His Broken Promises
1355 Words
...Cyra's Apartment
But Damien, he did not sleep.
He was disturbed, alongside his worried wolf. Valen worried about his mate, who was sleeping peacefully beside him.
He watched Cyra as her breathing evened out, remaining awake. He reached out with one hand to stroke her hair absent-minded. He had the other sprawled over her stomach, possessively.
He kept staring at her ceiling, which had little shiny stars all over it, his mind in turmoil. The conflicting emotions that warred inside of him were due to the fact that he had given in to temptation that was Cyra, again.
He had made promises to himself after that night. And despite still knowing better, he had still found himself backsliding, unable to resist that insane pull towards her.
And now, he would have to leave.
Again.
He would have to walk away from her before he made things worse. And especially before she became collateral damage in a war that she knew nothing about.
"You can not do that," Valen whispered to him.
"Yes, I can, I have no choice," he replied to his wolf, remorseful.
"You should have never come with her again," he snapped.
"I know Valen. I regret it."
And when the dawn finally came, he carefully crept out of bed. His body instantly missed her warmth and that scent of lavender.
But he ignored the physical ache and moved across the room, picking up his clothes had had hastily been discarded.
He pulled them on while trying his best not to wake her, fighting an internal battle with Valen, who wanted him to stay.
He could not find his shirt and he left, going to check the living room. He pulled it one, realizing that it was missing a few buttons. He took his car keys and prepared to stealthily leave the house.
And just before he could take another step, he was stopped by a voice, soft and unmistakable.
"Leaving again?" He instantly froze up, tensing.
He turned slowly to find Crya living against the wall, just behind him. She stood there, naked, with her hair tousled from sleep and her lips still swollen from their shared kisses.
But her face was blank and only her eyes betrayed her. It was burning with something that he could not -would not-name.
"Cyra," he began even as the words died in his throat. What was there for him to say that would make this any better?
"Do not even try," she cut him off in a surprisingly steady voice even as fury rose in her. "Do you not think that I deserve better than all of these, at least?"
Damien sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. The gesture caused his shirt to open further and Cyra tried to control the feeling that came with it.
"I- I have to go," he finally told her, the words sounding inadequate even to his own ears.
"Of course you do." She scoffed before she let out a bitter laugh. He could feel her pain. "Just like always," she finished.
Valen rose inside of him, urging him to tell her the truth. But, he suppressed him, wanting to do nothing that could endanger her.
"It is better this way," he lied through his teeth. Her eyes narrowed with pain.
"Better for whom?" "You?" She demanded. "It should be you, because this s**t sure hurts as hell for me." Her voice cracked on the last word. Her hair spilled forward as she moved closer.
He took an involuntary step toward her, drawn by the pain that she showed. "Stay with her," Valen's voice filled his head.
"I can not," he replied as a thought in his head.
"I am leaving, goodbye," he told her, stepping back.
"Why?" She snapped, grabbing his wrists. "Why are you so afraid of this thing between us?" Her eyes scanned his, searching for answers in them. But she could not see it. The truth was that he wasn't ready to give.
"You do not understand what is at stake, Cyra," he whispered, his gaze dropping to the ground.
"Then tell me," she begged, quite desperately. "Whatever it is, I am sure that we can figure it out."
"We can not." There was a finality in his tone that broke her heart, shattered it to pieces.
Valen howled in pain, wishing that he could tell her. But she was in danger, and the truth would only put her in more danger. He could not risk her. It was better she stayed hidden in plain sight.
"I can not be more than a fling?" she asked.
He nodded.
He watched her expression harden, that hurt crystallizing into anger.
"Get out!"
He hesitated at her words, caught between desire and duty.
He was trapped between his head and his heart.
"Go!" "Leave!" she shouted as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "If you are going to leave this time, then do it properly!"
"Cyra I know-"
"If you walk out that door, do not come back, Damien!" His chest tightened in pain, his wolf feeling her distress.
But he had to do this, if not for his own, for her sake.
He needed to sever their unlucky connection before it would destroy both of them.
So he did what he had to do.
He gathered his courage, his face becoming hard lines. He recalled every lesson he had learned in detachment and fortified himself with the knowledge.
He had to protect her even if it meant hurting her.
Then, he met her gaze with a face that was devoid of emotion.
"I think you should know that you were only a cheap thrill Cyra," he spat coldly at her, "a diversion to channel my lust!"
Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. He could see the hurt that cracked across her face.
Each of his words was chosen to wound her and to push her away permanently.
"Our nights together meant nothing! I just wanted to have a taste of you. And now that I have done so, I am done with you."
That lie was the cruelest thing that he had ever said to anyone. But, it served its purpose.
The sound of a hard slap echoed in the room. His cheeks were burning with the sting of his welcome punishment.
She stared at him, breathing hard, her chest heaving with the weight of her emotions. Her hands were still in the air from when she had struck him.
She regretted the night that she had ever met him and every single feeling of worthlessness that had come with their encounter.
Tears clouded her sight, but she did not let them fall. She refused to give him the satisfaction of ever seeing her break.
“You are disgusting,” she said in a trembling voice.
He shrugged.
“Think whatever you want to think. It does not change anything.”
He hated himself for what he was doing to her. But he knew that it was the only way.
"You are a bastard!" she pointed out with unshed tears. "I wish I had never met you."
The words struck Damien harder than her slap, regret flickering in his eyes. But he knew that it would be better to allow her to believe that his words were true, to simply let her hate him.
“Get out!” she screamed. “Get out of my house and out of my life!" "Don't you ever come back!”
And so, without another word, he turned away and walked out of her home, shutting the door behind him with a quiet click.
This somehow hurt Cyra more than if he had just slammed it.
Damien did not look back.
He could not afford to.
He knew that if he did, if he saw her standing there, wrapped in tears and broken promises, he could never have the strength to leave her again.
And that was something that neither of them could afford.
He clenched his fists and kept walking. He had broken her heart, but he had also protected her -or at least he hoped so.
- Writer
