm not a masochist." "I'm sorry, Ariella. I didn't mean to hurt you like that. I don't want to make excuses, but I was hurt and confused too... I had a girlfriend, just like you had a boyfriend. Everyone was expecting Michelle to become my mate, but that got ruined... Our packs hated each other. There was no way that they were going to let us live as mates. I thought publicly rejecting you was the only way to stop our packs from fighting about us. But clearly, I was wrong." "Very wrong indeed, because as you said they're still thirsting to fight. And you still want me to go back there?" "Yes, Ariella, because I know you could convince your father to stop his plans to attack us. And I never wanted you to leave like that. I got angry at you, I won't deny that, and I was wrong in doing that. I regret my actions very much, Ariella. So please, come home with me." I scoffed, even though Eli seemed sincere with every word he said. "I don't know, Eli. Can I really trust you? I don't know anymore. One thing I learned from everything that has happened is that I can't really trust you. One moment you looked mad that I was your mate, and then the next time you're worried about me? You're a walking mixed signal if I had ever seen one." "I just got mad because I knew Michelle would break up with me once I got mated to someone else. And she broke up with me when she found out. And you were angry too. It was also clear to me that you were also disgusted by the idea of us becoming mates---" "Because you were an asshole!" I told him loudly. "I had all the reasons to be disgusted. You cut ties with me before all because of my father's crime that I was not a part of! And you know what? I still remember what you said back then that very night! You said you don't want anything to do with me anymore because I was the daughter of a cheater! I knew we were younger back then, but don't you think you were too cruel even then? You hurt me first, Eli, so I don't know why you act like it’s a mystery that I disliked you ever since." Eli did not respond to that. He was just looking at his hands, his whole face dark with unreadable emotions etched on it. I was already crying, because suddenly the pain was there inside me like I had just time-traveled to that very moment he cut me off from his life. But the pain right now felt so right, liberating even. There was a part of me that was glad that I finally poured all of this out to him. "I'm sorry," was all he could muster after a couple of seconds of silence between us. "I know it's too late now, but I still have to try. But I get it now, Ariella. I understand if you no longer want to do anything with me too. I messed up, and I apologize for hurting you over and over again." I just shook my head in frustration. I didn't know what I expected him to do, but hearing those from him disappointed me. Because my mind was saying, 'That was it? Is he not going to try harder?’ But I guess that was not really his thing. To be honest, it was so frustrating to try to understand a very complicated person. It taxed my body like nothing else. "I think I have to go, Ariella," he finally said in a defeated tone. "But before I go, can I just take a video of you? I'll show this to your father to prove that we're not keeping you." "You act like you don't know my father. He'll never believe you even if you send him a video of me saying I'm not your captive." But Eli still took a video and I didn't stop him as I was already feeling guilty for some reason. And then I happened to glance at the hotel window and saw that it was pouring outside. "You can stay here for the rest of the night if you promise me that you will do nothing to me." "I promise," he said eagerly. "I'll sleep on the floor," he suggested, and I agreed, but that was a mistake because we're mates.