Collide⚔

Chapter 22

Jisoo's P. O. V

After another hour of wandering the streets and an hour of driving around for a tour we finally got back home. I said my goodbye and thank you to Aerin and quickly walked inside before she remembers another story to tell me.

Aerin is a great woman. In some ways she reminds me about my mother. But I'm hungry and dying to see Taehyung. When I got into the house, it was dark. I smelled the air and frown. Taehyung was just here, why would he be in the dark? The smell of food comes to me and j follow the scent. On the dining table there are at least twenty different candles burning brightly. Taehyung is standing next to the table and smiles at me softly. I smile back, but mine is stiff. Seeing him only reminds me of what he must looked like when he lost Lia.

"She told you." It's a statement not a question, yet I nod to confirm. Taehyung's face immediately falls and he turns to walk away.

"You can't walk away from me. Not now. We must talk about this." In one swift motion he turns around and stares at me.

"We mustn't speak of anything. This is none of your concern. I am your mate as you're mine. End of the story." Okay... Now I'm reconsider my empathy for him.
I rolled my eyes at him.

"I know this must be hard to talk about, but it's affecting our relationship. So it is of my concern and we will talk about it. Sit down." The vein in his forehead pops out again, but he does sit down. "Thank you. Not only for having this talk with me, but also for all this." I spread my arms to point all the candles around me. The food thats coming from underneath the silver lid smells great. I lift it up a little trying to see what's underneath. Taehyung clears his throat and I quickly pull my hand back. Despite the tension in the air he smiled. This time I genuinely return his smile.

"You can eat." His voice is amused and I almost saw my future with him, Us every night at the table teasing each other. My thoughts slowly turned into sad ones.

"She was a hero." I said silently. I looked down at my plate, different kinds of meat spread over it with a side of potato salad. I felt Taehyung's eyes burn into my head. "If she hasn't killed those rouges, who knows what damage they would've done. She was a hero." This time I do look at Taehyung. The candle lights makes his tears in his eyes shimmer. "Though it hurts, the memory of her should be heroism. Not one of hate and pain."  Taehyung kept eating in silence, but I know he is listening to me. "I'm sorry, it broke your heart. I'm sorry that you lost her and a part of yourself that day. I'm sorry that life has been this cruel to you. But I don't feel sorry for her. She fought, she deliberately fought. She didn't go inside and hide. This is what she wanted, to protect her people.... To protect you and her brother. She is a hero and she always will be." After few seconds I picked up my fork and started to eat. For a long time there is nothing but silence.

"All this time.... I felt so much pain, helplessness, hate towards my father, hate towards the world. It didn't occur to me once to think of her in such a way as you did. My selfishness never honoured her. Not when she was alive, not when now she is no more." I looked at him through my eyelashes and saw a single tear escaping his eyes. It took all my willpower to stay in my chair, but I don't want to scare him off.

"Thank you. Thank you for understanding. Thank you for giving me the light." I heard his chair scrape over the floor so I looked at him. He took his plate and move to the seat next to me. "Thank you for understanding you can't possibly be a warrior. Why I can't go through that again." Wait what? What's this idiot is saying? My muscles tensed and I stopped chewing. I swallow down all the meats I have in my mouth at once.

"I'm not going to quit being a warrior." I said tensed. Immediately annoyance written on his face. "She died a hero, she died doing something instead of being locked up in a tower watching down at how others die. I'll never be that wolf, I'll never be that witch. If that happens I'll never be able to live. If such time comes that I must fight, I will. I can't stand on the sideline. We will be the King and Queen of not only this pack but all the wolves. We will take an oath to protect them, care for them and help them." I said reasoning my thoughts.

Taehyung stabbed his fork on the very expensive looking dining table.

"I am your Alpha, I am your Prince. Without me you hold no title. You'll do as I say. If I have to place you in a dungeon, I will. This is non negotiable, Jisoo. It never was nor will it ever be."

I'm so pissed right now, I can already feel the flames in me trying to burst out. I put the knife down, afraid that if I keep holding it I might end up stabbing my own Mate. I grab his hand instead, tingles forming my own whole arm.

"Do you feel that? This is the bond flowing through us. The bond that is supposed to make us love each other, respect each other, see each other as equal." I pulled back my hand, "I'm truly sorry for what happened, but I'm not her. And if you'd rather have her, you should have thought about that before marking me. As long as you don't respect me I will not respect you. Right now you act like a pup that's used to getting his way done. Well guess what? I also have fought for what I want in my whole life. I have already been through all this with my father, being downgraded because I'm a woman. Being denied what I want because of the fear of someone else. I don't care what you do, but I'm going to continue doing what I was born to do." With that I stood up, my chair falling backwards. "Now, if you'll excuse me I'm tired." I walked out of the room, ignoring Taehyung's call for me.

I ran upstairs tears streaming down my face. I ran into Taehyung's bedroom and quickly grab some clothes and my charger. Dashing down the halls I found a guestroom with a lock. Locking myself in i fall onto the bed, crying in the pillow.