The Broken Angel & Her Overprotective Brothers-Chapter 296: Kaiden’s First Mate (Part One)

Emily walked beside Kaiden in silence as the latter took her to another unknown place in his grand castle with never-ending staircases. They didn’t come across even a single person on their way and the hallways were filled with pure silence except for the sound of their footsteps.

She sneaked a side glance at the man walking beside her and found the same serious and unreadable look on his face that was making it even harder for her to understand the mood.

She opened her mouth to speak but then immediately closed it as she wasn’t sure what to say. Her mind was too blank at the moment which didn’t seem good at all considering the situation she was in.

A voice kept telling her that she shouldn’t be this calm but it seemed like that voice was too weak to register her concern because a stupid part of her was hoping that it was all a part of his prank. Only if she knew!

It took them a while but they finally reached their destination and as far as Emily could tell, it was a major and important area of the castle considering the tight security that protected this particular area.

The magical essence of several protection wards washed over her as they walked through them and made their way toward one of the few rooms that were located on that floor.

Kaiden opened the door and stepped aside to allow her entrance but at the same time, he kept his attention away from her.

Taking in a deep breath, Emily stepped inside the dimly lit room and immediately realized that it was an office. She heard Kaiden following behind her before he closed the door and locked it.

Instead of taking her time to look around the spacious and well-decorated office, she turned her attention to her boyfriend as she asked, "So what do you want to tell me?"

Kaiden was silent for a while as he took a few steps closer to her and finally raised his head to look at her. His cerulean eyes were holding so many emotions in them that they almost swayed her on her feet.

"As you are aware that you are my second chance, Angel. Before you entered my life, I was someone who had completely lost my chance at love." Kaiden finally started speaking and his voice was filled with just as many emotions as he was carrying in his eyes.

Emily noticed how he wasn’t trying to act strong in front of her, or how he wasn’t trying to keep his emotions in check just because she was there. Instead, he was letting her see his raw side, his humane side.

And as she heard him finally speak about his first mate for the first time in all these years, her curiosity returned to find out exactly what happened to her.

"Elisa and I were childhood friends. We grew up together, studied together, and fought together side by side. We were each other’s biggest supporters. And then on my eighteenth birthday, we found out that we were mates."

Kaiden stopped to take a deep breath before he continued, "It was something everyone in the pack was anticipating, including the two of us. She was only three months younger than me. So when she also turned eighteen, we got engaged. But nothing prepared us for what happened a few weeks after that."

Emily wasn’t sure what kind of feelings she was experiencing as she listened to him talking about his first mate but she still listened with patience and an open heart.

"I returned home after a busy day at the company and found out that Elisa had disappeared all of a sudden and our men were unable to track her. Hours turned into days and days into weeks and months, but no matter how hard I tried to find her, I wasn’t able to, until... one day I received a message from our intelligence that they have found her."

Kaiden’s voice became heavy at that point and Emily could feel that heaviness settling down in her heart too. She closed the space between the two of them and placed her hand over his arm and gave him a light squeeze.

"I lost her, Angel. When I reached that place where she was supposed to be, I only found her dead body waiting for me. And you know what was the worst part? I didn’t even feel the breaking of our bond just a few seconds before I found her, it means if I have been a little bit quicker, I could have saved her..."

His voice started crying and he ultimately choked by the end of the sentence as his emotions overruled him. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he allowed Emily to pull him in a tight hug that immediately soothed his wolf and soul but still wasn’t able to take away the pain completely.

Emily felt her own eyes sting as tears filled them. She could feel his pain, angst, self-blame, and suffering. A part of his soul was still broken because of this horrifying past. "I’m sorry for your loss..."

She pulled away from the hug as she cupped his face in both her palms as she looked into his eyes and spoke, "... But it wasn’t your fault, Kaiden. Stop blaming yourself."

She knew exactly how he felt. She too once used to blame herself for something similar. She brushed away his tears from his cheeks but more followed.

"I blamed myself for years after that. My soul almost became dead and my wolf was on the verge of losing control but then... you entered my life out of nowhere and changed everything. I was both happy and terrified when I realized that you were my mate. Happy because I felt my life finally returning to me but terrified because I knew that I didn’t deserve you. Sometimes, I even thought that you were just a dream because second chances for finding a soulmate only existed in stories."