Chapter 22: Chapter 22

"Talk to me," Alec begged as I started to get dressed quickly. He, too, frantically put on his clothes and then blocked my way as I wanted to leave the bedroom door.

"What's going on?" he asked and I avoided his eyes while holding back tears. I felt betrayed because I had agreed to the sex but not the tag. He had committed me to him forever and left me no choice to determine my future myself.

"Lou," he whispered and wanted to hug me, but I took a step back and glared at him angrily.

"You had no right to do that!" I said desperately, causing his posture to become more tense.

"You didn't give me a choice! You're mine and he's always there. Everywhere! Do you think I want to live with the constant fear of losing you?!"

I looked at his face trembling with desperation and only casually noticed that the room was slowly being lit up by the sun.

"And then a compulsory marking is your way out?" I asked him and felt the warm tears that slowly began to run. I had to get out of here and wanted to pass him again, but he wrapped himself around my body and pulled me close to his chest.

"Let me finally become a part of you, allow it," he whispered and I immediately angrily pushed him away from me.

"Get out of my house!" I yelled, but he grabbed my chin, hurting me so badly that a soft whimper escaped my lips.

"I've told you before that I'm not a dog. I'll give you anything you need, but I demand at least a little respect in return."

I wriggled my chin out of his hand and when he took a step back and eyed me intensely, I tearfully walked out of the bedroom and ran out of the house.

I didn't understand any of this and lost all sense of reality. Every step I ran felt like in slow motion as the sun disappeared and the rain suddenly pelted down on me. I felt like I was underwater, the chaos of feelings from the mark taking over me completely, like poison was coursing through my veins trying to infect my heart, but it fought back with strong, swift punches, no matter how hopeless it seemed .

Arriving at the main street I stopped and wiped away my tears, but new ones came up when I realized that I didn't even know where to go anymore.

Impulsive...that was the word everyone thought of when describing my character and I felt like I was just acting without thinking at that moment. But was I right? Or did he really have the right to claim I was his? But my heart already belonged to someone!

In tears I decided to go to Ludwig. He was the most empathetic person I knew and he could heal wounds, maybe mental ones too. I started running towards the market square until I suddenly felt a bolt of lightning coursing through my body when I heard his voice.

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned in his direction, the first thing I noticed was that he was wearing the sweater I had given him once.

He looked me up and down and froze at my neck. my head was screaming...

Save me! Love me! Chace ... my moon, bring me the light in the dark.

... but he didn't hear me.

"What happened?" he asked, his voice sounding farther away than ever. His tone had changed and then I saw Samira behind him and quickly wiped my tears away.

"Nothing, everything is fine," I breathed and looked deep into his green eyes. How I would have liked to give up my body and simply disappeared into them.

"Nice mark," I then heard Samira's shrill voice and she grinned triumphantly at me. If Chace didn't care so much about her I would have torn them up on the spot, but she was his mate and realizing that again in the whirl of my thoughts, I gave my moon one last fleeting glance and continued to run around into empathy to flee from the angel.

I ran faster than ever before until I arrived at Bonzenstrasse, completely soaked and out of breath.

At his house, I knocked like a madman on the light wood and leaned against the door, sobbing, only to fall into his arms as soon as he opened it. I felt it wasn't him, it was Isabell, on whose shoulder I cried, but I didn't let go and let all these tearing feelings out.

"Shhhh it's alright," she whispered, rubbing my back soothingly as I heard the angel's heavy footsteps behind her.

"What-"

Ludwig stopped his question and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Come in," he said quietly, then walked behind us to close the front door.

I broke away from Isabell and was pushed by her back into the large living room, where everything looked very elegant and old-fashioned. A black leather couch, a glass table decorated with gold, a full bookcase and a really nice grand piano found their place in the bright room.

I looked around helplessly and then, stunned, let myself fall onto the couch to be handed a towel directly by Ludwig, while Isabell sat down close to me and didn't stop stroking my back.

Everything about the two had such a calming effect on me that I felt like I was floating. I wiped away my tears with the towel and then dried my hair to watch Ludwig glancing worriedly at Isabell, which made me nervous again.

"Do you want to tell us what's going on?" the brown-haired woman asked me and then instructed Ludwig to put on the tea. I fell back and took a deep breath.

"I can't explain it," I sobbed, looking at her. "No one would understand that, I don't understand myself anymore."

She just nodded thoughtfully and looked over to the door in silence for a while, through which Ludwig then came with a tray full of cups and a pot. He calmly poured everyone a sip and sat down in a small armchair in front of me, which I noticed at the moment, it seemed so inconspicuous next to all the other beautiful things.

"You mad at Alec about the tag?" Ludwig turned to me, handing me one of the mugs. I leaned forward and took it, nodding in agreement.

"Why?"

I looked at him confused and really thought about why I was so mad for a while. Was it because it really made me lose Chace? Because it was now so absolutely final? Was there any hope before that? Or was I mad because it happened against my consent?

"I don't know," I breathed, overwhelmed, and took a sip of the hot drink, which immediately made me feel warm all over my body. "It's just..." I wanted to continue, but then stopped again. I didn't know myself what I was feeling, how should I explain it to someone.

"Inside, you may still have had hope of getting Chace back, but his marking has made you painfully aware that things will never be the same again."

Ludwig's words hit the mark, even if I didn't want to see it. I was underwater and Chace was my last breath that was just snatched away from me leaving me drowning. There was no longer any hope or faith, just the bitter realization that it was finally over. There was no turning back because Alec had claimed me.

"You won't be happy if you just live in the past like a ghost," said Isabell, gently stroking my wet hair. "You have to let go and live."

Let go, everyone around me said that word over and over again, but no one understood how difficult it was to let go of something so precious. And yet they were right.

A knock on the door made me look nervously at Ludwig, who got up and disappeared from the room.

"You don't have to stop loving Chace, but you should still learn to be happy without him and I've known Alec for many years. He will always be protective and treat you well. He can be short-tempered and possessive, but he doesn't mean it evil. His past has been tough, he also needs someone to pick him up and I really think you guys could make each other really happy."

As I listened to Isabell, I felt my mark, which grew warmer and warmer until my eyes wandered to the door and Alec approached me in concern. He didn't say anything, just nervously ran his fingers through his wet, black hair and then sat down on the chair Ludwig was sitting on before.

"I'll leave you alone," Isabell said and briefly put her hand on mine as if she wanted to transfer her calmness to me.

She left the living room with Ludwig and closed the door, while my gaze fell on Alec, who was nervously playing with his watch on his arm and looking down.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, turning his gaze to look deep into my eyes. "I was just scared and didn't know what to do next."

He looked at me and I could even sort of understand why he did it and yet a part of me was still appalled at his action. Through the marking, I would develop more and more feelings for him and I would never know if they were genuine feelings or just the compulsion he had put on me with his bite.

"Can you understand me at least a little bit?" he then asked and leaned further forward to study me carefully.

"Yes," I whispered. "But I feel so taken by surprise."

"I know," he said, getting up to kneel in front of me, making my heart skip a beat.

"I'll try to make you happy every day. I promise."

He took my hands in his and I could already feel his mark starting to run when I looked into his eyes and everything inside me started to tingle.

"You just have to let me," he said, kissing my hand gently before laying his head on my lap.

In order to forget someone , you have to put aside the wishful thinking that they are right and stop hoping and instead focus on what is right in front of you.