I'm Sorry

When Val regained consciousness, it took a long time before his eyes could fully open. Val woke up and seemed fine that day, unlike the previous days when Val felt his body was difficult to control. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. His nose smelled the familiar pheromones in the isolation room.

Val turned his head, then fell silent with a pale face. Beside him, Elyna lay still, her face looking paler than Val last remembered. Her long hair was scattered messily on the pillow. Elyna was not wearing any clothes. From the traces of damage around them alone, Val could already guess what caused his senses to return.

When Val saw Elyna, the memory of when he lost control slowly began to appear. The pieces of memory immediately hit him mercilessly. Val remembered how he pounced on Elyna, bit her, and treated her roughly for the past few days.

"No..."

Val muttered in fear, afraid of himself. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his mate. Val created the isolation room to prevent that from happening. Even though Elyna looked fine, the wound he had scratched at that time was real, and it could have left a scar on Elyna's fragile heart.

"Erm."

When Val was thinking about the worst possibility, Elyna's eyelids trembled slowly before finally opening. Val was afraid that Elyna would look at him in fear. But when their eyes met, Elyna smiled, and that smile successfully erased all the worries Val had initially felt.

"Are you okay?"

Val furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn't believe that Elyna could remain calm after what he had done the past few days.

"I'm..." His voice was hoarse, almost like a whisper. "I'm... sorry. I forced you. I... I marked you by force."

Elyna sighed. "What happened at that time was a little scary. But at that time, what happened to you was because of me. I apologize, Val, for coming late."

"That..." Val's head lowered. He knew what Elyna meant. He smelled someone else's scent from his mate's body. Elyna wasn't just his. She also belonged to a vampire who was his natural enemy.

"...it's not your fault."

After a while, Val finally spoke. Elyna's return was enough to prove that Elyna still cared about him. Even though Elyna wasn't just his, Val would try to adapt as best as he could.

For Val, the most important thing was that Elyna still came back for him. Val reached out his hand to touch the corner of Elyna's eye. Elyna didn't seem to realize that her pupils were a different color.

"Elyna, are you going to leave again after this?"

Elyna took Val's hand which was touching the corner of her eye. She clasped it. Elyna liked how Val's pheromones gently enveloped her body.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked nervously.

"Of course not," Val answered firmly. Elyna smiled with sentiment. She was really lucky to be given a partner who could understand her situation with an open heart.

"Then, I'll stay with you. We're bound. You, me, Tritan. We all share the same destiny."

Val nodded. They couldn't change destiny. Therefore, the only choice was to let everything flow like water.

"As long as we're together, everything will be fine."

Val said that not only for Elyna but for himself as well. Val tried to convince himself that everything would be fine. Look on the bright side. Since Elyna had awakened her vampire blood, she was fine, even if she had just spent a scary night with Val.

"Thank you, Val. For trying to understand."

Val returned Elyna's hug tightly. His eyes closed. He could only wish that time would stop so he could continue hugging Elyna without being disturbed by anyone.

***

"Err... should we go in?"

Outside the room, a group of female werewolves were considering whether they could check on Val now that their connection was stable again. They were afraid that Elyna's life was in danger because of Val. But on the other hand, they were also not sure that Val's stability meant that he wouldn't attack if they suddenly entered the isolation room.

"Let me go in."

Everyone immediately turned when Tritan suddenly came and offered himself calmly. An uneasy feeling crept into everyone's hearts. Tritan couldn't possibly know what Elyna had gone through in there. Even so, the man remained calm as he offered to be the first to go in there.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Maybe we should- Hey!"

Siren hadn't finished speaking when Tritan opened the door of the isolation room with his power. Siren clicked her tongue in annoyance. Of course. Even though the door was designed to withstand any blow, it would be useless in front of a vampire who used magic like Tritan.

"Hey, vampire!"

Everyone tried to stop Tritan from entering but stopped in front of the door for fear of angering their alpha. Only Tritan continued to move forward. He then stopped walking when he saw how Elyna was naked while hugging Val, who was in the same condition.

The smell of lovemaking wafts through the place. Without needing to ask, Tritan already knew that he had officially let Elyna share her fate with someone else.

"B-brother."

Elyna looked surprised, while Val just frowned. Tritan didn't say anything for a while. It took him a while to calm down before he smiled softly at Elyna.

"You must be tired. The people outside have prepared a hot bath for you. Go with them. I want to talk to him."

"But-"

"We'll just talk peacefully. Trust your brother, Elyna."

Elyna was worried, but even Val gave her a gesture that she should follow what Tritan said. Elyna finally came out wrapped in a blanket, where she was immediately taken away by Siren and the other female werewolves. In the room, only Val and Tritan were left, and they just stared at each other before Tritan broke the silence between them.

"I need to talk to you. It's about the child that will grow in her belly," he began.