Chapter 33

A Single Tear YILEYNA Raiden had told Charlene and me to head below deck soon after that, I didn’t see Theon again. Hours had passed, and when I felt the ship slow and the coldness grow, I knew we had probably reached the pass. “I’m just going to go check on how things are.” I told Charlene, standing up. “You shouldn’t go out there, it’s dangerous.” “I told them to take the pass, I should be up there.

There’s a split several miles in, I just want to make sure they know where they are going.” “You told the captain that already.” She protested, clearly not wanting me to go up. “I know, but just in case. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, my queen.” I gave her my best innocent smile, wanting her approval, and after a moment she sighed. “Fine!” She crossed her arms, huffing in annoyance. I winked at her before opening the door, leaving her with the book that she had been reading. “I need a book prince to come to life and keep me company.” Charlene pouted as I was about to shut the door. “Oh? Who’s the charmer in that one?” I asked curiously. “Declan of House Storm. He is perfect, cocky and mocking, yet charming.” Charlene sighed dreamily. 10 “Ah, His Caged Princess.” I smiled before shutting the door and walking down the hall, unable to stop the shiver that ran through me. 6 Goddess! It was freezing out here.

I rubbed my arms which were only covered in the thin white cotton of my top. I climbed up onto the deck and looked around.

Everyone who was here was silent, so silent that I could hear the water rippling loudly. The few lanterns that were alight didn’t help much against the darkness that enveloped us. A few of the men were holding weapons as they looked out at the looming ice mountains that were beginning to close around us. Madelia and Sam were scanning the surroundings sharply, as if ready to use their powers if needs be.

I saw Theon standing next to Flynn at the helm, and I walked towards them. The sound of my heels against the floor and the creaking of wood made a few of them glance at me. The silence was deafening, I could hear my own heartbeat. “You should be below deck.” Theon’s cold voice came without even turning towards me.

“I just wanted to make sure we take the correct turn ahead. There’s two, the other one will be too narrow.”

“We know that.” Theon replied, his voice suddenly sounding much colder, 33 A Single lear “Ok... great...” I turned, ready to walk away, when I made the mistake of looking into his smouldering eyes A wave of pain rushed through me, I hated how I couldn’t live without him, I hated how I wanted his arms around me... his lips on mine. But I also hated how he hurt me with his words, time and again...

“There’s a morbid story about this area, one I heard took place years ago.” Raiden remarked, coming over and giving me a warm smile.

“A story?” I asked, curious to hear it before I had to go.

I watched him scan the area.

“Yeah, I was trying to remember where I heard of the mountain pass. A long time ago, one of the most haunting tragedies of the sea took place right here. Apparently, a siren single handedly took out all the passengers and crew on board, including an Alpha’s Luna and his children.”

“Single-handed?” Madelia asked sharply, glancing at Raiden.

“Aiy, I know the story.” Flynn scratched his jaw. “But it’s hearsay, it isn’t confirmed it was here.”

I glanced at Theon, who was silent. His back, which was towards us, was rigid as he stared out at the water.

“There are only a few sirens who would have that much power.” Cleo responded thoughtfully. “Yes, she must have been from the imperial family then. They say they can control the very sea and even the weather to do their bidding.” Bobbie added, his voice ominous in the darkness that surrounded us. 1 “The imperials. The one family that rules the seven seas...” Flynn sighed. “Let’s not talk about omens, come on, focus!”

“I’ll be back.” Theon said quietly to Flynn, his voice as emotionless as ever.

The captain nodded, scanning his crew as he scolded and shouted out a few orders, telling everyone to get back to work. My gaze followed Theon, who was heading towards the back of the ship. He was acting strange... I couldn’t stop myself. Even when my legs began carrying me down the path he had just taken with my head screaming at me to stop, I didn’t. He was there, leaning against the side, his head lowered, his back to me. My heart was racing and I wondered what he was thinking, the urge to ask him if everything was ok was on the tip of my lips when he spoke. “What do you want?” I blinked, shaking my head to clear it. I walked over to him, keeping a good three feet between us and leaned against the edge of the boat, tilting my head so I could see his face. “Are you ok? You seem...” I couldn’t say upset or stressed; he would deny it. “Tense or something.”

