Claws

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Zale couldn't stop grinning like an idiot while he made breakfast--maple and brown sugar oatmeal with toast. He still couldn't believe what had just happened. Mae said she actually cared about him and then asked him to spend the night next to her. Of course, she didn't technically say that she would be his mate, but it seemed like she was definitely putting some thought into it. He'd never thought she'd start to accept him so soon.

When Zale finished cooking the oatmeal, he let it simmer on the stove while he put some bread in the toaster. If only he weren't being held down by his father's demands, he would've felt like he was on cloud nine. He would have to deal with his problems sooner or later.

Suddenly, a sharp pain invaded Zale's head, piercing through his eyes. Zale's smile dropped, and he leaned against the counter, blinking his eyes. His vision began to blur. What was going on?

That's when he heard his father's terrifying, cold voice echo in his head: "Hello, Zale. It's been a while."

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After lying in bed for five minutes, drowning in my humiliating thoughts about Zale, I felt restless, so I decided to get up and do my morning routine, slipping an inhibitor into my pocket. 

Once I was finished with my morning routine, I slowly shuffled downstairs, pausing when I heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen, followed by the sound of running water. 

"Zale?" I frowned, stumbling down the rest of the stairs to the kitchen. "What's going on?" When I spotted Zale sitting on the floor with his face down and his hands in his hair, my eyes grew wide, and I hurried towards him. My hand instinctively slid on his back as I knelt down, trying to look Zale in the eye. His breaths were heavy, and I could tell that he was in pain. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think I just got some dust in my eyes," Zale struggled to speak through gritted teeth, shaking his head as he sturdily kept his hand over his eyes. "I'm fine. Just give me a second."

"Let me take a look," I frowned, sliding my hand on his cheek and wrapping the other around his wrist. When I pulled his hand away from his eyes, I covered my mouth. His irises were glowing a bright shade of red, decorated with black rims and blue flecks near the pupil. Beneath his eyes held red veins that were subsiding from his cheekbones up to the small bags under his eyes. His complexion was extremely pale, and the sickly look on his face was almost difficult to look at. "Holy sh--" I paused when the red veins subsided into his eyes, the red fading into a crystal blue again. "Your eyes...They just..."

Zale seemed to relax a bit as he blinked a couple of times and rubbed his eyes, his breaths steadying. When I pulled his bangs up off his forehead to feel his temperature, he gently grabbed my hand and pulled it down. I backed up as he slowly stood up, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. "Sorry. I'm fine. It was just a bit of dust."

"As if! Your eyes turned red! You looked like death!" I raised my eyebrows, still in disbelief. "What the heck was that?"

When I grabbed his hands and stepped closer to him, his hands immediately went to my waist, and he tugged me to his chest, giving me a smile that seemed a bit forced. "I didn't know you cared so much."

"Zale, stop it! I'm not kidding!" I angrily said, trying to push him away. "What's going on?"

"Hey, calm down. I'm fine," Zale laughed, tilting my chin up so my eyes met his. "See? They must've gotten irritated and changed their pigment for a second."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" I scoffed, shaking my head. When I put my hands on his chest to push him away, I closed my eyes and sighed. "I know there's something you're not telling me. It might be an effect of being temporarily marked to you, or maybe it's all the time I've been spending around you, but I know something is going on. If you don't want to tell me, just say so. Don't lie to my face."

"Mae, please," Zale's expression hardened, and I felt his hands tense against my waist. His face was filled with guilt. He suddenly let me go and placed both of his hands against the edge of the counters. "Please, can't you just pretend that I'm doing better like everyone else? Nothing good will come out of me telling you whats going on. It'll just put you in danger."

"Well, it's too late. And I'm not just anyone," I softened my tone, stepping back with crossed arms. "I'm the idiot who ended up caring about you to enough that I would probably put myself in danger for your sake. And it's not like I'm incapable of holding my own." When Zale looked at me with wide, bewildered eyes, my eyes darted away from him. I crossed my arms. This was humiliating. "Yeah, you heard me. I'm pretty sure I care about you too. But I can't be with you if you don't tell me what's going on. I don't want to be in a relationship that's filled with lies and secrets. Now that I think about it, I'm feel like that's why I've been so unsure about us."

It was silent for a moment as Zale stood still with a dazed look on his face, as if he was still trying to process what I had just said. This left me to shift where I stood in discomfort. Why wasn't he saying anything? 

"I want to tell you. Everything," Zale sighed. "Just...give me tonight to sort things out. Please. I know you can hold your own out there, but it's more than just being able to defend yourself." Before I knew it, Zale had walked up to me and pulled me into a tight hug, resting his chin on top of my head. His voice grew softer. "You have no idea how much you've helped me in the past month and a half. I've been such a mess for years now, drowning myself in useless things every day to escape my issues until you came back and knocked some sense into me...Both figuratively and literally." Zale gently laughed. "By the way, you really know how to throw a punch."

"I sure hope I do," I briefly smirked, carefully wrapping my arms around Zale's torso. My smile dropped as a sudden thought hit me. I pulled away from Zale and looked up at him, my expression filled with caution. "The thing you're sorting out...It's not with a girl, is it?"

"No!" Zale scoffed, raising his eyebrows at me. "Do you really think I would look at anyone but you at this point? I've never wanted someone as a permanent mate, and now I have you. Why would I give that up to be with someone insignificant? Just the thought of it makes my skin crawl," Zale made a discussed face and dramatically shivered. 

"Who would have thought the Zale Ailswood would ever say such a thing. You've done a complete one-eighty." I couldn't help but laugh. "I want to say I'm glad I could help but I honestly feel like I don't deserve that. I've been really moody, especially towards you."

"I'm glad you were hard on me. I needed it, to be honest. I gained a lot of humility through you. Plus, you know what they say. God made man, and then he said, I can do better than that. That was when he made a woman," Zale whistfully sighed. He looked down at me and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear when I laughed. "Give me tonight to sort things out. It's about time I do, anyway. I promise I'll discuss it with you tomorrow, alright?"

I silently nodded, still feeling uneasy as he pulled me to his chest again. Why did I feel like he was lying to me? No. I was sure of it.

At that moment, I decided I would just have to find out whatever he was hiding tonight.

I didn't want to wait another day for him to create another lie to cover up the truth. And somewhere deep inside, I knew that's what he was going to do.

"Let's eat. You still need to take your pill."