Page 21

Haden

A s I shut the front door of our home after my family left, all I could think about was Storm’s mood today.

My family stayed all day, cooking, eating, and going outside to plan more projects for the property.

That was when I noticed Storm becoming distant.

Any time I asked her for an opinion on something, she would give me a fake smile and agree to it.

I didn’t want to address it until after my parents left.

When I returned to the kitchen, I hugged her against me as we swayed slightly. Della buried her face into my chest and held on tightly.

“Whatever you seem worried about, you can tell me. You can tell me anything,” I finally said.

Della’s eyes widened as she stared at me. Did she think she was hiding her emotions well? Her mind seemed distant, like she was thinking about something terrible.

“Sometimes I wonder if I should have never gone to Kizar in your last life.” Her voice was just above a whisper. “You could have a completely different life if I didn’t mess with fate.”

“We are where we were always supposed to be—together.”

I frowned when tears started spilling from her eyes silently. She gripped me tightly as shaky breaths left her. After a minute I pulled back, and she frowned at me.

“Is this because of Remiah?”

She shook her head. What was she beating herself up over? I could see the worry and fear in her eyes before she looked away from me. Her hands twisted in front of her. She was anxious about something. Della looked up at me again, her eyes taking in everything about me.

“What if you could have been happy without me? I always wonder about that. If I didn’t rewrite the fate of both of us, would that have been better for you ?” she asked.

“Where is this coming from? You know that we were true mates. The stars tried to keep us apart because they know I do not deserve you. You giving me the mating bond back was your way of fixing fate, not rewriting it.”

“The stars did not do that. The heavens did. The stars do not have real power.” She hesitated for a moment. “Have you ever spoken to the stars before?”

“I’ve cursed them.” I smiled softly when she chuckled. “Although it sounds like maybe I should have been cursing the heavens.”

“I know you and your siblings are angry with the old gods too.” Her smile fell when I nodded. “They're the ones who damned you to Hell for the sins of your parents.”

“Yes, I know. We can’t find them, though, and if I’m being honest, I am losing interest in helping my siblings get revenge.”

Della sighed heavily as she looked away. “Your siblings do not know you are mated to me or that your curse is broken. If they find out, they will never let you live in peace.”

“I’m working on a plan to figure that out,” I said truthfully. “They will never allow me to live happily with you. We will always be looking over our shoulder, and our children would not be safe either.”

“So if there was a way to make them go away for good, would you do it?” Her gaze met mine with a new curiosity in them.

“Do you know a way to get rid of them for good?” I asked.

“No, but if I found one, would you be upset if I killed them all for good?” Her head tilted to the side as if I would be upset by her question.

“No, I hate them,” I said truthfully.

She looked like she might argue about it, but instead she nodded and kissed me.

“Are you in danger or something? Is that what is wrong with you?”

Della chuckled softly, trying to throw me off, but I could see past it. Something was wrong, and whatever it was, it was serious.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you aren’t. I’m not an idiot. I know you… you are terrible at hiding from me. Please just tell me.”

Her fake smile fell, and she looked so full of guilt.

“I lied to you,” she started, and I felt my heart beating quickly. Whatever she did, I would forgive, but that did not help my anxiety. “I met you once a long time ago.”

I looked at her oddly.

“I had seen you in Akecia before, and I was desperate to get your attention. But you always seemed so distracted.”

I watched her as she fidgeted with the ring on her finger.

“When was this?”

“You know. I know you remember. You thought you wiped my memories, but you didn’t.”

“You remember that day?” I asked, confused. “I did wipe your memories."

Della began pacing in front of me and looked up at me. I watched as she looked scared. She took a long breath as if working up her courage.

“You can’t wipe my memories.” She stopped pacing and watched my reaction. I opened my mouth and closed it. “It doesn’t work on me. I think because I am your mate.”

“That would have been nice to know earlier.” I smiled slightly. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because it was clear that you wanted me to not remember, so I let you think I couldn’t,” she confessed. “Are you upset that I lied to you?”

“No. You were quite flirty with me that day, Storm.” I grinned.

