Sacred Flame: His Enemy, His Mate (BL)-Chapter 63: Then, why me?

Kain Locke

I lay there for a long time, staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. The floor was hard, the blanket was also too thin, and the cold air kept creeping in no matter how much I curled into myself.

Nonetheless, exhaustion took over, and I drifted off only to wake up a few hours later with a shiver, my teeth clicking together from the cold. Pulling the blanket tighter didn’t help. The floor beneath me felt like ice, and no matter how much I tried to ignore it, the chill sank deep into my skin.

Damn it.

I curled up tighter, but sleep wouldn’t come back.

Why is this happening to me, I thought as I got to my feet with both arms wrapped around my chest with the blanket draped over me.

I glanced over at Kael to see he was still on the bed, but I could no longer tell whether he was asleep or not.

I shivered as I walked to the door only to freeze midway when I heard,

"You’re not actually thinking of waking up the old lady, are you?"

I stiffened, torn between irritation and disbelief. I hadn’t even spoken or made any noise while standing up, yet how did he know what I was thinking and the fact that I was cold? Does that mean he wasn’t asleep the whole time?

Still I couldn’t help the little bubbles in my stomach at the fact that he was talking to me again.

"She went through a lot today," he continued. "You really wanna be the one to drag her out of bed just because you caught a cold ?"

My hands curled into fists under the thin blanket. It wasn’t like I wanted to wake Irene up, but what choice did I have? I was freezing, and the blanket wasn’t doing much to help.

"Come here."

I blinked, eventually turning to face him. "What?" I practically exclaimed, surprised and confused. Was this him speaking or did I misheard what he just said?

He turned his head slightly, his gaze meeting mine in the dim light. It turned out he had his back to me all along, "You heard me."

I stared at him, expecting some kind of smirk, some taunting remark, but his expression remained unreadable.

Still, I hesitated.

"Still clinging to that ego?" he spoke lazily, but the irritation in the way he said it made me want to do anything but listen to him

However, I swallowed. Although my pride screamed at me to ignore him, to tough it out, my body was already trembling from the cold. Damn it.

Without another word, I walked over slowly, removing the blanket covering my body and threw it on the chair sitting in the corner, given that there’s a better one on the bed. I climbed onto the bed, making sure to keep my distance. But the moment I settled, warmth hit me like a wave. He was ridiculously warm, like a living furnace, and despite everything, my body instinctively relaxed as I shifted even closer to him waiting for him to talk or ask me to keep distance but he said nothing.

It’s ridiculous to act this way but no matter how hard I tried to focus on the warmth sinking into my frozen limbs, my mind wouldn’t let me rest. The weight of everything that happened earlier, and his silence pressing down on my chest, making it impossible to ignore.

. "You just left the party." Without thinking, I spoke before I could stop it.

Kael let out a quiet scoff, barely shifting beside me. "And?" His voice was flat, showing how uninterested he was in whatever I’m saying, but there was still something off about it. Like he was daring me to say more.

I turned my head slightly, catching the faint outline of his face in the dim light. His expression was unreadable, but I could still feel the tension rolling off him.

"You didn’t even say anything," I continued. "Just walked away like..." I mean he insisted on going, so just leaving like that...

"Like what?" he cut in, his voice sharper now. "Like I was supposed to stay and watch what exactly? The boring party or you with him?"

I stiffened.

So that was it.

"You were being ridiculous," I muttered, shifting onto my side so I could face him properly. "I never got angry about whatever you do. Even that night on the hill, you were with an Omega." My fingers curled into the blanket. "I didn’t say anything about it."

Kael inhaled sharply through his nose, "And?"

"So why were you acting like that over Ryan?"

His head turned toward me with astonishment, "So you already know his name?" he said with the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

I blinked at him not understanding why I wanted to clear off the misunderstanding, but I found myself doing it, "He introduced himself and he came to say a greeting. What was I supposed to do? Ignore him?"

"Tch. Whatever." he exhaled harshly instead of answering.

I let out a small, humorless laugh, shaking my head. "Right. Why was I even bothering to have this conversation with you? As far as I’m concerned, we’re two individuals capable of making our own choices, I can make friends with whomever I deemed fit just as you can be with several people you want, can even bring them to you room, share you bed with them, and fuck them for all I care!"

Kael turned to face me fully, his expression tense, eyes burning with something intense, like anger, frustration, maybe both. His jaw clenched, and for a second, he just stared at me, like he was debating whether to say it or not.

Then, in a low, firm voice, he said, "No one except you has ever been to my room before."

His words weren’t loud, but they hit hard, his body rigid, like he was holding something back. And yet, there was no hesitation, no doubt. Meaning it’s either he was good with lies or he actually meant every word.

My body went stiff at the closeness of his face to mine. I swallowed hard then, "What?" I fumbled with the words as my face grew hot.

"You’re the only one who’s seen inside my room," he said, his tone quieter now but no less serious. "And I don’t share my bed with anyone." he answered,

My breath caught. My heart stuttered against my ribs as I exhaled to calm myself down, but I couldn’t quite do it at that moment, "That’s a lie." The words came out before I could stop them. "What about that Omega..."

"I don’t bring people into my space," Kael cut in. His voice was calm, but there was an edge to it, something firm and unwavering.

I swallowed, staring at him, trying to figure out if he was messing with me. But he wasn’t. His expression hadn’t changed. He actually meant it.

I suddenly felt too aware of how close we were, the warmth between us pressing in, making it hard to think.

"...Then why me?" I asked in a low voice, the question leaving my lips before I even processed it. Considering he invited me into his room the very last time like he’d done it to a lot of people before me,

He didn’t answer right away, however his gaze lingered on mine, heavy and unreadable, before he turned away, "Go to sleep," he muttered, but his voice lacked its usual sharpness.

I watched him for a long moment, my chest tightening with something I couldn’t name. Then, slowly, I lay back down, staring at the ceiling.

But sleep never came.