CHAPTER 93: THE TRUTH ON THE TIP OF MY TONGUE II

Charis

My heart was hammering so hard I was sure he could hear it.

All my carefully constructed lies, all my attempts to maintain my disguise, were crumbling before me.

"I..." I started, but no words came. How could I possibly explain this? How could I tell him that everything he thought he knew about me was a lie?

He took another step closer, "I need to know the truth, Eamon. Please."

My mind was already racing through all the possible consequences of this moment. I didn’t know if I could trust him.

In this place, everyone had secrets, and as much as I wanted to open up to him and unburden myself of this crushing deception, my father was still out there searching for me. If he got even the tiniest hint that I was here, my life would be over.

And no matter how kind Rhett had been, no matter how warm his smile or gentle his teasing, in a moment of anger or of pain, what if he exposes me or uses me like Vale?

"Eamon," Rhett said quietly again, his voice was gentle but insistent. "Tell me the truth, please..."

My eyes stung with tears, and I blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears that had gathered in them. I hated this. I hated feeling like this.

With a shaky voice, I nodded and whispered, "I’m sorry. I’m sorry I deceived you. I hadn’t planned on making any friends here. I’m sorry."

"So it’s my fault now?" he asked.

"No!" I shook my head, "That’s not what I meant."

He was quiet for a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was colder than I’d ever heard it.

"So it’s true then, you’re a girl," he said, not really a question but a statement of fact.

As he spoke, he was walking towards me. He stopped in front of me and reached for the blanket around my shoulders. I took a step backwards and tried to resist.

"Rhett, please..."

"Let me see," he said quietly. "I need to know that I’m not dreaming. That this is real."

I trembled, still gripping the blanket like it could protect me from what would come next. But slowly, I let it go.

He slid the blanket off my shoulders, tossing it to one corner of the room. I stood before him in Slater’s oversized hoodie, and my now visible feminine form.

A tear rolled down my cheek, and I whispered again, "I’m sorry."

He took a step back and dragged his hand through his already tousled hair, then laughed dryly.

"I was right after all," he said bitterly. "You were a girl. I saw it from that first day in the hall, but I convinced myself I was imagining things, that maybe I was crazy, and then I started liking you."

He shook his head.

"From the moment I set my eyes on you, I couldn’t look away, and I thought maybe it’s not about what I could see. I was willing to ignore the fact that you were a boy like me and go with the flow..." he paused and ran his hand through his hair again.

"I wonder what Kael would say when he realises he’s not going crazy for liking a boy and that he’s actually a girl and nature was just playing its course? Do you know what I told myself last night? That I didn’t care if I’ve unlocked a new part of myself. That I wanted you and nothing more."

I shook my head silently, wishing I could say something soothing.

"I let you into my life, Eamon. I showed you parts of me that I’ve never shown anyone," Rhett continued. "You saw me sick, I told you about my family, about my stepmother, you know my struggles, you know how it is to give people my trust, and I felt like we got along so well because we had the same wound. I gave you my trust..."

Tears were streaming down my cheeks now. "I didn’t mean to hurt you."

"But you did," he murmured, folding his arms.

"I’m assuming Slater isn’t actually your brother either?" he asked. "Who are you? Tell me everything now."

Where could I start from? From my father’s plans to trade me away in exchange for an alliance with Crestborne Pack and Stormrock Pack? Or the fact that I lost my twin brother when I was three and have suffered for that loss until now.

"Rhett..." I looked up at him. "I know I am not supposed to ask anything from you again, and I wish it didn’t get to this, but you cannot tell anyone what I’m about to tell you..."

"Wow!" he scoffed. "You’re more worried about being discovered than the pain you caused me?"

"Please!" I cried. "Just promise me. Please!"

He stared at me for a few seconds, then sighed. "Fine, I won’t. Happy?"

I took a deep breath. "My name is Charis, Charis Greye."

"Greye?" he repeated, arching his brows with surprise. "As in Alpha Silas Greye of Crestborne Pack?"

I nodded miserably, watching as another piece of the puzzle clicked into place in his mind.

"You’re the missing daughter everyone’s been talking about," he said, and I could hear the shock in his voice. "Your father has been searching everywhere for you. He’s offered huge rewards, called in favours from every pack in the world..."

"He wants to trade me away," I said with desperation in my voice. "To Darian Blackmoor, in exchange for territory rights, trade rights, and a front seat at the Alpha King’s court. You see, Rhett, I am a Shadewolf, and until the induction ceremony, I didn’t realise why my father was so desperate to use me as a bargaining chip."

I reached up and wiped my tears with the sleeve of the hoodie.

"Darian abuses me; my father abuses me worse. This was my only option, Rhett. I couldn’t marry Darian. I didn’t want to suffer the same fate as my mom, and I had to come here."

Rhett exhaled shakily, dragging his hand across his mouth. "You think I would have slipped? Do I look like a sntich to you?"

"I don’t know," I told him truthfully, "I’ve never had a lot of people I could rely on in this life. I didn’t want to lie to you. You were so kind to me, and I knew I didn’t deserve that. I was afraid...afraid that if you knew, you’d look at me like you’re looking at me now."

"That’s a lame excuse, Charis, and you know that. If you had told me, maybe after that incident at the summer camp or the countless times we’ve spent together, the times we’ve kissed, I swear, we would have figured it out together.

I closed my eyes, trying to block the pain that had settled in my chest. "If it means anything, I never wanted to hurt you. I—" I hesitated, "I still care about you, Rhett."

"And Slater? Who is he to you?"

"My ex-mate. On the day of our engagement, I rejected him." I admitted. "He was my fated mate before everything fell apart. I didn’t think I would meet him here. Since then, he’s been helping me hide."

"So you’ve been lying to everyone," Rhett said flatly. "To me, to Kael, to everyone at this school."

"I had to," I said desperately. "If anyone discovered who I really am, if word got back to my father—"

"You could have told me," Rhett interrupted. "After everything we’ve shared, you could have trusted me with this."

His voice shook slightly "I thought we had something real."

"We did," I said quickly. "We do. That part wasn’t a lie."

"How can I believe anything you say now?" He asked, shaking his head. "If you could lie about something like this, what else have you been lying about? How do I know any of it was real?"

I felt my heart breaking at the pain in his voice. "My feelings for you were real. Are real. Everything else—the friendship, the care, the way I felt when I thought I might lose you during the surgery—all of that was real."

"But built on a foundation of lies," He said quietly.

We stood there in heavy silence, as a wall slowly erected between us. I could see him struggling with this revelation, trying to reconcile the person he thought he knew with the truth standing before him.

"Does Kael know?" he asked finally.

I shook my head. "Only Slater knows the truth, and Headmistress Vale. I think Peter might know too," I whimpered, "but I’m not sure. He knows I am a Shadewolf at least."

"And you were just going to keep lying indefinitely?" There was anger creeping into his voice now. "String us all along while living this lie?"

"I was trying to survive," I said, my voice went up a notch. "I was trying to stay alive and free. I never meant for anyone to get hurt."

"But we did get hurt," Rhett said, his eyes meeting mine. "I got hurt. Because I formed an emotional attachment to someone who doesn’t exist."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words died in my throat. How could I defend myself when he was right?

"I need some time to think about this," He said finally, moving toward the door. "This changes everything."

"Rhett, please—" I started, but he was already leaving.

"Don’t," he said without turning around. "Just... don’t. I can promise you that no one else would know, but for now, I’m not sure I want to be your friend again, Ea—Charis. Take care now. I’ll be off."