Goodbye, My Mate

Chapter 146

Leah's POV

"Take off your clothes," he commanded, his voice low, yet imbued with undeniable authority.

Never in my life had I been forced to do anything, making his commanding tone both foreign and strangely tantalizing.

"You heard me, Leah," Finn repeated, his eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine. "I want you. Right here, right now."

"Finn, we need to talk," I said, my voice wavering.

Finn roared, his hands gripping my shoulders with a fierce, almost desperate strength. "I don't want to talk," he snarled. "I want you to take off your clothes right now. Don’t make me do it for you. You're not the Lycan King's daughter to me. You're my woman. And I want my woman to obey..."

I didn't wait for him to finish. With a deliberate, almost defiant motion, I tilted my head and slowly unbuttoned my blouse.

Finn’s gaze fixated on my plump breasts and the swelling curve of my belly, his expression shifting to one of disbelief.

"I'm pregnant, Finn," I said, my voice steady. "I'm carrying your child."

His hands fell away from me as if burned. Finn staggered back, his pupils dilated, lips trembling. "No... That's not possible... You're lying... It’s... It's impossible..." he mumbled, each word fractured by his shock.

I calmly buttoned my blouse back up and sat down, my eyes never leaving his. I had envisioned this moment countless times, imagining how it would feel to tell a man I carried his child. None of those imagined moments compared to this harsh reality.

"Is that why you're here? Is that why you left your husband for me?" he finally asked, voice raw with confusion.

"No, Finn," I replied softly. "I'm here because I love you."

For a brief moment, Finn was frozen, as if turned to stone. Then, his fists clenched.

"Don’t use that word," he murmured, his back now turned to me.

I stood up and wrapped my arms around him from behind, feeling his body tense under my touch. "You deserve to be loved, Finn. You deserve to be happy. We both do."

"No... No!" he cried, breaking away and pushing me aside. "Stop! Just stop!"

He ran out of the shrine, swallowed by the enveloping darkness. My tears followed him, hot and unchecked. In that moment, my feelings were a tangled mess: love, sympathy, guilt—all interwoven, indistinguishable.

I had fallen for Finn the moment I saw him in Sak's club. After what my brother had done to him, I knew I owed Finn my life. One thing was crystal clear: I could never give up on him.

He needed my help. He needed me to be by his side, so he wouldn't feel alone again.

At that moment, a shrill cry echoed from a distance, piercing the stillness. It sounded like someone in excruciating pain. Fueled by concern, I traced the source of the sound to the entrance of a storage room at the back of the shrine.

"Is someone in there?" I called out.

A desperate voice responded from within. "Ah... Help... Help me!"

Immediately, I pushed the door open and was met with a shocking sight. Sak Doyle, Finn's alleged brother, was trapped inside a cage.

"Miss... Miss Lewyn!" he screamed, clutching the bars with white-knuckled desperation. "Please, let me out! Let me out of this place!"

"Why are you here?" I demanded, frowning deeply.

"Finn brought me here! That monster... He's not the same, Miss Lewyn! He's regained his memories and now he's back for revenge! He wants to kill everyone!"

"Yet you're still alive," I noted in a calm, measured tone.

"What... What do you mean, Miss Lewyn?" he stammered.

"He keeps you here to protect you," I said softly. "He doesn't want to kill you."

Sak's face twisted with horror. "Why aren't you surprised? Do you understand what I mean? Finn remembers everything! He remembers what your brother Leo did to him! Your life is in danger now! You..."

He paused, realization dawning. "You already know... You knew all of this..."

"Yes," I nodded. "That's why I'm here with him."

"How can you be so foolish, Miss Lewyn?!" Sak screamed, his voice rising in anger. "Finn plans to use you as a hostage to trade for Leo with your father! You need to run now! Run before he comes back!"

I remained still, my resolve unshaken. "Sak, there's something I need to verify with you. I need you to tell me everything you know about Finn. And you have to tell me the whole truth."

With a deep sigh, Sak sank to the ground, his frustration evident. "I should have met him earlier," he said, his voice breaking. "What he went through as a child... The things they made him do... He shouldn’t have experienced any of it. That's why I sent him with you. You can take care of him in ways I can't. I can't protect him. But he just doesn’t understand..."

"Did you meet him for the first time at the slave market?" I asked.

Sak shook his head. "No, I first saw him in Skakel's backyard. He was just a child, maybe six or seven. Diego, Skakel's youngest son, was kind to him. But I had no idea what that old man would do to him later."

"Are you a friend of the Skakels?" I questioned.

"My father knew old man Skakel. They were business partners," Sak explained.

"What kind of business?" I probed, frowning.

"They were private contractors for your father, the Lycan King. They owned a logistics company, buying and selling goods for an affiliate lab of UniHealer on Mediland."

My mind raced. They must have had access to the enhancement project back then.

"I’ve never heard of an affiliate lab on Mediland," I said.

"That was a long time ago. Your father was still head of UniHealer then," he said.

My heart sunk.