Chapter 17

ARIELLA. "You must be crazy. What do you mean you'll live here with me? Isn't it enough that you're sticking around?" Eli sighed. I knew he was already frustrated at how hard-headed I was, but there was no way I would let him live with me when my purpose of being here in a different place was to stay away from him. Although I am aware that his suggestion makes sense, it was just too much for me at this time. "Please, Ariella. This is not the time to think about other things. You might be in danger here." I shook my head. "I'm still not going to let you live here. If you're that concerned about me, then maybe find a place near here, right? And you could always hit me up. You already have my number." "That's not enough," Eli told me. It was so obvious on his face that he was just controlling himself from scolding me or getting mad at me. "It's better if we are in the same place. I could sleep here on the sofa." "Ugh, you're making me want to hit you, Eli. Listen. The point of me being here is trying to live on my own. I needed this for myself. I want to clear my head from everything that has happened. I want to reset myself and pause. Why don't you want me to have that? That's the only way for me to cope with all of this. You don't have to be with me twenty-four-seven, because what's the point of coming here if I can’t be alone?" Eli looked at me hard before giving in, sighing and scratching his head. "Alright. I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. Of course, I don't want to interfere with this 'reset' that you're talking about. But please understand me too, Ariella. As your mate, I am worried about your safety here. If there's really a rogue werewolf out there targeting you, I can't just sit down and relax. I have to do something to make sure you are safe." His speech genuinely warmed my heart, but I guess there is no more backing down from my decision. I have to do this for my well-being. I know it may look stupid, but living with Eli is not a good idea. I don't even know if I'll last a day with him in the same house without any of us trying to touch the other. Our mating bond will always work for us and that's what I'm scared of. "I'm sorry, Eli. I know you mean well, but I have to do this on my own. If you want me to forgive you for what you did, then maybe let me process my emotions first and let me cope with it. I can't just act strong and be unbothered by what happened between us. I am not that tough." "I know, and I apologize, Ariella. But please, tell me when something feels off or if you want to go somewhere alone, please consider calling for me." I nodded. "Okay, I'll do that. But let me draw a line between us, Eli, because if I am being honest with you, I am preparing for a life without anyone beside me. Not even being with a mate. And if you are really sorry for what you did to me, you will respect my decisions, Eli." *** What I said to Eli that night must have hurt him a lot because a full day has already passed and he hasn't shown up to me yet. He definitely wasn't happy when I told him my actual goal. But can he really blame me? It's not like I was only doing this just to spite him. It was weird without him though. At work, I would catch myself looking at the screen on my phone just to check if I had a message from him. But my phone was quiet, and when I finished work there was no one waiting for me outside the restaurant. Even David noticed this, so he offered to walk me home instead. I reluctantly agreed since it's still dangerous outside. We took a detour at a convenience store to get some drinks, and we sat outside and talked. The owner of the store gave us some free sandwiches as it turned out he was David's friend, so we had to eat them before going home. "Did your boyfriend leave already?" David asked me out of the blue. I was chugging my beer when he asked that so I almost choked. "You seemed very sad today. I guess he really did leave already." "Oh please. He's not my boyfriend." "What? I thought something was going on between you two," said David like it was nothing. It will always puzzle me how boys could say these things so casually. "Nope. We are not a thing, David." He looked at me as if trying to catch the lie in my face. "But he likes you. So is it, wait, what do people call it nowadays? Ah yes, unrequited love? Terms these days confuse the hell out of me, it's ridiculous." I laughed. "Why do you say it like that? You talk like you're an old person. And I don't think it's a trendy term the young people say these days." "Don't change the topic, Ariella. Tell me the story. Because I know that Eli likes you. I'm a guy, you know. I could see the way he looked at you. He even acts like I'm a threat to him." He laughed too after he told me that, but it only made me feel worse. I guess I was too harsh on Eli, huh? But again, was there a better way to say what I said to him? "W-Well, I guess he does like me," I admitted then finished my can of beer in one gulp. "And it's not technically unrequited either. I used to like him when we were younger, but things happened between us and we drifted apart. And now here we are." "Hmmm. So there's an external issue involved. Let me guess, you liked him before but he didn't like you back. But now that he likes you, you no longer like him? Is that why you left your town? To move on from him? But just like magic, he suddenly realized his feelings for you when you left, and now is stupidly chasing you. But you're already done with him, so now he's gone?" I laughed way too hard at his wild guess. "You could write a book about that, David." "What? Am I not correct?" I shook my head. "Not really. You're very close though." "I see. At least I wasn't completely off. But let me get this straight, Ariella. Do you not like him anymore? Is that why he left? Because you finally told him to stop wooing you?" I took a deep breath and just stared into the distance because that was a freaking hard question to answer. "I really don't know the answer to that either. I think I need more time to think about the answer to that. Thank you for asking me that, though. But yes, I kind of pushed him away already. Maybe he's back home now. Who knows?" "I see. As I see it, you're sad that he left so that means you must still like him enough to feel that way." "I guess so." I didn't want to admit it, but here I am now feeling so stupid that I was heartbroken that Eli decided to leave me already. The alcohol made me feel worse too because I wanted to hit myself. "It's alright. Cheer up, Ariella. Look, the full moon is so pretty," said David, but that made me shiver in fear because I couldn't let the moonlight shine on me with a human with me!