Chapter 242 The cold Silence

Chapter 242: Chapter 242 The cold Silence

Talia’s POV

The tears would not stop.

I pressed my face into Kaelen’s chest, and I let them fall. They soaked through his shirt, hot and salty, and I could not make them stop.

I had not cried like this in years. Not since the day my mother walked into the fire. I had held it all in, buried it deep, and pretended I was strong. But now, the dam had broken, and I could not put it back together.

"I have been holding this in for so long," I whispered against his chest, my voice cracking with each word. "I have been pretending I was fine, pretending I was strong, and pretending that I could carry all of this without breaking, but I cannot do it anymore, Kaelen. I cannot keep pretending that I am not terrified of losing her, of being too late, or of finding out that she is already gone and I never even had a chance to say goodbye."

My body was still shaking, and my hands were still trembling.

Kaelen did not speak.

He did not tell me it was just a dream, and he did not tell me everything would be okay. He just held me, with his arms wrapped around me like a shield, and his hand pressed against my back.

His palm was warm, and I could feel the steady pressure of it through my shirt. It was grounding, anchoring me to the present, and pulling me back from the edge of the nightmare.

His chin rested on top of my head, and I could feel his heartbeat beneath my ear. It was steady and strong, and I clung to it like a lifeline.

The cave was quiet, because no one spoke. The only sounds were my ragged breathing and the soft crackle of the fire.

Piper was beside me. I could feel her hand on my back, warm and steady, but she did not say anything. She just sat there, and her presence was a silent comfort.

Jax and Silas had moved to the entrance, I could hear their soft footsteps as they gave us space. While Cain stood at the cave mouth, with his eyes fixed on the forest.

The silence was not empty, it was filled with everything they could not say.

I could feel Piper’s hand on my back, with her fingers tracing small circles. It was a small gesture, but it said everything. "I am here. I am not leaving." I did not need words to understand that.

I could hear Jax shifting at the entrance. He was not good with silence, and he always filled it with jokes and chatter. But today, he was quiet, because he knew this was not a moment for words.

Slowly, my breathing evened out, and the shaking stopped. The tears still fell, but they were slower now, and softer.

I pulled back and looked at Kaelen. His gray eyes were soft, and I could see the love in them. He reached up and wiped the tears from my cheeks with his thumb.

I tried to smile, but it did not reach my eyes, because it was too heavy, and too broken.

Kaelen did not smile back, he just brushed a strand of hair from my face and pulled me closer.

I felt his lips press against the top of my head. It was soft and gentle, and it said more than any words could. "I am here. I am not going anywhere." I leaned into him, and I let myself feel safe. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

"I do not know what I would do without you," I said, with my voice barely audible. "I do not know how I survived all those years alone, carrying everything by myself, with no one to hold me when I fell apart, and I do not ever want to go back to that place, because having you here, having all of you here, it is the only thing keeping me from completely losing myself in all of this darkness."

I let my head fall against his shoulder, and I closed my eyes. I did not sleep, because I could not. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my mother’s face, with her hands reaching through the bars.

But I rested, and I let myself lean into Kaelen’s warmth, and I let myself feel safe.

The sun rose higher, and the light shifted, even as the shadows grew shorter. The fire continued to burn, crackle. and popped.

The day stretched on, quiet and still, but no one spoke. Because no one needed to.

"I keep thinking about all the years I wasted," I said softly, not really speaking to anyone in particular, just letting the words come out. "All those years I spent hiding, running, pretending I was not who I was, and now I am finally fighting for something, and for someone, and I am so scared that it is too late, that I waited too long, that I was too weak for too many years and now I am going to pay for it by losing the one person I have been looking for my entire life."

I thought about my mother. I thought about the cage, the silver bars, and the fear in her eyes. I thought about her voice that was weak and desperate, calling my name.

I gripped my pendant, and I felt the warmth of it against my skin. She was out there, waiting for me, and she was running out of time.

But I was coming. I was coming for her.

I opened my eyes, and I looked at Kaelen. He was watching me, with his gray eyes soft and steady.

I did not speak, and he did not speak.

We just sat there, holding each other, and I let myself rest. Because sometimes, that was enough.

I closed my eyes again, and I let myself breathe. The nightmare was still there, lurking at the edges of my mind, but Kaelen was beside me, Piper was beside me, and the pack was watching over me. So I was not alone.

I did not know what the Ashen Lands would bring, and I did not know if my mother was still alive, but I knew one thing.

I would keep going, I would find my mother, and no nightmare would stop me.