“It’s your crazy imagination that thinks that.” He replied, his eyes meeting mine. My heart skipped a beat and I nodded, looking away first. “Ok..if you say so. Are you worried about the journey? I have a good feeling that we’ll be ok, look we survived a siren attack and a Kraken attack. This is an adventure that one day we can tell others about. You know werewolves prefer land, so there are many who would never have experienced what we have. Adventures to always remember.” 1 “Adventures? Are near-death experiences a game to you, Yileyna?”

My heart thudded as I looked at him, not understanding why suddenly anger seemed to rage within him.

“They are conquests that we have come out victorious from.” I replied, feeling tense as if I was taking an exam and one wrong word would result in him getting angry. I hated it, and it only told me that I was right. Avoiding Theon was the smartest thing to do. If I had to be careful around someone like this... then that was a big warning in itself. “Conquests...” He scoffed, his eyes full of contempt as he looked me square in the eye. “And what about those who die? Are they a part of the conquests you speak of?”

I frowned. “No one died. That’s why I said they were adventures... Theon, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He replied coldly, looking away, running his hand through his hair. Something was wrong even if he didn’t want to talk about it. “Ok, if you just want to talk ever... I’m here.” I said hesitantly, pushing away from the edge, I turned away when he called me. “Yileyna.”

I paused, my heart skipping a beat as I turned back towards him. He was still looking out at the water.

“Hmm?”

“What I said to Charlene, it wasn’t right.” He replied, glancing up at the towering mountains. My eyes widened in surprise, I wasn’t expecting that from him. I remained silent. If he wanted to apologise, then I wasn’t going to say it was fine. Show me what you’ve got.

“I know it doesn’t justify what I said, but my intention was never to hurt you.”

“Then what was your intention, Theon?” He moved away from the edge, his dangerously sexy eyes on me as he advanced. “To hurt her.” He replied quietly as he stood before me, towering over me, making my heart thud from a thousand things.

I sighed, shaking my head. “Hurting Charlene, hurts me, just the way attacking me would upset her. So directly or i indirectly, you still hurt me.” I said quietly, my voice sounding more breathless than it was 33 A Single lear meant to.

He was standing too close, I needed him to move back but I wasn’t going to move and show him he was getting to me.

“I didn’t mean to.”

Our eyes were locked, and despite a thousand things I wanted to scream at him, I couldn’t. His attempt at an apology had thrown me off. So, I simply nodded. “Don’t do that again.” 1) “I can’t promise that, but I can promise that I will try not to insult you.” His face was emotionless, his eyes hard as he held my gaze. 1)

“Well, I’ll see how long that lasts, but... I don’t think I want to continue with our agreement.” My voice ended in a whisper, the pain in my chest suffocating me. Why did it feel like we were breaking up? We weren’t even together; we didn’t even really go through with our agreement... That night was all we had...

His eyes softened slightly, and he nodded.

“Yeah, I don’t think we should. Like I said, I would destroy you.” His husky reply came, his gaze dipped to my breasts for a moment before he closed the small gap that was left between us. My breath hitched, but before I could put more distance between us, his hands cupped my face.

Neither of us spoke, simply gazing into the other’s eyes. His attention flickered to my lips for a split second.

I knew he could hear my heartbeat and I could hear his... both beating as one.

I didn’t move, my stomach fluttering as we stood there so close... yet so far away. “You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve seen.” He whispered, before he pressed his lips against mine. 5 A small gasp escaped me, making my eyes flutter shut as pleasure swirled through me like a storm, igniting a thousand emotions within me. His lips moved against mine slowly, as if trying to memorise the feel of my own.

The way his lips felt... the way his touch consumed me... But before I could kiss him back, he had stepped back, letting go of me. “Go below deck.” He commanded quietly as our eyes met, once more his were as cold and hard as ever.

He turned and began to walk away, not waiting for a reply, leaving me standing there with a million emotions coursing through me. Why? Why did you show me there’s more to you when you pushed me away? I raised a hand to my chest, trying to control the pain I was feeling deep inside. A single tear trickled from my eye. I refuse to cry. Reaching up, I wiped it away and stared down at my fingertip, my teardrop glittering like a single jewel.

Why was something that was caused by pain so beautiful?

“Theon... what are we?” I whispered into the night sky.

“Heaven and Hell.” His faint reply came and I froze, not realising he had heard me. 2 I turned just in time to see him vanish around the corner, leaving me feeling so very alone, all over again... (A/N – Today marks exactly one year since I first signed my first ever book on GN, I am hosting a giveaway on my ins ta if anyone wished to follow before I launch it. Thank you)