Chapter 72 - Silent Heartache

"Are you...still worried about that woman?"

All of a sudden, Ivory snarled at him in a deep intense voice which caused Zeus to flinch unexpectedly. He was lost in his worries surrounding Eva but with her sudden intense pitch, he revived his senses back.

"No... I...I was just..."

"Zeus, I don't need your explanations, when your gestures are enough to portray everything... You don't have to make up excuses." Slowly averting her dark glum eyes away from him towards the giant window beside his bed, she murmured her words in a displeased tone. 

Taking a deep breath inside, he raised his gaze up from the ground and stared intensively at her for a few seconds. Her eyes seemed sad and dark while gazing at the blank horizon outside the window which indeed caused his heart to ache a bit.

"Ivory, you too must be so disappointed in me, isn't it? I...I must have broken your heart so bad..." With a sorrowful glance, he conveyed his feelings softly.

She stayed silent gazing outside with a sullen expression for a while and didn't object to his answer. After a few minutes of awkward silence persisting between them, she took a deep breath in and directed her gloomy stare towards him. 

"You just didn't break my heart, Zeus... You...You had almost killed me too..." She whispered with a sad smirk.

"Ivory, I can understand how you felt--"

"No, you never actually tried to understand my feelings for you, Zeus!! Can you even have the slightest idea how brutally my heart bled to watch you covered in blood and bruises? Do you realize how scared I was of losing you? Can you even understand a single damn feeling?" All of a sudden, she grumbled out aloud interrupting him in a deliberate manner that startled him a bit. "If you could understand me...you wouldn't be sitting here and worrying about a mere human till now when you should be remorseful towards us for what you did!" 

Zeus sat still looking at her embittered expression, taking a deep breath in. He realized the amount of pain his action has caused her was unmatchable and the part made him feel much condemned.

"Ivory, I know...I have caused you so much pain, but...I had my reasons to do so--"

"Reasons?" She again sounded much irked while intruding in his words again. "You had a reason to sacrifice your own life for that damn woman? And you think I should support you in such a gallantry action? Gosh!"

"I couldn't let her getting injured right before my own eyes.."

"So you jumped before and suffered the dreadful wolfsbane attack yourself just so that woman can live? Have you lost your mind? How could you just forget that you are our Alpha and...thousands of lives depend on you! How could you just toss away everything for that human you barely met a few months ago? I... I am staying by your side since we were children, Zeus! I supported you blindly in each and every way since childhood! I...I had handed you that haematite pendant so that you could toss the woman away from you but instead, you risked your own life for her? How could you turn a blind eye on us just like that--"

"I LOVE HER!"

All of a sudden, Zeus proclaimed his verdict in an intense tone, which caused her to halt in surprise. She stood all motionless, gawking at him in awe and absolutely speechless at his instant answer.

"Yes! I love her! I...I love Eva way too much, Ivory! I had already fallen for her since the first day... It's just...I realized it quite late what my heart actually wants... I wasn't granted this second chance of life to avoid and run away from my feelings! How...How could I let her get hurt right before my own eyes? All I did was protecting the woman I love...You would have done the same thing if you had been in my place, Ivory!" Sputtering out aloud, he sounded much anxious and resolute. 

She stood like a statue observing his gesticulations in wonder and didn't utter a single word to defy. Her heart was throbbing hard in agony with each of his statements but she chose to stand all silent. 

Taking a deep breath in, slowly Zeus raised his gaze up and looked at her saddened eloquence for a while. "I...I am sorry... I got carried away. But, since childhood, I only had you like my friend who could understand me in my harsh times... I...I can't explain but I kinda hoped a little that you would understand me this time too, Ivory." He murmured.

After enduring a deep silence, she chose to speak first. "You...You had expected that I would support you risking your own life for that darn human... You thought I would be alright with it? You were right thou, I...I would do the same thing if I was put up in your situation. So, do you even know how...how many sacrifices I had to make for the sake of protecting you? Do you even realize...how much...how much I have loved you since our childhood?" Her voice crooked as if her throat was choked in immense unbearable pain. 

He lowered his head down, looking all remorseful at her words, and took a heavy sigh out. "I was always aware of your feelings, Ivory. But sadly, I couldn't think of you more than my friend. I am sorry but I won't ever be able to love you the way you want..." 

Her heart was stabbed brutally with his painful words making it difficult for her to stand anymore before him. Lowering her gaze down with tears of anguish rolling down her cheeks, she murmured briefly, "you...you must have lost your mind... You aren't in your right senses at all..."

KNOCK KNOCK!

Suddenly, the large door unlocked open and the person standing at the door end was no one other than Czar. He had dubious eloquence on his face and stood still for a moment, gawking intensely at both of them.

As soon as the door opened, Ivory immediately rushed out of the room in a spree that startled both Zeus and Czar immensely. She was trying hard to control herself from wrecking down in front of him, turning out flushed red, and dashed outside.

"Woah, what happened to her? She seemed to be crying?" Unable to suppress his query, Czar tossed a straight question at Zeus who was sitting all numb on the bed. But he didn't utter a single word in response and stayed all quiet.

....

Rushing out the room, Ivory straightly rushed to the giant balcony on the floor, biting her lips desperately to stop herself from crying too hard. Reaching the desolated spot, she put her cold arms around her mouth and began to sob bitterly whimpering in pain. She tapped her chest a few times harder as if her heart was aching too bad from being consoled anymore. 

"100 years of wait... 100 years of love...I tried my best to protect him and...he... Why... Why?" She uttered in an unclear voice, grieving all alone shutting her eyes tight.