CHAPTER 657: 657-ONLY HELANIE MATTERS

Emmet:

The look Helanie gave me broke my heart. I understood her feelings. It’s not easy to watch your mate’s first love return, especially the same person because of whom your mate missed his wedding.

But the truth ran deeper than that.

I was happy Azura was back. I still had many feelings for her, but the moment I hugged Azura and looked at Helanie at the same time, I realized my feelings for Azura were more like the care friends have for each other. But with Helanie— I was deeply in love with her.

Part of the reason I felt so relieved was because I got to kiss Helanie before Azura returned, the one I had blamed myself for losing, the one whose death I thought was on my hands.

Obviously, no one would understand me right now. To them, I must seem thrilled that I finally got to be with Azura again but I was finally free of the guilt of her death.

I returned to my room and picked my clothes up from the floor, setting hers aside as well.

"So you’ve moved on?" she asked. I knew this would come up.

"Azura, you were gone. Even then, you knew I would. And Helanie is my fated mate. It’s not just the bond, we’ve made a connection, and it’s true that I fell deeply in love with her," I said honestly. I didn’t want to give Azura the wrong idea, because I still cared about her.

"Really? Back then, you told me you would love me forever. Was that a lie?" she asked, repeating the same argument again, tilting her head, her eyes filling with tears. "I came back for you, Emmet. I went through life and death for you, only to return and find you in love with someone who’s married to your brother?"

Her words made me clench my jaw and close my eyes, though she couldn’t see that, because I still had my back turned to her.

"And you know it was you who brought me back. So what is all this now? You’re going to just throw me out of your life? It’s been years, Emmet. I don’t even know how to start living if I can’t depend on you," she cried, and when her voice broke, I finally turned to look at her.

"Azura, why are you thinking so far ahead? You’re here now, and I’m here too. Please stop worrying," I said, going to sit beside her on the bed to comfort her.

But she immediately rested her head on my chest and started sobbing uncontrollably.

"After I was brought back, I was captured by the Zharns. I don’t know why they didn’t eat me, but they took me to their father," her voice broke several times, hiccups making it hard for her to finish a sentence.

"Father? As in Rune?" I asked. She lifted her head from my chest, looking confused.

"No! The old man," she whispered, and my eyes narrowed as I stared at her.

"What old man, Azura? And why didn’t you tell my brother about this?" Ever since we lost Salem, we had become much more careful about the safety of pack members and rogue werewolves.

But it wasn’t always easy to keep track of the rogues. The ones who got accepted into the academy stayed protected. But the ones who were kicked out for crimes– they could be living anywhere without shelter or food.

"Because I only wanted to talk to you," she said, not hesitating this time.

"Okay, talk to me now. I’m listening," I said, getting up and grabbing my diary. I always write things down that I’m afraid I’ll forget.

"The old man claimed to be the father of the Zharns," she began, and I instantly remembered who that could be.

The father with four sons.

"He was a strange man. Always stiff and cold. He chained me up. Didn’t let the Zharns eat me, but they used to lick my skin all the time, and I felt like I should’ve just stayed dead. The place was weird too, almost like an underground world. I never saw the sky. It was always dark above. Even the lanterns couldn’t shine high enough to show what was up there— or if there was even a sky at all. Emmet, he talked about his four children and how they’re out there doing their jobs to take the world back under their control. He said he didn’t kill me because he planned to use me to lure you or the others into his home," she said shakily, clearly disturbed.

It made me furious, knowing he held her captive and tortured her both mentally and physically.

She rolled up her sleeves and showed me the burn marks on her arms, then pointed to her feet. He made her stand on silver and wolfsbane for hours without food or water.

"I’ll get my hands on him, Azura. I promise," I hissed through clenched teeth. "Why don’t you rest now while I go check if dinner’s being served?"

Of course, that wasn’t really why I was leaving. I needed to find Helanie and talk to her. The longer I stayed in this room with Azura, the more Helanie’s mind would twist it into something it wasn’t.

"Okay," she nodded before lying down on the bed. As I tucked the blanket around her, I realized just how messy this was going to get. My prayers from years ago had worked, she was back, but now she had to watch me fall for my fated mate.

How cruel could life be, truly?

I left the room and had just made it to the living room when I heard Helanie already fuming.

"I don’t want to talk about Emmet right now," she hissed at Maximus, arms crossed over her chest, looking so adorably stubborn.

"What if Emmet wants to talk to you?" I asked, and noticed her body flinch just a little before she straightened her spine.

"Azura was being held captive by the father of the evil organization," I said. As soon as the words left my mouth, Helanie’s posture softened. She turned to me and gave me a quiet, gentle look.

"There’s more information about the X Codex. But I’ll only share it with Helanie –alone. So the choice is hers now: does she want to know the details, or not?" I asked, watching her frown and shift in place while Maximus looked between the two of us.