Page 46 of Protecting His Treasure

Kaede continued walking. The snow was falling much harder now than it had been when he first came to the Frozen Forest. Yet, he didn’t feel the cold. He didn’t feel the icicles beneath his feet. Neither did he feel the snow falling against his skin.

“I want to spend Christmas with my mate,” Kaede told his dragon. “I want to spend as much time with her as I can before we… end it all.”

She will blame herself for the rest of her life.

“Before I end it, I’ll make sure she hates me.” Tears dripped down his cheeks. “Before I end it, I’ll force her to sever ties with me, that way she can go on living without me.”

If we are blessed to live another life, I want to spend it cherishing her.

“Me too…” A sob escaped him. Kaede stopped to lean against a tree. Unable to hold it in any longer, he let the tears fall. Kaede slid down the tree. The bark dug into his back, peeling away skin. He didn’t feel the pain from it. The pain in his heart was too strong to let anything else in.

It’s my fault, his dragon roared. It’s all my fault.

Kaede couldn’t reply, all he could do was cry.

“You look how I feel.”

Kaede raised his head to stare up at Rhen. Why did it have to be him? Kaede wiped away his tears.

“Don’t be ashamed about crying. Especially not this close to the full moon. Still no idea how to protect Sin, huh?” Rhen stretched his hand out.

Kaede took it and let the vampire help him to his feet. “I know a way.”

“Suicide?”

Kaede nodded. “It’s the only way.”

“The things we do for love.” Rhen rubbed his head. That’s when Kaede noticed the vampire had cut his hair off.

“You shaved your head?”

“Like I said, the things we do for love.”

“Your mate asked you to shave your head off?”

“No. Her crazy ass shaved my head off.”

“And you let her?”

“I couldn’t stop the psychopath. Not without hurting her. And I refuse to do that again. So, now I’m bald.”

“Damn.”

“Stop looking at it. It’ll grow back. You got bigger problems to deal with. I can’t believe the Elders couldn’t help you.”

“They helped. It’s me who’s the problem.”

“Explain?”

“Let’s walk and talk. I need to get back to my mate.”

As he walked with Rhen, he opened up to the male about his past, every bloody detail.

“So, this witch is the reason your dragon is wanting to hurt Sinclair?”

“He doesn’t want to hurt her. The curse of the full moon confuses his emotions. It blurs the line between love and hate. He hates that witch. But deep down, I think we’ve started to hate all witches.”

“Makes sense. Most people hate vampires. But usually, it’s because they’ve had a bad encounter with one vamp.”