The Last of His Love

[THIRD PARTY POV]

The afternoon sun was high up in the sky, with the whole of Acrod awake and going on their duties. The faction leaders had already left Acrod and had gone back home to their people. They had no other reason to stay in Acrod, because they had more important things to deal with.

Grant had watched his mate linger around, before he finally left without so much as a goodbye. It was something that broke Grant's heart, but he didn't even have the power to say anything.

He had hoped that after the meeting, he would be able to talk to Gideon about their mate bond, but then he had failed terribly and that made him feel like all of this was never going to come true.

His dream of having a mate who loved him, a mate who wanted him was thwarted the moment he went back to the once-busy throne room and saw the backs of his mate and the high priestess of Greroth.

He wanted to stop Gideon, but how would he be able to do that, when he couldn't even get a hold of himself?

'I guess I lose, when it comes to love. What should I do for the moon goddess to be merciful towards me?' Grant whined as he watched in sorrow as the last of his mate disappeared in the distance.

Grant was distraught, and he considered going to the training ground, but he knew even that wouldn't heal the pain he was feeling right now. The rumors about Gideon of Greroth had been true.

The man slept with anyone and everyone who was ready to down their pants for him, so maybe Grant had been a little too hopeful to think that the man he had just met in the past two days was willing to change his whole life and choose him just because of the damn mate bond.

Oh, but Grant felt his heart constricting, and he wanted to lash out, but he couldn't even do that.

It was still morning and he would be needed by the king soon enough. He needed to be available for when duty called, but would duty really matter when his heart was shattering into hundreds of pieces? would it really?

However, as Grant went along with his friends, he couldn't help but catch a whiff of his favorite scent. It wasn't where he had expected, given he could have sworn he had seen the man leave, but what if he came back?

Did that mean that Grant could finally get the love from his mate?

Would his mate accept him?

'Did he come back for me?'

*******

[EARLIER]

Gideon and Criselda had been the last to leave Acrod, given that Gideon had said he still needed to catch up on more sleep.

Criselda couldn't exactly blame him for needing sleep. Her son had already done more than enough and right now, she was willing to give him the world on his palms.

She looked at Gideon, smiling and happy that they were going home, however, before they reached the gates of Acrod, Gideon stepped walking, making Criselda pause too. She wondered what he was thinking of this time, or if he had remembered an enemy in Acrod.

They literally had no qualms with Cassius, unless he wanted to talk to someone, but even then, Gideon hadn't made any friends in Acrod. There hadn't been enough time to even try. Besides, he had been chaotic through and through, so Criselda wasn't really sure what this was about.

"Why did you stop Gideon?"

"I— I have to say goodbye to someone, Mother," Gideon said to Criselda, making her look at him, like there was something wrong with him. Or maybe her son had finally found his link to humanity, the one link that could save his life and help him reform. But had he?

"You what?" Criselda asked incredulously, clearly unsure if it was a good idea for Gideon to be running back into Acrod in the name of goodbyes. He had proven not to be trusted among lycans, so what was he going to try with werewolves?

He was a witch, and by default, that should have made him impervious to any outside connection other than the connections he had forged. But Gideon hadn't forged a relationship in their time here.

"Hold on child, did you cause trouble again?" Criselda asked, unsure of what to respond to Gideon's request or rather a statement. He had said it with so much conviction that even Criselda was becoming suspicious of him.

It wasn't long before Criselda connected the dots.

Of course, Gideon had a link to Acrod.

He had someone he wanted to say goodbye to, but was it really a good idea? Was it really right for Gideon to go back only to have his heart broken? Was that a risk the young witch was going to test out?

Criselda sighed defeatedly, knowing so well that this wasn't a good idea. This wasn't what was okay for Gideon, but maybe the witch wanted closure, then again, what if his quest for closure broke his already broken heart?

How the fuck was she supposed to protect him from the matters of his own heart?

Was he really letting himself get attached to the werewolf warrior?

Criselda ran a hand through her hair in frustration as her son just stood there, waiting for her to give him a response.

Gideon could already tell that Criselda was against it, but she also knew Criselda had a soft heart, so he was going to wait for her to crack and bend the rules, besides, the sun was burning through them and for a woman who hated getting sunburnt, she sure would give in pretty soon.

He was counting down the seconds, 'five, four, three, two—'

"He has a mate destined for him, Gideon," Criselda said, just as Gideon thought to himself, 'one,' finishing the countdown.

"I know, which is why I have to do this myself. Please Mother," Gideon said and Criselda knew he would pout till she gave in, so the earlier the better. That way, they would be able to go to Greroth as soon as possible.

Looking at Gideon, she wondered what was going on in his head. She however knew something about Gideon and bonds. She knew the man hated creating new bonds and that was also why her heart broke for the werewolf warrior.

She knew there was a chance that Gideon would rip the warrior's heart to bits, but maybe he had changed.

Maybe he actually liked this warrior and wasn't going to put him through so much pain.

Maybe she had lost so much faith in Gideon and relationships that she had missed it when Gideon had created bonds.

Last night, she had seen Gideon and the warrior together, of course, that was right before she went back in. She had seen the warrior approach her son, and while she was tempted to stay and eavesdrop, she couldn't.

Gideon could always tell if someone was spying on him and he hated that shit, so Criselda wasn't going to ruin the bond he had made with her. She was going to give him the chance to do the right thing, though her son had a whole different definition of the good thing.

"Fine, you have an hour," she said, getting her hourglass off her bag and showing it to Gideon. Her son just smirked at her, letting out a beautiful laugh as he pulled her into a big hug.

Criselda however pushed him away, because he was ruining her hair, which she had spent so much time fixing. However, that wasn't just about the hair.

It was about telling Gideon that he needed to keep time.

He needed to fix his shit before the sun went down on him and the warrior, because if that happened, they would both get hurt. And while Criselda was a high priestess for several years, she had never found the remedy for a broken heart.

"Thank you, Mother, that's more than enough," the protege said to Criselda, before hugging her again and running off before Criselda could even complain again.