Wrong Direction.
"Sev, What did you say?" Ken crawls off of him, staring at him with his wide lavender orbs, teeth gracing his bottom lip in a way it always does when he is nervous. Why is he nervous?
"I found my mate." Severo repeated his words for him, "I found her when I was ready to die. She rescues me, Ken. She rescues me from the guilt that eats me alive after all those horror-filled days." His eyes search for Ken's, "One day, Ken. My rut only lasts one day. Would you believe it?"
Ken is silent. He won't even look at Severo anymore as he fidgets with the hem of his silk shirt. He heard Ken let out a shaky breath before his eyes found Severo's again, "But Sev, I thought—I thought fated mates were all just myth. How is it possible?" The last of his words aren't more than a whisper.
Severo feels his eyebrows pulling down in a frown. From the way Ken sounds and looks, he know he isn't pleased. But why? "Aren't you supposed to feel relieved that I finally found the cure to my curse?"
Ken looks taken aback by Severo's words, "What?—I mean yes! I'm relieved, Sev. I'm relieved that you don't have to go through hell anymore. I was just—erm, curious, you know? I'm sorry that I offended you." He stumbles over his words.
He knows Ken is anything but relieved from the way he still fidgets with his shirt and how his eyes kept roaming everywhere but to Severo. What is wrong with him? The Ken he knows would have jumped at him and even shed a few happy tears knowing that his Sev won't be suffering anymore.
He stares at him even though he keeps avoiding Severo's gaze. When Severo doesn't offer him any words, he rises on his feet, eyes on the ground as he says, "I should go."
How weird can he get?
"What is wrong with you?" Severo catches his wrist when he tries to walk away, "A moment ago, you said you wanted to tell me a lot of things and now you are running away?"
Ken's jaw clutches as he stares at Severo in the eyes, "Running away?" He scoffs. "Running away from what? You? That would be the last thing I want to do."
Confusion grips Severo with its invisible hands as he stares at Ken, trying to understand the person that is standing in front of me now. "Okay, then why are you leaving now?"
"The girl you were staring at before is the one, right?" Severo doesn't know if Ken really meant to sound harsher as he just did. His voice has a bitter tone. Does he have anything with Micah?
"Yes," He confirms. "So? What does she have to do with this?" His fingers point at Ken's stiff poster, he looks as if he is trying to get away from here…from Severo.
"Do you really don't know?" Ken sounds annoyed, he can sense that he is trying hard not to just yank his hand away from Severo and go. "Do you really not see the jealousy in her eyes? You won't want her doubting us." Ken gestures at Severo's grip on his wrist. He felt like he was hit by lightning as he removed his hands from his. Doubt them?
"Doubt us, Ken? You are my friend! And she doesn't even want to mate with me. She doesn't want a beast as a mate." Something so akin to heartbreak flickers through his eyes and Severo is scared. He is scared that he missed something that he wasn't supposed to.
"Yes, I'm your friend. But only if you were mine too... And if she knew who you really are, Sev, she wouldn't even trade you for the world." Ken's eyes glow with unshed tears. Tears. God, what is he seeing? Ken and tears shouldn't even be in the same sentence.
Severo's hands reach out to cup his face out of instinct but Ken just takes another step back. He took a deep exhale, trying to calm his nerves, "Could you please tell me what makes you so upset?"
"Oh, Sev, how could you be so clueless? All the time?" He grabs his head in his hands as he blinks away the tears. "I was so excited. So thrilled to finally tell you how I felt about you all this time and you— God you have a mate. A fated one."
Severo stares at him with wide eyes, he can't believe his ears. Is he really saying what he is saying? Ken…have feelings for him? Him out of all the people he can have?
"What makes you so clueless, Sev? I love you! I love you and you just don't understand how much." He whispers, a lone wind snatching the words away from his lips.
"I didn't know, Ken…"