Chapter 14: To Fix us

November’s point of View

When I met Zues years ago, he was someone I hated the most. I always thought he was just cocky. Loud. Arrogant. Always smiling like nothing could touch him. He walked around like he owned the world, even though most people barely tolerated him.

I hated that about him.

But I was wrong.

He wasn’t just loud or proud. That was a mask, a way to hide something deeper. Something heavier. Something I hadn’t seen until now.

Pain.

He was in pain, too.

It hit me when he sat beside me, watching over me like some silent guard dog. His eyes were tired. Not sleepy—but tired in the kind of way you only get from being hurt over and over again and still waking up anyway.

He told me something that made my heart stop. He used to be mated. To her. To Emerald. The girl Knox left me for.

Zeus was her mate before Knox took her away.

He didn’t yell when he said it. Didn’t cry. Just stared at the floor like the memory still burned behind his eyes. Like he was trying not to fall apart in front of me.

And suddenly… I didn’t feel so alone.

Because I thought I was the only one left behind. The only one rejected, tossed aside, broken into little pieces.

But he was, too. By his own herd. By his clan. By the Moon Goddess. And by his mate.

He’d been kicked out, hated for being a hybrid—half-wolf, half-dragon. Too different to belong anywhere. And the worst part? He still smiled through it.

That dumb grin, that stupid teasing voice, all of it… was just him pretending. Pretending like none of it hurt when really, he was bleeding inside and no one cared.

I used to think I hated him. Now, I wasn’t so sure.

Because the way he looked at me… like I 

was something worth saving, even when I didn’t feel like it… made me feel less invisible.

And when he said, “I’ll learn to live with you never loving me,” it almost broke me.

Who says that?

Who offers to be your mate even when they know you might never love them back?

Only someone who’s already lost too much. Only someone who knows what it’s like to be unloved. And that’s when it hit me. Zeus didn’t just want a mate.

He needed someone to hold on to. To ground him. To keep him from slipping too far into the pain. Because dragons… they get dangerous when they’re hurting. He said it himself.His wolf side was the part that kept him sane. And right now, that wolf part had picked me.

Me. 

The girl who drowned. The one whose wolf was fading. The one who still dreamed about Knox rejecting her. But maybe that’s why. Maybe we were both broken in different ways… but not beyond fixing.

Maybe I wasn’t meant to heal alone.

Maybe he needed healing too.

I looked over at him, his head resting against the wall, eyes closed but not sleeping. His shoulders were tense, like even when he was resting, he couldn’t let go.

“I’m not ready,” I whispered.

He opened his eyes and looked at me gently. “I know.”

“But… maybe one day.”

His lips twitched into a small smile. 

“That’s more than enough.”

And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like dying.

I felt… like maybe I could stay.

And maybe, just maybe, this annoying hybrid with too many teeth and too much pain behind his jokes—was the only one who truly saw me.

And didn’t run away.

Acceptance

I never thought I’d be in this place.

Never thought I’d feel so torn, so broken, and yet, so… alive.

The past few weeks had been a blur—pain, confusion, rage, and silence. My world had been spinning out of control, and I didn’t know where I was heading, or if I even cared to find out.

But then, there was Zeus. Annoying, cocky Zeus.

The man who somehow managed to stick around when I pushed everyone else away. The man who saw my broken pieces, my mess of emotions, and still chose to stay. And more than that, he offered me something I didn’t think I deserved—his protection, his heart, and his mate bond.

I never wanted to be anyone’s second choice.

I always told myself I didn’t need anyone. I didn’t need to be saved.

But Zeus had shown me a different side of the world. A world where healing wasn’t a solo act. A world where I could still be broken and still be loved. Where maybe, I didn’t have to be perfect.

Maybe I didn’t have to carry my pain alone anymore.

He had asked me to be his mate. And I turned him down, afraid of what it meant. Afraid of what it would cost me.

But now, I wasn’t sure I could live another day without him.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my heart racing. The room was silent, save for the distant rustling of trees outside the window and the sound of my breath catching in my chest.

Zeus was in the corner, leaning against the wall, watching me. His eyes were steady, calm, but I could sense the uncertainty lurking behind them. He’d given me space. Hadn’t pushed me. But I knew he was waiting for me to decide.

Waiting for me to finally see what he had been trying to show me all along.

I took a deep breath and stood, my legs shaky. My wolf side wasn’t quite healed, but the pain was less now. It still pulsed in my chest, a reminder of everything I had lost, everything I feared I might lose again.

I walked toward him slowly, my feet barely making a sound against the floor. When I reached him, I stopped just a foot away, not quite touching him, but not far enough to run.

Zeus didn’t move. He let me come to him in my own time, as if he knew this was something I needed to do for myself.

I met his eyes. The same eyes that had been there for me when no one else was.

“Zeus…” I whispered, my voice cracking. 

“I—”

“I know,” he said softly, his voice calm, but his eyes never left mine. “You don’t have to say it if you’re not ready.”

I shook my head, closing the distance between us. “I’m ready.”

His eyes widened, just a little, and I saw the flicker of hope in them that he hadn’t allowed himself to show before.

“I’m not perfect,” I continued, my voice trembling but steady now. “I’m broken. And I don’t know if I can ever be whole again, but… I don’t want to do this alone. I don’t want to be alone anymore. Not with you.”

Zeus stepped forward, closing the gap between us, his hand reaching out to gently touch my cheek. “You won’t ever be alone, November. I’ll be here. For all of you. Every broken piece.”

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I didn’t let them fall. Not yet.

“Then yes,” I whispered, my heart finally making the decision I had been so afraid to make. “I’ll be your mate.”

His lips curled into the softest, most genuine smile I had ever seen. It wasn’t playful. It wasn’t cocky. It was a smile that made me feel safe. A smile that told me I had made the right choice.

He pulled me into his arms, and for the first time in a long time, I felt home.

The pain, the loneliness, the fear—they all still existed, but now, they were tempered by the warmth of his embrace. His heartbeat under my ear, steady and strong, was a reminder that I wasn’t alone anymore. I was chosen, and I had chosen him.

“I’ll make you proud, November,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “I’ll make sure you never regret this.”

“I already don’t regret it,” I whispered back.

And for the first time since the rejection, since the drowning, since the heartbreak—I felt a spark of something within me. It wasn’t my wolf coming back yet, but it was hope.

Maybe, just maybe, Zeus and I could fix each other.

One broken piece at a time.