Dawnlark Plains the truth be told you need it more than you thought

no, he didn't want this. not this show of self-deprecation and regret. she had made her bed, and now she had to lie in it. her sputtering excuses made his lips pull tight in a frown, without volition, and his golden eyes darkened, like clouds floating over the sun. but he mustn't be angry with her, not now or ever--not for her sake, but the pack's. it would not do for him to have a public meltdown.

"no one knows," he replied, unaware that he had just echoed the sentiment he had offered her after her father's death. his voice had been honeyed then, though; now, it was bitter, cold. "you just learn, dawn. you learn to live without."

he gave a sudden exhale, part-laugh, part-sigh. incredulous, momentarily. "things were certain, dawn. a living goddess could have placed herself at my paws, begging for my love, and i would have stayed faithful to you." okay, perhaps not entirely true. had coelacanth been willing. . . he shook his head, clearing that mental image from his mind. "i loved you--love you. probably always will, somehow. but you had to test it, right? had to set it all on fire.

"i respected myself too much to stand in your flames and pretend i wasn't burning," aditya murmured, words slightly clipped as he gritted his teeth. he was burning now, a pain beyond the physical rippling through him. "and i respected you too much to hold you back any longer."