ARTEMIS' POV:-

　　Daniel and I stepped out of the elevator. I looked around the apartment with wide eyes. The whole place was torn. As if a hurricane hit Elijah's apartment. I never let that apartment look that dirty. "He is inside his bedroom. Here is the key. He has locked himself inside. Only you can go inside without getting howled at." Daniel informed me in a low tone. His voice pulled me out of the oceans of my thoughts. I looked at Daniel and blinked a few times. I was not sure what to say to Daniel.

　　I was not sure how I was going to talk to him. I was not sure if I could even face him. Part of me wanted to snuggle up into his arms and cry until the pain would fade away. But the other part was too egoistic to even look at Elijah. After all, he didn't try clearing it all up. "I know! I will take care of it. You can go. Leave this to me." I replied to Daniel in a low tone. I knew well that I was supposed to see Elijah even if a part of me didn't want to see him.

　　I narrowed my head because I had no idea how I was going to start the conversation. I sensed something rotting in the apartment. I was not sure what it was. But I was damn sure that scent was coming from Elijah's bedroom. "I am so sorry for asking you to do that. I know you are angry at him. And I didn't have any right to force you to do that. But right now, I am helpless. You are my only hope." Daniel whispered softly while I was looking around the apartment.

　　It would not be a lie if I say that I wanted to see him. I was not sure if I just wanted to talk to him or if I had something else in mind. "No one is forcing me to do anything, Daniel. I am angry at him. But I certainly don't want him to die. I want to do this." I replied to Daniel honestly. The part of me that wanted to meet Elijah was starting to get stronger.

　　Tracy was also starting to get eager to see Elijah. It had been a long time since I saw him last. "Thank you, Artemis. You really have a very beautiful heart. I owe you this one." Daniel thanked me in a grateful tone. As if I was doing him a favour. He had no idea he was the one who did me a favour.

　　I would never have come to see Elijah if it was not for Daniel who dragged me to Elijah's apartment. My ego was standing between my need to meet him again and to share the trauma with him. "No you don't. I want to do it because he is my mate." I replied to Daniel in an honest tone.

　　I had never told anyone about that before because Tracy didn't want me to tell anyone. Not even Elijah until she would know if Elijah was good enough for us. I told Daniel because I didn't want him to be grateful for something I wanted to do. "Wait! Did he tell you already?" Daniel asked me in a surprised tone as he heard me.

　　"He never said anything about it. But Tracy told me. She said all wolves are born like this. They are destined to find their mates. I am glad I found him." I replied to him in a low tone, frowning in confusion. I was not sure what made Daniel ask me that question.

　　Daniel had a confused look on his face as he heard me. I was not sure why he would be so surprised. Because according to Tracy, it was all natural. "Tracy told you all that?" Daniel asked me again and I giggled nervously.

　　"Yes! Why? Why do you sound so surprised about all this?" I replied to him then asked him was so surprised about that. It was not like I was lying to him or anything. I was just trying to be helpful. That's all.

　　Daniel narrowed his head as he heard me. He shjol his head in response. When he looked back at me, he had a small smile on his face. He was probably hiding that nervousness. I didn't know why. "Nothing! You should go and talk to him. Try and feed him something." Daniel added in a low tone as he patted my shoulder.

　　I smiled widely and nodded my head. I pulled the tiffin up that was in my hands. "Sure! That's why I brought food with me." I replied to Daniel in a low tone. Daniel nodded his head as he walked towards the elevator. He left me alone in the apartment.

　　Taking a deep breath, I turned around and walked towards Elijah's bedroom. I never thought I would ever need a key to open Elijah's bedroom for myself. He promised that the door to his bedroom would never be locked for me. I guess there was a lot that we both went through. I just wanted it all to stop because I felt so tired. I unlocked the door and stepped into the room. Elijah's scent was barely there. All I sensed was this rooting scent. As if I could smell someone dying in that room. I didn't like it one bit.

　　I locked the door from the inside and walked towards bed. Elijah was sleeping. I couldn't say that he was sleeping peacefully. Elijah looked pale. He had dark circles under his eyes. His cheeks looked like two dents. He looked skinny. His mouth was open and I could hear him breathing heavily. In fact, it sounded like he was barely breathing. There was a frown on his face. As if every single breath that he took was somehow hurting him.

　　I couldn't help the tears that welled up into my eyes as I saw him in pain. If I knew he would look like a corpse, I would have asked him to stay that night. I felt like it was my fault that he was in pain. I wiped my tears as I sat down on the edge of the bed. I placed my hand on his hand gently so I wouldn't hurt him. "Eli!" I whispered softly, making sure I wouldn't startle him.

　　Elijah didn't open his eyes. He moaned in pain as he turned his face away. "Artemis!" He moaned my name in pain. I didn't know if I was actually a selfish bitch. Because hearing him moaning my name like that made my heart jump in my rib cage.

