Shattered Petals

Chapter 4:Almost Melted in His Arms

Zella's POV

My decision to leave this place and go far away from Kol wasn't completely from my heart but I had to leave. If there's anything I'm afraid of, it's a repetition of what I passed through in the hands of the witch.

"I can't stay here. I've spent just one night here and I can't even breathe properly. I'll just have to inform Kol of my departure so he can live his life whichever way he pleases," I muttered to myself as I wiped off the beads of sweat that had formed on my forehead and hurried off to his room.

"Watch it!" A tiny voice scowled and I looked down to see the source of that noise.

"If you had eyes, you'd see that I was already standing there before you bumped into me. Why are you so clumsy?" He asked and I let out a heavy sigh to hold myself from snapping his fragile neck in two.

"I'll just pretend this never happened and we can keep all the parts of our body safe and sound, ok?" I asked with a broad smile and his face stiffened.

"I'll tell my mother!" He cried as he scurried away and I shook my head in so much disappointment.

As I got closer to Kol's room, all the anger I once felt slowly faded away and all I was left with was just my rational decision to leave here.

"Anyone in?" I asked without knocking and when I didn't get an answer, I lifted my hand to knock but the door creaked open and he towered over me.

"Why do you look so angry? I'm only here to discuss something important with you," I said and he sizes me from head to toe before letting me in.

"Before you say whatever it is that brought you here, I have something to ask you Zella," he said and my brows furrowed.

What could he possibly want to know from me that he doesn't already know?

"What is it you want to know?" I asked and he pointed at the chair in front of him. I hesitated a bit but then I remembered that my knees were a bit sore after grazing it on a piece of those broken plates earlier. So I sat and stared at him deep in the eyes.

"Zella you're under my roof, under my care, and you're most likely my mate but I can't boast of knowing anything about you," he said and I rubbed my sweaty palms together.

"What more do you want to know about me?" I asked.

"Your parents. What about them? Are they still alive? If they are, then it'll be a good start if we find them because they might know something about this witch," he said and I wondered if I wasn't clear when I explained my life to him before.

"Kol, I have no idea who my parents are and I don't remember seeing them ever.

I stayed confined to the shackles of that woman all my life." I replied and he leaned back on his chair, staring at me like I was some fairytale.

"I can't believe someone would lock an innocent child in for so many years with no idea of who her parents are," he said and rubbed his temples.

"I guess I was destined to be locked in there, maybe for this moment," I replied and he looked up at me.

"What moment?" He asked and I picked at my fingers.

"To help you break your curse. To free you from the prison you've been confined to. But I guess I'm not needed here as much as I thought I'd be," I said and he got up and walked towards me.

"Don't say that Zella, you can't expect everyone to just throw their arms open and accept a stranger as their luna. It's not a title to play around with and you know that.

With time, they'll warm up to you, we just have to focus only on finding this witch," he said calmly, yet his voice held so much authority that I didn't know if he was ordering me or not.

"What is it you came in here to say?" He asked and I swallowed hard. How do I tell him now that I came over to inform him of my departure ?

I already decided to leave this place as soon as I could, but now, my once made up mind has changed, all thanks to him.

"Nothing Kol, I just needed someone to talk to because nobody else would even look in my direction." I lied and he scoffed.

"Feel free to feed your eyes with the books on my shelf," he said and I nodded even though I wasn't interested in his books at all.

“I heard Kiana left this morning, where did she go off to?” I asked casually and he rubbed his face with his palms.

“She insisted on going after the witch no matter how much I tried to talk her out of it. I had no idea she already left this morning but I sent my men out to find her,” he replied.

“Why are you not out there looking for her?” I asked and he looked up at me without an answer.

"Have you ever seen me as your mate or are you also like the rest of them that haven't accepted me yet?" I asked without a single clue of what I was expecting in return.

The silence that covered the room was deafening and I immediately regretted asking the question in the first place. I felt so bad, my knees became wobbly, I just wanted the ground to open and close up on me.

"I'm sorry I asked that," I said and he smiled for the first time in a long time.

"Come here," he muttered and I dragged my legs to him. He held my arm and I sat on his legs while my own legs shivered.

"You want to know my answer?" He asked, and I nodded.

"I know you are my mate Zella," he replied and I didn't know when I smiled so hard, my cheekbones almost started hurting.

He pulled me close and kissed my forehead in the most gentle way ever.

"You asked a question, I'm giving an answer," he replied and I almost melted in his arms. I didn't want an answer anymore, all I wanted right now was more of his touch but I didn't know if he felt the same for me.