Chapter 77: How Did We End Up Here?

I stay silent, not because I don’t know the answer, but because the question itself is a surprise.

Why is he asking this?

My silence stretches a beat too long as I search his face, trying to understand the reason behind the question that has suddenly made my gentle, fearful Angel look so uncertain, and so very serious.

Then—

I slowly sit up, the soft blankets pooling around my waist. Angel stays perfectly still beside me, his gaze fixed on his own lap as if he’s just committed a grave offense by asking.

I reach out and take both of his hands in mine. They’re cool and delicate.”Angel,” I say, my voice gentle.

“Moon and I… we’re cousins.”

His head snaps up, golden eyes wide with surprise. He clearly hadn’t expected that.

I offer a soft, reassuring smile.

“What did you think?”

A brilliant, deep flush immediately paints his cheeks. He looks away, a soft, flustered murmur escaping him.

“N-no, I didn’t think anything…”

“Moon lives in K-Country now,” I continue, keeping my tone light, factual.

“But when we were children, we were very close. He was my friend, too.”

His eyes are still averted, avoiding mine. I gently release one of his hands and tilt his chin up, forcing his nervous gaze to meet my own.

“Angel,” I say softly, but with an insistence that can’t be ignored.

“Why did you ask me that question?”

His eyes, wide and swimming with unspoken thoughts, hold mine. He stays silent, the struggle plain on his face.

Giving an answer seems like an impossible task for him.

Seeing his distress, I decide to turn the tables.To give him an escape route, and maybe learn something in the process.

I don’t want to torture him. I don’t want to push him into a corner he’s clearly not ready for.

Just as he opens his mouth.

“Angel,” I cut in smoothly, my smile returning.

“Can I ask you something instead?”

He blinks, confused by the sudden shift, then gives a slow, hesitant nod.

“What… do you want to ask?”

I squeeze his hand gently.

“How do you feel about my cousin, Moon Arden?”

He stares at me, completely unblinking, the beautiful blush on his cheeks deepening to a glowing rose.

“What… do you mean?”

“I mean,” I say, choosing my words with care, “I don’t like seeing you alone. Bearing your heats alone… it hurts me to think about.”

I hold his gaze, willing him to understand my sincerity. “Angel, working and caring for someone else… that shouldn’t be your whole life. You have rights. You can choose a partner. You can love. You can live the way you want.”

My voice softens further, filled with a fierce hope for him. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve a partner who loves you, who protects you from everything. I want to see you live happily… with someone who cherishes you.”

He looks down again, his face a portrait of intense, almost painful nervousness, as if I’ve asked him to decide a matter of life and death.

I can’t bear the distance. I cup his face between my palms, lifting it until his golden eyes are locked with mine once more.

“Angel,” I murmur, my thumbs stroking his warm cheeks.

“Don’t be nervous. I’m not trying to push you or force you into anything. I just want you to do what makes you happy.”

I offer him a soft, encouraging smile.

He stares at me, his beautiful gaze searching mine. The silence stretches, filled with the unspoken.

Then, he finally speaks, his voice so quiet it’s almost lost.

“Zyren… I want to protect you. That… that is my life’s goal.”

My smile freezes, then fades slightly.

I didn’t expect those words.

It’s… profoundly surprising. Humbling. And heartbreakingly backwards.

He is the one who needs protection. He’s the gentle Omega in a harsh world, the one who has been hurt and used. And his deepest wish… is to protect me?

My smile returns, softer, touched with a deep, aching fondness. My hands are still cradling his face.

I rub my thumbs gently over the warmth of his cheeks.

“Angel,” I say, my voice thick with emotion, “I’m not a child anymore. I’m grown up. I can protect myself.”

He blinks up at me, his expression utterly innocent, utterly sincere.

“But,” I add, the words coming out as a warm, happy sigh, “I am so, so happy to hear that my Angel wants to protect me.”

His cheeks burn an even more adorable, shy red. He looks away, flustered, and the sight is so utterly endearing I can’t help but let my smile widen into a genuine, heart-full grin.

In this complicated, painful world, his simple, backwards devotion is a gift I never saw coming.

********

Warmth spreads across my face. Morning light.

I stir slowly, consciousness a soft tide. Then I feel it—a gentle, solid weight anchoring me to the bed.

Right over my heart.

My breath catches. I force my eyes open.

And I freeze.

Angel sleeps beside me.

His head is pillowed on my chest. A perfect, trusting fit. My arm is curled around him—I don’t remember moving—my hand splayed possessively across the delicate curve of his waist.

Holding him close. Holding him safe.

I don’t dare blink.

The pale gold of dawn gilds him. It traces the elegant line of his brow, dances over the fan of his lashes—not just blond, but molten gold against the soft blush of his cheeks.

His hair, unruly as dandelion fluff, spills across his temple.

In the deep quiet of sleep, his scent is a quiet murmur.

Fresh Strawberries—

My chest tightens. A fierce, tender ache that has nothing to do with his weight.

He is breathtaking. A vision.

But beneath the awe, a cold, sharp thread of panic pulls taut.

How?

How did we end up here?

Tangled together like this. Two souls who orbit in careful circles, now woven into a single, silent breath.

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