Her cheeks flushed as she stared at me.

“I followed you to see Avesh.” She blurted out.

Gods, she was full of damn secrets. “I saw you demand to know how to transfer a bond. That always bugged me because we had one. You saw it that day too. It was faint, like the heavens didn’t want us to see it.

So why did you want to know how to transfer it?

Was it because you did not want to be mated to me? ”

Oh shit, this is what she was worried about?

“Because I figured one of the higher powers would do something to it. Gods aren’t supposed to be mated to other gods.

I asked because as soon as they fucked with our bond, I was going to make sure I was the only man you were bonded to.

I would rip apart anyone to get that bond.

But then you told me it was in Holden, and I could not kill him.

That's why I was so upset that day. I knew Holden was such a better man than me, but I also loved him. They gave it to the one man I wouldn’t kill. ”

“That is why you were so angry?”

“Yes.” I frowned. “Holden would have treated you well, Storm, and I love him. I would never hurt him for the bond.” I frowned at her. “You’ve known this entire time who I was.”

I turned and paced around the room, watching my mate, not realizing that she knew this whole time who and what I was. She loved me this whole time. I didn’t have to be so damn secretive with her over this.

“I knew the moment I saw you.” She watched me with curious eyes.

“I knew when I saw that faint bond between us. It was the heavens that did not want us to be together because of what your parents did. But I knew that even the heavens were not going to keep me from you. Gods don’t get to be mated, especially a God of Hell and a god from the heavens.

I’m sure they were worried that you and I would go down the same path your parents did. ”

“Fuck, Della. I wish you would have said something.” I stared at her. She had been very good at hiding this from me. “I was trying so hard to hide it because I did not think you could love me back. I thought you would send me straight back to Hell and get a different mate.”

“I know you wanted to use me to fall from the grace of the heavens to break your curse.” She swallowed hard. “I didn’t say anything because I figured you would love me enough to back out of it, and you did.”

“You are too understanding about all of this.” My face fell. “Why aren’t you more angry?”

She smirked. “I guess I trusted the fact that you said you loved me. Although I did not enjoy being apart from you for the past few years, I had a feeling when the void side of you resurfaced that you would understand why I did what I did—that you would forgive me. The only thing I am upset about is that you knew you were going to die—that you would come back to me. You should have told me because those nearly 300 years almost killed me, Haden. If you would have told me that you’d be coming back, it would have been easier for me. ”

She was watching me closely with grief in her pretty eyes.

“I had one brief vision that I found you again in another life. I honestly did not know if it would be my next life or four lifetimes away. There was no way I could tell you, Della. You and I both know that you would have stopped it, and I needed to die. I wanted to because I knew whatever you did that night would make me yours. That is all I have ever wanted—to be yours.”

Della’s body relaxed as her gaze shifted over all of me.

“No man would ever give me what you have. You know that you are the only man I have looked at, right? I have never doubted that you were the perfect one for me.”

I could hear the sincerity in her voice. Della truly meant what she was saying.

“Yes, and you know you are the only woman I have looked at or ever will. My eyes and heart have never wandered from you, even before I ever met you. Something deep inside of my soul knew we were waiting for you.”

Her chest was rising and falling in steady breaths. The air was filled with tension and longing.

“Can we finish what we started this morning?”

I smiled. “I’ve been thinking about it all day.”

Della smiled at me as her eyes flashed white. Fuck, I will never have my fill of her.

“Take your clothes off, Storm.”

She obeyed immediately. She stood in front of me completely naked, and I let my greedy eyes fall down the length of her body. Della was perfect, from her smooth skin to her curvy body. When my gaze met hers, I saw her waiting patiently for once.

“Come here,” I demanded.

She listened without hesitation. Slowly, I grabbed the collar of my tunic and stripped it off, exposing my bare chest. Della’s greedy eyes looked over me before she gave me a smirk.

I kicked off my boots and stepped up to her. She lifted her hands to touch me, but I caught her wrists and yanked her to me. Her eyes flashed white, letting me know she liked my roughness. Her chest pressed against mine, and I couldn’t help the warmth that filled me.