Bound By Moonlight to My Mates (by Sofange Daye) novel Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Charlotte

My eyes come back into focus. The walls of the ruined sanctuary are like a tomb, holding the memories of their love. Not my love, but Theo’s and Tala’s. Not tears prickle in the corners of my eyes. Their love was so strong that they were willing to watch the world burn around them just to be together.

It was the kind of love that any woman would wish for. In each lifetime, Tala gave her life for him, and every time he begged her to make a different decision.

Theo stands before me, looking at me with wounded eyes. I don’t know how long I have been reliving the memories. It felt like forever, but it could have only been moments.

The air between us crackles with the aftershock of truth. It slams into me harder than any blow could. My body trembles as the memories, Tala’s memories, all of them, swirl through me like a storm I can’t shut out. The heat of the fire. The echo of the dagger’s song. The grief that never ended.

I stumble away from Theo, clutching the sheet around me as if it can protect me from what I’ve seen. From him.

“I shouldn’t have let you bring me here.” My voice fractures. My hands fumble as I grab my clothes, pulling them on with shaking fingers. “I shouldn’t have… I didn’t want to see those things.”

“Little Cricket, please.” Theo’s voice is low, aching.

“Don’t call me that,” I spit in anger, but I don’t mean it.

“Charlotte,” he whispers as he reaches for me, but I step back as if his touch might burn straight through me. “You remember now. You know why I….”

“Why you what?” I snap. “Why you’ve been following me through every lifetime? Why you’ve been waiting for me to kill you?”

His expression twists, pain flashing behind his eyes. “You were never supposed to carry that weight again.”

The laugh that escapes me is raw and broken. “Too late.”

He moves closer, trying to steady me, but I shake my head violently. “Don’t. Don’t you dare touch me.”

“Charlotte… We have to make this right.”

“So I can end my life again?” I scream it this time, the sound ricocheting off the walls. “So I can finish the curse you and Tala started? Is that what you want from me? Because I will have to remind you that I am not Tala.”

“No,” he says quickly, voice rough. “You are not Tala, and that is what I love about you. You have not bent to her like the others.”

“Don’t try flattery,” I snap. “I will not die for you.”

་IL

Theo steps forward again, bathing me in the heat of his body. “Not this time. I want you to take my life. End it. End me, and the curse dies with me. You’ll be free. They all will.“.

I stare at him, chest heaving, the world spinning beneath my feet. “You think I could do that?” My voice trembles, softer now but just as sharp. “You think I could kill you, after everything between us? After what you’ve made me remember? You and Tala burned the world for your love, and I am just supposed to end it.”

He flinches, guilt flickering in his eyes. “I love you, Cricket, as much as I ever loved Tala. You were never meant to suffer like this, and I can barely stand it. End this, Charlotte. If I die, the cycle ends.”

“But I can’t.” I swallow hard, tears burning at the edges of my vision. “Even if I wanted to, I can’t. The box, the dagger, they are both gone. Elder Samson has it. And he also has Ronan. MY mate. Not Tala’s. Mine.”

Theo goes still, every muscle in his body coiling tight. “Samson will be dealt with. I promise you that.”

I throw my arms in the air and turn away from him. “Even if I wanted to end this curse the way the Moon Goddess wants me to, I can’t. Not without the box. The flames that consumed Tala that night didn’t burn you. I can only assume the dagger is the only thing that can kill you.”

“You aren’t wrong.”

I keep my chin high, refusing to look at him still. “But it won’t take the dagger to kill me.”

It isn’t a question, but a statement. I could end my life right now, but Tala would only be reborn, and she would have to suffer this again.

I feel his hands on my shoulders, but I don’t have the strength to shrug him away. Even though I know the truth, I can’t stop myself from wanting him. I lean into touch and reach out to Tala, needing to know the truth.

“Tala,’ I call out to her. ‘Why didn’t you tell me sooner?‘

She shuffles in my mind, pacing back and forth. ‘I feared you wouldn’t forgive me.‘

‘I don’t want to die for him,‘ I cry. ‘I want to live. Damon, Jake, and Ronan belong to me, too. How can I leave them behind knowing how they feel about me?‘

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