"Angel....."

"Let me speak, Kaiden." Emily immediately stopped him from speaking as she raised the index finger of her left hand to his lips.

Her finger ended up touching his soft warm lips and for a mere second, the two of them ended up staring into each other's eyes in pure shock and awe.

Once again, the familiar tingles started running through their bodies as their inner selves recognized each other.

But this sweet moment did not last long because as soon as the realization of her action hit her, Emily cursed herself inwardly as she hurriedly pulled her finger away from his lips.

Fortunately, Kaiden did not say anything and just stood there in silence as he waited for her to continue.

"First, I wanna ask you something..." Emily started speaking as she tried to change the awkward situation.

"...I know that You, Nick, and Shadow, all three of you are capable of finding out the mysteries of my past that I'm keeping from you all. Then why did none of you ever tried to find it out?" She asked as she looked into his icy blue eyes.

Kaiden was silent for a few seconds before he finally decided to answer, "Because we respect your choices and also because we wanted you to trust us enough to reveal your past on your own accord."

A small smile appeared on Emily's lips as she took in a deep breath before nodding her head slightly.

"Just what I thought. And trust me, I'm more than thankful to you all for respecting my privacy. One day, when I'll finally be free from the darkness of my past, I'll share that part of my life with all of you."

It sounded like a promise and the sincerity in her eyes made Kaiden believe her. He patted her head very softly as he finally pulled away from her and walked a few steps back before he once again focused his full attention on his mate.

"Go on! I'm listening." He told her as he looked at her with warm eyes. She could no longer find any sort of sadness or hurt in his deep ocean-like eyes.

"In less than a month, I'll turn eighteen, and the bond between us would finally activate. I know that you have been waiting for that day....but just like I said.....I'm not ready for this. I'm not ready for a relationship, Kaiden."

"I'm too young and am still living in the darkness of my past. I can hardly take care of myself. Do you seriously think in my current mental condition, I'll be able to contribute to a happy and healthy relationship?"

She asked him and found the answer in his silence.

"I'm not stepping back because I don't like you. No! I like you as a person, and I like you as a friend. And I also trust you. But these are not the only things and emotions that we need to build a relationship. I probably don't know much about love or love life. But what I know is that for a successful relationship, both parties need to put in their best efforts."

"I know that my decision of leaving is going to impact your life too. But leaving is no longer a choice for me....it's a necessity. Before loving someone else, I need to learn how to love myself. Before accepting the faults of others, I need to learn how to accept my own faults and failures. I need to learn how to accept my past and present so that I can work on a future that I want."

"I can't stay here and let you all protect me every time I'm in danger. It's no longer about not becoming a burden on anyone, now...it's about finding a stronger version of myself."

A small smile appeared on her lips as she continued to speak.

"I want to find that Emilia Alessandro who will love herself with all her weaknesses and strengths. The one who will know the actual meaning of love. The one who will not freeze whenever something related to her past will appear in front of her. The one who will be able to protect her family and friends. I want to find that version of myself."

The small cabin where they were currently present, suddenly got filled with silence as neither of the two of them spoke for the next few moments.

"It sounds great. I can already see myself falling head over heels for the Emilia Alessandro whom you just engraved in my mind. She sounds like someone who will be able to make me run for my money and I like such challenges."

"..."

Out of all the reactions that she imagined in her head, she definitely did not guess to see him acting so casually about the situation.

"Kaiden..."

"Sssssh!"

Emily did not get the chance to speak any further as the man stopped her. This time, it was his finger that almost graced her lips but stopped just a mere fraction away.

"Your speaking time is over, sweetheart. Now, it's my turn." Kaiden reminded her as he dropped his hand and walked closer to the girl, once again caging her against the wall.

"You are worth the wait, angel. No matter how long it's gonna take........I will wait for you. And it's true, you are too young to start a love life. You first need to grow up, finish your education, start your dream career and become the person that you want to become. Once you have accomplished all of that, then I'll show you how it feels to be pursued by the one and only Kaiden Sullivan. I'll wait for you."

Emily did not even realize that she was already crying, not until he pulled her in his warm and comfortable embrace.

"Your brother and I have planned to send Rylan and Shane along with you since they were dying to follow you to the Nightfall Academy. The three of you are best friends, so I'll shamelessly ask you to look after those two idiots. You can take it as a training session. It will help in making you a responsible person. Shadow is a good person. I'm sure he will keep the three of you safe. And most importantly..........you are not allowed to date anyone behind my back."

Emily burst out into soft chuckles as she tightened her arms around his waist. Her heart was finally feeling a little bit calmed, knowing that not everyone was going to blame her for leaving.

"Take care, Kaiden. And please.......look after my brothers too."

-

Kaiden watched as the plane disappeared from his vision. The night sky was filled with millions of stars but for some unknown reason, the moon was absent.

"Master, are we going back to the Villa?"

A man in a black suit appeared behind Kaiden and asked while bowing his head in respect towards his Alpha.

"No, Mr. Shen. I'm going on a run." Kaiden replied as he pulled off his tee and started running towards the empty runway.

Within a second, a huge five feet tall silver wolf with icy blue eyes was seen running under the night sky as it enjoyed the sweet feeling of freedom.