The Alpha Emperor’s Resurrection

22: Talia

Aurelia was right in her assumption - I knew everything that had been going on since Caius came back.

She was wrong about my reasoning. She didn't understand why I needed to stay away, because she hadn't even been born when I first met the Priestess, and she didn't fear her.

I hadn't agreed to give anything up to get him back. There was no contract, no agreement, no willing sacrifice for the sake of love, because a deal like the one I had made was not dictated by what I saw as a suitable offering.

What would I be willing to give to get Caius back?

The question had been rhetorical; whatever force had given us our second chance had decided our fate, and the price was set in stone.

What would I be willing to give to get him back?

Those words, spoken by a woman who was never direct, had been a warning.

What would I be willing to give? Because something would be taken, and I couldn't trust that the man I had observed for weeks was really him.

He was afraid at first, and although he was physically in his prime I saw him as a shadow of his former self. He was weak, emotionally, and lost in a world that was alien to him.

Perhaps the debt was not mine to repay - his soldiers had dragged me into a world that was just as foreign to me and there was a time that I was a scared young woman with no understanding of the world I had been taken to...his world...a world that had destroyed countless cultures in the name of territory and broken countless people who were not fortunate enough to adapt to life in the city.

Now he had to go through that, and it was easy to see it as divine retribution.

I still loved him, and I was attracted to him, but I hadn't been the one to find him and he looked at the White Wolf the same way he used to look at me. It was as if he had forgotten me, even though he still treated Aurelia as a miracle.

He had been the one to choose her name - Aurelia. Golden. Because that's what she was to him: a treasure.

His precious baby girl, even though she was older than he would ever be.

Staying away was supposed to help me find the words to express how it felt to have him back - to tell him that I still loved him.

All it did was make me increasingly bitter as they settled into a life without me - there was nothing missing without me there. He didn't need me. But I still wanted him back.

Every passing day made it harder to speak to him, and I desperately needed a reason to go back - something that made sense.

Aurelia gave me that excuse.

She was going to need me, and her father, and it would bring us together to have her to focus on.

I didn't count on the man she barely knew being supportive of her - he had abandoned her when she made it clear she wanted more from him, but she left without telling her father anything and ran back to the boy without hesitation; he was going to break her heart, and I was going to tell Caius so he was prepared when she came back.

He was terrified when he saw me, and I wondered whether Aurelia had told him that I was dead.

That was, somehow, better than the alternative; that he was afraid because he would have to tell me he didn't want me now he had an arrogant b***h chasing after him.

"Talia..."

The way he said my name crushed my heart and I wanted to collapse at his feet and tell him I had never loved anybody the way I loved him, and that I wanted him back.

I managed to retain my dignity, but I couldn't speak; I wrapped my arms around him and pressed myself against his chest so I could feel him again - it made everything real, and my eyes were blurry when he stepped back to look at me.

"Aurelia..."

Her name was all I could manage before I choked up.

It felt like I was betraying her.

"She has been helping me, I've seen her. She's barely changed... neither of you have."

I knew that - the only major differences were my clothes and the fact I kept my hair jaw length rather than impractically long.

"I can't say the same for you," I smiled, and brushed my hand across his jaw, then down to his chest. I pressed my hand against his chest over the tight grey t-shirt that looked wrong on him, despite how flattering it was.

He brought my hand to his lips without acknowledging the fact there had been a scar beneath my hand the last time I saw him - a scar that I had inflicted when we fought in the Arena as wolves.

He had allowed me to win the fight to prove that he was sorry for betraying me to transform me into a wolf, and it was a gesture that I had never forgotten. I wanted him to know that.

He kissed me again, but when I slid my hands under his top he moved them away.

"I need time, Talia," he murmured. "I'm still getting used to things, my head is a mess."

Only because he had his c**k buried in the little b***h at the first possible opportunity.

"I understand," I forced myself to respond without revealing my jealousy. He occasionally shared his bed with other women when we were younger, and that had never bothered me. He would probably think I had become jealous and insufferable if he knew how I was really feeling - I didn't want him to know that I saw the silly girl as a rival for his affection.

"Talia, I know what you think. It isn't like that."

I hadn't even considered the idea that he might pick up on my thoughts, and I felt ashamed of myself.

"You don't belong to me," I shrugged. "You'll lose interest in her now I'm back, I'm sure."

He shook his head and put his hands on my hips. "You don't understand, Talia. I do belong to you. I always have, and I always will. There's got to be a reason I'm back, I just need time to process it all."

He leaned in and kissed me again, but I didn't take things further.

I was just as overwhelmed as he was, and I had almost forgotten why I had finally gone to see him.

"Aurelia is going to need us when she comes back. She was pregnant when I spoke to her, but that stupid boy abandoned her and I think she's realized how ridiculous it would be to tie herself to a man like that."

He looked shocked, and I hadn't expected that - I didn't really know what to say.

"I didn't think she could even have children."

"Neither did we," I shrugged. "I feel sorry for her - if it was someone better suited to her than he is, she could have been happy."

"You're talking as if it's not her choice to make, Talia."

"You haven't lived through the things that we have, Caius. She knows it would be stupid to make herself vulnerable."

"Talia..." he sounded disappointed, and I stood up a little taller to remind him that there was no point arguing with me.

I didn't have a chance to respond, because the white haired b***h pulled open the door and stormed into Caius' room.

"Are you f*****g kidding me?" she paced over to me and I rolled my eyes.

"You can't possibly understand what I was discussing with my Mate, so I suggest you simmer down," I chastized her in English.

Caius shook his head subtly - apparently the bimbo had a rudimentary grasp of Latin.

"Don't patronize me. You were discussing my brother, and he has a right to know about it if your daughter is pregnant."

"Don't talk to me like that, canicula." Her eyes narrowed - she understood that I had called her an insignificant little dog of a woman, at least. "You will regret it if you press this issue, and so will your brother."