A guard escorted her back.
He walked three steps behind her, keeping pace with her slow steps.
The hollow feeling remained, and she struggled to rember the conversation she’d just had with her family. All she knew was that it had brought tears to her eyes, and might just be the last.
"Teddy,"
Theo stopped. The voice sounded familiar, and when she looked up and saw a boy with shaggy brown hair and brown eyes staring back at her, it took her a second to rember who he was.
Eric. Her best friend.
Eric. Her Crush.
Eric. The one she had once trusted.
He was standing by a door, one foot in and the other out as though he was scared of completely stepping out of the room. He had so dark circles, and even though he stood like he was alright, she noticed the subtle tremors of his body.
She hadn’t seen him ever since that night. Sothing told her he was in the castle with her, but she never bothered herself with that. She and Eric were sothing of the past.
As she saw him standing there, a tiny part of her from the past felt like throwing itself into his arms and crying. Because he had once been that person she thought she could rely on, and it’s not that easy to just forget soone you genuinely like for over ten years.
But instead, she ignored him and kept walking. There was no use in crying over spilt milk.
"I’m sorry," He said, "I’m sorry about everything, Teddy,"
She continued to walk. She felt like lifting her hands and covering her ears but she was too weak to do more than move her legs.
"I was scared, Teddy. I was so scared of him. But I really did care about you, I swear. I just...had no other choice," He said ekly, his voice quivering.
"If you’re really sorry...," She drawled breathlessly, "Then you’ll stay out of my sight for the rest of your life,"
He sighed, regret crossing his eyes, "I’ll do as you say, but first, I want to know how you’re doing," He paused, and his voice softened even more, "Teddy, you look terrible. You look so—"
"First of all," She whirled around, facing him, "Stop calling Teddy. My na is Theodora. You don’t deserve to call that na anymore. Second of all, whatever speech you have to tell , pause it right there. I don’t want to hear any of it,"
"I care about you, Teddy,"
A hollow empty laughter ca out, "No, you do not, Eric. You never did. You’ve just been miserable all your life because your father never approved of you as soone worthy of anything, and you were willing to go so far to trick all my life, act as his spy, end up destroying my life, and now you feel bad about it all. You look at right now and you feel pity for , but really, you should actually pity yourself,"
Eric shook his head, his body now trembling visibly, "You don’t know a thing, Teddy. You don’t know what I’ve been through, what I have had to do, you don’t know anything!"
"Maybe I don’t," She stepped closer to him, her voice shaking, "But I know enough to understand that just like everyone else, you know what Cain is doing is wrong. And unlike your big brothers who stood against him, you cowered and hid behind your fears—"
"And what happened to Zeke and Zevon after going against him?!" Eric snapped back angrily, "They died, Teddy! They’re both dead! At least I’m still alive!"
"Alive? Really?" She shook her head slowly, giving him a long once over, "You can barely step out of your room, your lungs are cold from the fear of your father...and you call it living?!"
Eric’s eyes burned, spitting daggers at her, "It’s my fault for trying to check up on you,"
"Yes, it is," She didn’t hesitate, her voice cruel and heavy, "Next ti you see , don’t stop . Don’t try to calm your guilt about everything by talking to . You and I...we don’t know each other anymore,"
"Fine!" He swallowed, his muscles clenching, "Whatever. You can also just go on and keep wallowing in the misery of losing Zeke and Zevon," His eyes carried her from head to toe, and dark amusent crossed his face, "You look like you’re about to join them. Journey rcies, Teddy,"
The hurt she was expecting to feel from his words never ca. She just stared at him like he was nothing but a brick wall.
"I really thought you’d co to warm up to again, Teddy," He continued, "It’s such a sha. You do realise that I’m the heir to this Pack now, right?"
Despite herself, she arched a brow in surprise.
"With Zevon and Zeke gone for good, I’m next in line, and my father...will not live forever. Once he dies, I’ll inherit his Alpha blood. You picked the wrong side, Teddy,"
Eric didn’t seem worried that Cain might be listening to them right now, which ans Cain isn’t closeby.
"And once I’m Alpha, I’ll make sure every stinking record that Zeke ever existed gets erased from the face of this earth,"
Theo stared at him for a long mont after that. Her eyes were empty as she did, not making the smallest impact.
Eric waited for so kind of emotion to show in her eyes, but she had been apathetic since he saw her.
Sothing about his words should have hurt. About Zeke. About erasing him. About the future Eric was threatening her with. These words leaving Eric’s lips would have shattered her core before, but there was almost nothing left to shatter when it was being erased.
Now, they slid past her like dull knives.
She felt the guard behind her shift uneasily, but she didn’t turn to acknowledge him. Her eyes stayed on Eric, studying him the way one might study soone you’re just seeing for the first ti.
"That’s it?" she asked quietly. Her voice was hoarse and worn thin, "If that’s all you have to say, then Goodbye,"
Eric’s jaw tightened, "You don’t get to act indifferent. Not after everything!"
She tilted her head slightly, and the movent made her dizzy. She forced out a slow breath in order to steady herself, "You’re right," She said. "I don’t get to act anything anymore,"
"What’s that supposed to an?" Eric frowned, clearly thrown off.
"It ans," Theo said, "That I don’t have the strength to hate you. Or mourn what you’ve beco...or rather, who you’ve always been," Her gaze dropped briefly to his shaking hands, and to the sweat beading at his temples, then she lifted her eyes again, "You’re already punished enough,"
His eyes flashed again, "Don’t pity ."
"I’m not," She replied, "Pity would require I still care,"
That landed harder than anything she’d said to him before.
For a second, his bravado cracked, and he saw the boy he used to be while they were younger — the one who used to laugh with her, share everything with, play around the courtyard with, swear they’d protect each other from everything. The boy who’d whispered her na, ’Teddy’, like it ant sothing sacred.
Then the mask snapped back into place, "You think you’re above this now?" he scoffed. "You’re Cain’s pet, not his wife. His working experint. You don’t even know what you are anymore,"
Theo’s lips curved, not quite forming a smile, "I know exactly what I am,"
She took a step closer, close enough that he stiffened, close enough that he could see the faint discolouration creeping up her neck, and the subtle pulse beneath her skin that didn’t look entirely human anymore, "I’m the consequence," she said softly.
His breath hitched.
"You want to erase Zeke?" She continued, "Go ahead. n like you always try to erase the ones who make them feel small," Her eyes hardened, silver flickering faintly beneath the amber, "But no matter how many nas you scrub from stone, you’ll still wake up every day knowing you survived by kneeling,"
His face flushed with rage, "When I’m Alpha—"
"If," she corrected quietly.
The word sliced through him.
She straightened, the effort costing her more than she let show. The hollow inside her deepened, tugging at her thoughts, at her mories, at pieces of herself she could feel slipping away even now.
She suddenly wanted this conversation to end, afraid she wouldn’t have the energy to finish standing through it. So, she turned away from him.
"Eric," She said over her shoulder softly, "I’ll be your friend one last ti and give you advice," She paused, "RUN, Eric. Run far and run fast. Cain will never let you be the next Alpha...and he’ll eventually kill you when he’s done with you. Take it...or leave it,"
He opened his mouth, but nothing ca out. The pride and ego in his eyes were gone.
The guard cleared his throat softly as a reminder.
It was ti to continue heading back to the Lab.
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