CHAPTER 81: CONVERSATIONS IN THE DARK...

Charis

I didn’t want to think too much of it, but something felt strange with me.

I felt weaker than usual, and my dormant wolf was more restless than it had ever been since I arrived here.

I was gasping for breath by the time I arrived at Kael’s living quarters, and a strange warmth fluttered in my chest at the thought of seeing him again.

When I got to his door, I adjusted the heat-care kit in my arms and gently turned the doorknob.

Inside, the room was slightly dim, and the curtains were drawn with only light coming from the overhead reading lamp hanging over Kael’s table. Kael himself was hunched over his desk with books spread open on every inch of the table surface.

His elbows were resting on the table, arms bracketing his small notepad that he seemed to carry everywhere, and he was asleep. His body had somehow managed to support itself from completely collapsing onto the desk. He looked exhausted.

I tiptoed carefully across the room with the heat care box, dropping it quietly in the bottom of my wardrobe before turning my attention back to Kael. Something about seeing him so worn out by whatever he’d been struggling with made my lips curl with affection.

I pulled out my phone, hoping to capture rare moments like this when Kael looked human, but as I took the first shot, his eyes suddenly opened. Before I could react, he grabbed me and, in one fluid motion, pulled me into his arms.

I squealed in surprise, trying to shake him off me, but he held me tighter. My body was pressed against his chest, and I could feel my heart pounding beneath his cheek.

"Let me go, Kael," I groaned, hitting him lightly on his back. "I didn’t even get a good shot."

"You came back in one piece," he murmured, rolling his head against my stomach.

"And you deserted me," I retorted, though I didn’t pull away from his hug. "Do you know how scared I was in that car with Marcus? He said you asked him to pick me up. And then—" I paused and pulled back slightly, turning to glare at him. "You didn’t reply to my text. You saw it but said nothing."

He sighed deeply, leaning his forehead against my chest. "I don’t have a car. Second, I was too exhausted to think straight. Third, I missed a test today and failed to turn in my homework from last week. So I was trying to catch up with everything, but there was also an emergency meeting. Don’t worry—Marcus won’t hurt you. We talked about that before he left."

He pulled me onto his lap and I settled more comfortably. "He found out that we live together."

"Yeah," Kael nodded, leaning back on his chair. "I told him. He didn’t take the news well in the beginning, and it took me bringing him in here before he believed."

"That’s mean, Kael. You didn’t need to rub it in his face."

"That wasn’t my intention. I was telling him the truth."

"Well, that truth made him ask me out again, and I said no."

Kael’s lips twitched as he looked up at me. "He’s really into you."

"I wish he would stop. There’s no future for us there. I don’t want to be friends with him either".

Kael didn’t say anything in response to that; he kept staring at me with sleep-laden eyes. Unable to stand the intensity in his gaze, I turned my attention to his desk, staring at the book-filled surface.

My gaze landed on lots of crumpled sheets, but what was more surprising was how he wasn’t getting anything done. His homework booklet was still as new as a fresh copy.

I turned to him and asked quietly. "Do you need my help with anything?"

He nodded, and I felt him move closer. He leaned onto my back, his chest pressing gently against me as his hands came around my waist. The contact was as casual as anything in the world but it suddenly made me conscious that I was sitting on him.

He peered over my shoulders, reaching for his homework booklet and turned to face me.

My breath caught in my throat as our faces were inches apart. All I had to do was lean in and kiss him.

I turned my gaze away, trying to focus on what he was telling me.

"Yes, please," he was saying. "I’ve been trying to understand the homework, but a lot of the words aren’t familiar and aren’t in my dictionary."

"Dictionary of words?" I scoffed without thinking. "But it’s a simple text, Kael, written in English. Even a baby could read this and—"

I trailed off abruptly, turning back to Kael, who was watching me with an amused expression in his eyes. I tried to stand from his lap, mortified by my thoughtless comment, but he pulled me back down.

"Where are you running off to, Eamon?" he asked gently.

"Nowhere, I just... I’m sorry. That sounded so insensitive. I didn’t mean to blurt that out. I’m sure you’re just tired and—"

"Don’t be sorry, Eamon," he interrupted with a smile that transformed his entire face. This was the first time I was seeing him smile. He reached up to cup my cheek tenderly.

"You must have noticed, right? It’s okay."

"Noticed what?" I eyed him strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"The fact that I cannot read or study or do anything with words, but believe me, I am much better compared to when I first came here. I couldn’t even write my name."

My mouth hung open as I stared at him, wondering if he was joking with me, but the problem was, Kael never joked, and the pieces were suddenly clicking into place—that one time I’d seen him stay too long on a Chapter in his textbook.

The way he randomly asks me to pronounce simple words for him, and then the effort he puts into trying to write them down, along with their pronunciations.

"Y-you cannot read?" I stuttered, "That’s not possible," I heard myself whisper. "At summer camp..."

"That’s why I asked you to write your name in my book," he said with another easy smile. "It took me nearly two weeks of constant rehearsal to finally write all of that information about me without consulting my dictionary."

"But you can read," I countered again, trying to justify situations where he’d seemed in charge.

"If I see a word more than thrice and make conscious efforts to remember it, then I will remember how it is pronounced. Else, that, when I look at a book filled with words, I see jumbled letters and my brain panics."

"Oh my god, Kael." Tears welled up in my eyes. "I’m so sorry."

"Why?" he chuckled. "It’s not your fault, Eamon. It’s no one’s fault, and I’m lucky I’m learning these days, believe me. I can text simple words and read simple things. You should have met me last year."

"Oh, Kael!" I wrapped my arms around his body, leaning my body against him, hoping to offer comfort, but it seemed he was the one comforting me. "And I was so angry you didn’t text back."

"I wasn’t with my dictionary of words for your second text, and I couldn’t voice read it either because of the meeting. I’m sorry."

"Don’t apologise." I looked up at him again. "I feel so stupid. I can’t begin to imagine how difficult—"

He cut me off with another smile, and before I knew what was happening, he rose to his feet and swept me into his arms, carrying me bridegroom style toward his bed.