Irene Pov

Back in her room, Irene couldn't sit still as she kept on replaying the words of the seer in her mind.

"How can he be my mate? How is that even possible?"

She bit her finger and shook her head as she paced the length of her room.

"No, I can't continue like this. I'll go crazy. I'm already going crazy talking to myself."

She ran a hand through her hair and tugged at the roots out of frustration while letting out a humorless laugh.

"You know what? I have no other choice. If I don't do this, I'll end up crazy and talking to myself while still being sleep deprived."

She took off her clothes in exchange for freer ones that were not going to constrict her while sleeping. After the encounter she had with him where she woke up with her clothes all bunched up around her, she had taken to wearing loose trousers while sleeping.

"I will have to take matters into my own hands."

She took a deep breath, laid down in bed, pulled her covers around her and shut her eyes so tightly that she began to see stars while waiting for sleep to claim her.

"Ouch."

She tried to move her hands but felt an obstruction on them. When she turned her head and saw that there were chains on her hands and that she was chained to the bed, she allowed a small smile to cross her lips.

"I'm here."

She turned back and looked around the room but there was no one with her. Usually, when she dreamt about him, he was hovering around her. She didn't know why this time was different. She waited a while hoping that he was going to materialize out of nowhere but when he didn't, she tried to call for him.

"Hello? Are you there?"

After calling out for him about 5 times, she looked up and saw him looking down at her with a frown on his face. She felt a jolt in her spine, but she could not tell whether it was fear or desire for him.

"Before you say anything, I have something to say to you."

The man that she now knew was her mate raised an eyebrow up as if questioning what she wanted to say. She nervously licked her lips as she readied herself for what she was about to say. She watched as his eyes followed the movement. She cleared her throat, and he met her eyes with a scowl like she was disturbing him and not the other way around.

"Now that I know that you're my mate and I did something to you that really hurt you, I want to apologize. I'm sorry for causing you pain and stopping you from finding peace over different lifetimes. I really don't know what came over me then but I'm sorry."

As she was speaking, his eyes kept narrowing at her until they were like slits on a slab of concrete. When she was done, she held her breath as she waited for his response.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

She prompted when all he did was glare at her. He straightened up and she was able to see the contours of his body. To put it very simply, he was beautiful. Though beauty wasn't a term used to describe men, he effortlessly exuded that rugged beauty that made people take a second look when he passed by them. If it were not for the circumstances that they found themselves in, Irene knew that he would have had millions of females throwing themselves at his feet.

"Why do you lie to my face?"

She was taken aback by the harsh tone in his words. His voice was husky and had the perfect timbre which glided smoothly, but she forced herself not to dwell on that.

"I'm not lying. I'm truly sorry."

He folded his arms and kept on glaring at her like she was the reason he was angry which technically, she was.

"I don't believe you. I don't think that you're truly sorry."

Irene tried to sit up but was quickly reminded of the constraints on her limbs when the chains dug into her skin.

"I am, I really am."

She could see that he wasn't buying any of her words or emotions that were being conveyed. Instead, his eyes had started roaming up and down her body. She knew that if she didn't distract him and try to convince him fast enough, he was going to use her for his sexual pleasures as usual.

"Why do you not believe me? I am sorry."

His eyes flicked up to hers and he looked annoyed. He stroked his beard as he ran a finger down her legs before moving away and standing to the side like he didn't just start a fire in her.

"I do not believe you because I know why you're apologizing to me."

She tried to hide her reaction to his words, but she didn't think she did such a good job when he scoffed and looked away. How did he know about her meeting with the seer? Was he somehow monitoring her movement? She didn't see how that was possible since he was stuck in her dreams.

"Whatever you think is the reason, I promise you that's not it."

If she couldn't convince him, it meant that she was going to continue being plagued by him in her dreams and she couldn't live with that. What made matters even worse was that according to the seer, the dance that they were having had been going on for 8 lifetimes so even if she ended up killing herself, she was not still going to find peace away from him.

"So, you are apologizing because you're trying to free yourself from the curse not because you care whether I'm okay or not."

Irene let out a laugh which had his scowl getting even deeper. She was glad that he didn't know about her meeting with the seer. While that was the reason, she wasn't going to let him know about it.

"Why are you laughing?"

Irene calmed herself down before looking at him again. She could see that he was smart, and she was most likely not going to be able to outsmart him. When she decided to apologize to him, she didn't envision things dragging out for so long.

"What is it going to take for you to believe that I truly am sorry? What would it take for you to see that I'm remorseful about all that I've put you through?"

She went over his question and asked some of hers. He walked closer to her and taking away the chains that held both her hands in place, he sat her up as best as she could due to the constraints still at her feet. She watched him as he freed her, unsure of what he was going to do.

"You will stay here with me for two weeks until we find a solution that will get me out of here and back into life."

He waited to see what she was going to do while watching her attentively for any movements. Irene took a little time to think things through. When she came to a decision, she raised her head up to face him and stretched her hand towards him.

"Deal."

What did she have to lose? Famous last words.