Roman’s POV
She stood there, holding the mask like a judge delivering a death sentence. The very mask I had worn to hide my identity from the world-and from her. But now, there was no hiding. 300 years holding this storm of emotions in, 300 years hating her from afar. Why was destiny this cruel, to give me back the very woman who’d broken my heart and turned me into this monster. And yet, here she was, in my office, looking at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. Her scent, a mix of wildflowers and rain, surrounded me, pulling me into a memory I had no right to hold onto.
“It’s you,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “You saw my face, and that’s why you ran. It’s you. You’re…”
I stepped forward, my voice cutting her off with the truth she already knew. “Yes, Jacky. I’m your mate.”
“My mate,” she repeated. She looked down at the mask in her hands, then back at me. “That’s been clear since the first moment we met, you’re the one who didn’t know. But…” Her voice faltered, and a new kind of horror dawned in her eyes. “Oh Goddess, you’re the man I slept with that night? The man behind this mask? The man I dream about everyday.”
Dreams? The mention of that twists a dagger inside me. I too had dreams of her. Now that I’m looking at her, it’s as if darkness has been lifted from my eyes. It was her. Jacky. She’s the girl I’ve been dreaming of every day. Was it just memory? “Yes,” I admitted. “It was me.”
Her knees buckled, and she stumbled back against the desk for support. “No… no, that’s not possible. This can’t-”
“Stop,” I growled, the sound harsher than I intended. I took another step forward, closing the distance between us. “Don’t act like this wasn’t written in the stars the moment you were born. You and I-this twisted bond-it’s the Goddess’s curse.”
Jacky flinched, her tears now falling freely as she shook her head. “You knew,” she whispered. “You knew it was me, didn’t you? That’s why you ran. You couldn’t even look at me.”
I clenched my fists, my jaw tightening as her words sliced through me. “I ran because the sight of you makes me sick,” I snarled. “Do you know what it’s like to be bound to the one person you swore to hate for eternity? To feel this… pull, this need for someone who destroyed everything good in you?”
Her expression crumpled, and for a brief moment, I hated myself more than I hated her. But the anger-oh, the anger-was stronger.
“Destroyed?” she repeated, her voice shaking. “What are you talking about? What reason could you have to hate an innocent person so much? You killed my sister, if anyone should hate the other, it should be me.”
My laugh was hollow, bitter. “Your sister was just a means to get you here. You’re who I’ve always wanted to torture.”
“But why? What did I ever do to you”
“YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!” She startled, looking at me with utter fear in her eyes.
“W.. what?” She cried out.
“Of course, you wouldn’t remember. Why would you? You were always so good at walking away without a second glance.”
Her brows furrowed, then she started to cry. “I… I don’t understand.”
I leaned closer, towering over her. The pain and rag of centuries e boiled to the surface. “You broke me, Jacky. Three hundred years ago, you stood by and let me fall. You watched as I lost everything-my family, my pack, my humanity. And now, you come back as if nothing happened, as if we’re strangers meeting for the first time.”
She recoiled as if I had struck her, her hands gripping the edge of the desk for support. “That’s not fair,” she whispered. “You don’t have to blame me for things that don’t even make sense. Me and You, Roman, we don’t know each other the way you wish we did. You’re looking for someone to blame for your monstrosity. – Oh…Oh goddess, you killed Eloise for nothing. You’re delusional.”
She doubled over and fell on her knees. She covered her mouth as she whimpered and cried. The sight of her in pain gave me the satisfaction I was craving. “You did everything!” I roared, coming closer. “You stood there and chose to do nothing while I burned, while everything I cared about was torn from me. And now… now you have the audacity to stand here and cry? After making me love you then abandoning me?”
Her tears stopped, replaced by something else-anger. “I don’t remember any of that,” she snapped, her voice rising to meet mine. “Whatever you think happened, I don’t remember it. But don’t you dare stand there and blame me for things I can’t even defend myself against. You have this twisted version of the truth that is simply impossible. You are a sick man who enjoys hurting others. Eloise was innocent!”
“Well so was Valerie!” I shouted back, and I saw her face change.
“Valerie.”
I stepped outside my office, pulling Valerie from the corridors. I gripped her hand, bringing her into the room. Jacky looked at her like she’d just been stabbed in the heart. “You’re the reason my sister lost her power. You’re the reason she’s as weak as a human. Why she can’t shift. It’s all you, Jacky. It was only right I pay you back by killing your sister.”
“What? What’s this all about? What are you talking about?” I left my sister, walking over to my mate. I crouched down to reach Jacky’s face. I wiped her tears, looking deep into her eyes.
“Remember who you were 300 years ago. Remember all the despicable things you did. You don’t get to have been a monster only to forget all the bad parts. Some of us don’t have the option of blocking bad memories away. We don’t have the option of forming new identities.”
The moment my hands touched her face, three centuries of buried memories exploded between us.