Chapter 107: Chapter 107
Kyra’s POV
I was sitting beside the pool, my feet dipped underwater, when someone sat down next to me. About a meter away, Kieran settled himself and placed two cans of beer between us.
"Can I offer you a drink?" he asked, staring at the pool water rather than looking at me.
I pressed my lips together, saying nothing. What could I possibly say? I had wrongly accused him of trying to manipulate me by drowning himself. I’d told him to die. My anger had consumed me and turned me into someone I didn’t recognize. He might be evil, but I wasn’t supposed to be. The realization left me confused about how to react to anything anymore.
"How do I start this..." he whispered, just loud enough for me to hear, followed by a humorless chuckle.
"I was born in a dangerous environment. Me and my twin..."
My head snapped toward him. Twin? Kieran has a twin? Suddenly, I remembered the man in the house where Emily had hidden me. That explained why he looked exactly like Kieran. But why did that man have a photo with Emily?
Kieran took a deep breath. I watched him staring at the water, his eyes filled with sorrow and hatred.
"My biological dad was the leader of a rogues’ organization. He trained me and my twin to be future leaders... but my twin wanted to be on the right path." He gave a bitter chuckle and shook his head. "He wanted to be part of the pack council, and that dream... killed him."
My heart skipped a beat. What did he mean?
"Our biological father saw him as a threat to the organization he loved more than his own sons. He had my twin killed."
I gasped, my jaw dropping as I stared at his face. He kept clenching his jaw, rage evident in every tense muscle.
"Mom and I tried to find his body, but we couldn’t. Mom was miserable and decided to run away... At a young age, I learned to steal because I was hungry and my mom was having a hard time feeding me."
I looked down, my forehead creasing. The corners of my eyes grew hot and a lump formed in my throat. Sylvia whimpered inside me, sharing my emotion.
"We were running... and running... hiding from my evil father. He obsessed over my mother and couldn’t let her go. We struggled to survive because my mom couldn’t even find a job without revealing her identity. That would have made it easy for my father to find us... so we continued struggling until Mom met a kind man..."
I swallowed hard and looked at him. He was watching me with sadness in his eyes. "Your father helped us, and they fell in love and mated. I met you... I was mesmerized by the innocent beauty of that little girl. She was spoiled but not a brat..."
I looked away again and gritted my teeth. "My father loved your mom, you knew that. But why do you hate him?"
"I was wrong," he paused. "Your father and my biological father were enemies. Your father used me and my mother. When my mother died, he told me it was my biological father who killed her. I was furious. The devil that my biological father created in me was awakened by my mother’s cruel death... I killed my own father, but before he lost his life, he told me something. Do you know what he told me?"
He looked at me, hatred now back in his eyes. "He told me that your father was the person behind my mother’s death."
I gasped and slowly shook my head. "No..."
He laughed bitterly. "You can’t believe it either, right? I was just like you. I didn’t want to believe it. But your father... did that."
Tears rolled down my cheeks. "You’re mistaken, Kieran. My father wouldn’t do that..."
"He did... unfortunately."
I sobbed and wiped my tears. "If you’re just saying this to—"
"I don’t want to hurt you, Kyra. I love you. I really do. And using your father to get your sympathy would never be an option for me. I tried to keep that pain in my heart for a long time because I didn’t want to ruin your father’s image in your eyes. Because I didn’t want to break your heart anymore."
I gritted my teeth and grabbed the canned beer. I didn’t know if he was telling the truth, but I refused to believe him. He must be mistaken. This had to be a misunderstanding.
"I-I tried to just forget what your father did... but I couldn’t. The wound was too deep to heal. I tried... I tried so hard because I was happy with you. I tried so fucking hard because I knew I’d lose you if you learned about this but... it was so hard. So fucking hard."
I wiped the tears cascading down my cheeks. He was wrong. He had to be wrong about my dad.
"Now, tell me, Kyra..." He looked at me, his cedar and musk scent intensifying with his emotion as his eyes pleaded. "Please, tell me if there’s a chance that you’d still forgive me. Please tell me that I have reason to be angry because I was hurt. Please tell me... that I still deserve you."
I pressed my lips together and slowly pulled myself up. He looked down miserably.
"You’re wrong about my father, Kieran. This is all just a misunderstanding and I will prove it to you."
He looked at me, pain evident in his features. "This is why I couldn’t tell you. Because you won’t believe me."
Anger crept into my heart. "Because you’re wrong! My father is not evil! He wouldn’t do that just because of petty reasons."
He clenched his jaw and stood up. He towered over me, but I wouldn’t back down. I fought his burning stares as I stood my ground.
"I will find a way to clear my father’s name, Kieran. And when I prove to you that you’re wrong, you’ll apologize," I paused and sobbed. "You’ll apologize to my father and to me."
I turned my back and was about to walk away when we heard noises. Were those... choppers?
"Alpha, the island is surrounded by gamma warriors from the Alpha Council."
My eyes widened in shock. I suddenly saw hope, but before I could run, Kieran grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
"You’re not leaving me again, Kyra." His eyes were dark with determination as Ronan, his wolf, surfaced in his gaze.
