The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe Chapter 82: I was trying to protect you

"Damar isn’t the one I need protection from. It’s you!"

Silence fell so heavily that it felt like the forest behind us had stopped breathing itself.

But the breeze blew and the leaves rustled.

This wasn’t about the forest going still, but about the heaviness that had dropped on our hearts.

Kaelor stared at as though I’d just struck him across the face.

"What?" he whispered, his voice sounding broken and filled with disbelief.

Damar did not move; he simply kept his eyes on while keeping his guard up against Kaelor.

He looked touched. Probably because it was the first ti soone was standing up for him, but whatever it was, I wanted him to know that I was and would forever be on his side.

Even if that ant going against my entire tribe.

Damar’s tail coiled around my waist, tightening instinctively as if trying to keep in reach, in case Kaelor did sothing unpredictable.

I could feel his muscles tensing, ready to move the instant Kaelor did. Yet he didn’t pull back. He let stand there, just trusting. Trusting .

Kaelor, after staying silent with his eyes staring in disbelief, laughed once, breathless and disbelieving.

"You don’t know what you’re saying." He said. "You’re shaken. You’re scared, I know. He put fear into you, Arinya, that’s why you’re lashing out."

He acts like he knows it all. Like he can see through , but he doesn’t know it well. He... Can’t see the obvious.

"Yes, I am scared," I said quietly.

His eyes softened imdiately, hope flashing there as if I had just handed him a trophy for best clairvoyant brother.

"But not of him." The addition made the hope shatter in an instant.

"What... What are you saying?"

I clenched my fists, grounding myself, refusing to retreat now that I’d finally stepped forward and was moving my body with no restrictions.

"I was scared when you grabbed ," I continued. "I was scared when you shouted at instead of listening. I was scared when you decided what happened to without even asking."

Kaelor’s jaw tightened.

"I was trying to protect you." He defended but I spat out,

"No," I said. "You were trying to own ."

The words tasted bitter at the top of my tongue, but though bitter, they felt good.

His breath hitched as he said the most cliché line one would see in a novel.

"I’m your brother."

"And that’s exactly why this hurts," I shot back, tears burning my eyes again but not falling this ti. "Because I trusted you. Because I thought your concern ca from love, not control."

My clenched fists trembled, and I bit the inside of my mouth, fighting the tears that threatened to fall.

"I am grateful that you were there at so point. I am grateful that you were not part of the people who threw rocks at , mocked , and told to act more like a female. But that rcy only chained to your affection. It made more miserable than if you had hurt outright. If you were going to make love you, then you should’ve done it right and not leave in the void, with no air and no light."

I could only bear to think of the heavy emotions that weighed on my heart.

They weren’t mine but I felt them so much it hurt like hell.

"Anyways, I’m grateful for all that but thanks to that, I was able to et Damar and learn what it ans not to be chained by affection. What it ans to love freely."

"Ari," Damar called softly, having not expected my words.

Though I said all of that, guilt pricked .

Sure, Kaelor did what he did, but the one who made the first move, the one who turned his light dictatorship into sothing obscene, was none other than Arinya herself.

But whether Kaelor secretly induced those thoughts and feelings into her, I am not entirely sure of.

Just seeing how he responded now, after finding a mate for her out of ’goodwill’ raises my suspicion more and more.

What empty heart? What confusion?

He looks like a beast who has a clear goal so I can’t be fooled by his brotherly show of affection.

Kaelor gritted his teeth but still did not back down.

He let out a breath, calming himself so he could make rational decisions, and then extended his hand.

"I made a mistake." He suddenly admitted. "I realize I hurt you, Arinya. And I did sothing despicable so I’ll understand if you end up hating ."

My eyes widened and a gasp escaped .

What was he doing now?

He was apologizing?

He had suddenly cald himself and was doing sothing like this, trying to get to his side again.

He was far more rational than I thought.

"But you don’t understand how dangerous he is." He said. "He’s a snake and we can’t trust snakes. Or... Did he bewitch you through so form and you don’t see him for what he is? If so, I’ll free you right away."

I stayed silent for a second and tilted my head.

If the fact that I got srized by his body and face, and enchanted by those silver locks on his head, can be called bewitching, then yes, I was certainly bewitched.

But none of that has anything to do with the way my heart beats for him right now.

"I do see him as a snake," I said.

"Then—?"

"And I chose him anyway." I cut him short.

"Why?"

It seed Damar had already heard enough and wanted to make his move to protect his dear wife.

He leaned down slightly, his voice low, dangerous, but restrained.

"Enough." He said but Kaelor snapped his gaze towards him, rage reigniting on that calm face of just now.

"Stay out of this."

But Damar wasn’t one to flinch just because Kaelor raised his voice a little bit.

"You ask for forgiveness now, but you definitely were in your right mind when you made her cry, so what right do you have now to call a beast?" Damar replied coldly. "At least," he leaned down, his chin dropping above my head as he said with cold eyes. "...I never made her cry."