　　I leaned over and gently brushed my hand on his head. He moaned softly and opened his eyes slowly. He turned to look at me. "Is that you, baby girl?" Elijah asked me in a low tone, making my heart flip inside my rib cage.

　　I was crying because he was in pain. But there was a small smile on my face as a relief that he still belonged to me. "Yes! It's me. What happened to you, Eli?" I asked Elijah in a worried tone. I was staring into his eyes.

　　Groaning like an old man, Elijah tried to push himself up to sit on the bed. It took him a minute to finally be able to sit. "Nothing too bad. Everything that I deserve." Elijah replied to my question with his head narrowed. He was ashamed of something and I didn't know what made him worried.

　　Tears started flowing freely from his eyes as he replied to me. Those two sentences held the suffering he went through. "Don't say that, Eli. I didn't want you to suffer." I almost yelled at him out of concern for him. The last thing I wanted from him was for him to suffer like that.

　　A small smile appeared on his face as he heard me. He touched the tip of my nose while smiling. "Yeah! Beautiful you have a good heart." Elijah whispered softly in response, making my stomach tickle from inside.

　　I wiped his tears with the back of my hand. I didn't want him to cry anymore. And I knew just the trick to make it come true. "Can I get a hug?" I asked Elijah in a low tone. I knew well that it would make him happy. Also, I wanted that hug because I missed his warmth.

　　As expected, a wide smile appeared on his face as he heard my question. "Hey! Sure! You know you don't have to ever ask me that. Come here." Elijah replied to me in a low tone. He opened his arms for me so I could hug him. I was not sure if I was supposed to do it or not. But I felt like doing it the way we always did it.

　　I gently sat up on his lap and wrapped my arms around his torso. I placed my head in his chest. His barely beating heart suddenly started to beat like a healthy heart. I couldn't say if I was doing it or if something magical just happened. There was no explanation for whatever was happening. I just remembered being in his arms like I always hugged him.

　　I was not sure when my tears betrayed me. He wrapped his arms around me and I started crying in his arms. "Shhh… it's alright. You don't need to cry, baby girl. I am here with you." Elijah whispered softly in my ear, trying to make me stop crying.

　　If he would have told me the truth that night, none of this would have happened in the first place. Elijah didn't tell me anything at all. He just blocked it as if it didn't happen or if he was actually somehow responsible for everything that happened. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked him the question I had been willing to ask Elijah for a long time. I just wanted to know why he wouldn't trust me enough to tell me.

　　"What? What did I not tell you? What are you talking about?" Elijah asked me in a low tone. He was behaving as if he knew nothing. He knew exactly what I was talking about. He knew what I wanted to know.

　　"About Alisa! Why didn't you tell me that she faked everything?" I repeated my question more clearly. So he wouldn't have another chance to hide behind what or why. I wanted to know the truth. I deserved to know what happened that night. And I wanted him to tell me. No one else but him.

　　A minute passed but he didn't respond to my question. I arched my neck to look at his face. "I tried to stop you. But you didn't want to be touched. I thought you were disgusted by me." Elijah replied to me in a low tone. I saw disappointment and pain in his eyes when he answered my question.

　　It took me a moment to remember what he was talking about. Yes! I was jumpy and sensitive at that moment. Not because I had seen Elijah naked with Alisa in his bedroom. But because I was raped the same night. "No! That's not true. I was shaky. I didn't even like my mother patting my back when it happened. I came to you seeking comfort and safety in your arms. It was all because of that assault." I defended myself because that's what actually happened.

　　Elijah leaned over and pecked my forehead. He nodded his head slowly as he heard me. "Yeah! I learned that later. I felt bad. I came to see you but you didn't want to see me. So I went away for a while." Elijah defended himself in front of me. We both were disturbed that night. And we didn't know how to deal with all that.

　　"But you came back. Why didn't you tell me then? I was asking you to tell me. I wanted to know the truth." I asked him again because I couldn't help myself. That night, I wanted him to tell me everything so I could push it behind.

　　Elijah chuckled softly while staring at my face. I didn't know what made him smile. "I couldn't tell you. I was there for you. I was there only to comfort you. I told you we will talk about it later. You just didn't listen." Elijah finally answered my question. Well, he actually repeated what he had told me that night. He said he was there for me. That he didn't want to discuss anything else.

　　I realised that I was the one who didn't listen. I was supposed to listen to him. I was supposed to tell him everything. He wanted to hear me that night. But he was supposed to understand that I was also hurting because I saw something. It was not true but how could I have known. Elijah didn't say anything at all. "I was hurting. I was ashamed and I felt dirty. I was in pain because I was assaulted. I was in pain because I saw something. It was fake. But you were supposed to tell me that it was not true. I waited for you to say something." I replied to him in a low tone, trying to remind him what I wanted from him that night. If only he would have said something to me that day, none of us would have suffered that much. We both looked like two zombies.