The Blade

Chapter Sixteen - Emelia

                        Emelia

        She didn’t have any friends there so in her time of turmoil she had to comfort herself. Her own feet brought her outside and away from Damien while her own arms wrapped around her body.

        Stop acting like you are so alone. I’m permanently trapped in your body, remember? Sage’s attempt at cracking a joke only had Emelia rolling her eyes.

        “I don’t want him to love me. I know I don’t love him. I’m getting better at it, you know? Deciding whether I feel things because of me or because of the mate bond. Like when he freaked out, I wanted to comfort him. Me. Sure, you encouraged me, but it was my choice. I wanted it,” Emelia’s eyebrows were scrunched, staring at the ground in frustration, “But I can feel the pull of him constantly. It’s so…sultry. It wants me to be with him in every way possible. It wanted me to say I loved him back.”

        I felt it too, when he took it back. Right in my chest, her voice was soft and less confident than Emelia had ever heard it.

        “Luca surely feels differently, right? Damien’s words to me shouldn’t affect you, Sage,” Emelia tried to sooth the being she had grown so accustomed to.

        Damien is an extension of Luca just as Luca is an extension of Damien. Of course it would affect me, just as it would hurt you if Luca said he didn’t love you, the wolf said. Emelia mulled over the thought, having a hypothetical pain in her chest at the thought.

        “But I don’t love him, Sage. Sure, it all gets jumbled and he sure as hell doesn’t help me sort it out, but I don’t love him,” Emelia leaned back on the tree she had sat down in front of. Her eyes looked up, examining the blue sky and the tree tops and how well the colors complimented each other. She wished Damien and her were like that. She hoped that one day they could work together better than they did now.

        You’re more alike than you both like to realize, Sage chuckled.

        “Whatever happened to opposites attract? A quiet man with no stubborn streak would’ve been a much better match for me,” Emelia muttered, though she knew the words were false. There was no doubt that Emelia would have never ended up with a man that barely possessed a spine. She needed someone who challenged her, but Damien took it another step further. He infuriated her.

        You make him crazy too and you know it, Sage’s tone was scolding.

        “How am I supposed to talk to him after this?” Emelia huffed.

        Forget what just happened. Move past it. Whether he loves you right now or not, he will get over it. You will too. Some things don’t need to be discussed as long as both parties know they were at fault, Sage advised.

        “You’re so wise. I used to be wise, you know. People would come to me from all over the world just for a single piece of advice. Ever since I got here it’s like I lost the bite to my bark,” Emelia thought about her words and noticed the pun. Smiling she said, “Sorry.”

        Take it back, then, Emelia.

        “Okay, I take the joke back,” Emelia giggled.

        I mean take back your bite, Emelia imagined a wolf rolling its eyes at her.

        “Oh, right. Of course. How do you reckon I go about that?”