Fated

Chapter XXXXVI

Sebastian

A knock on his door broke Sebastian out of his reverie. He put his glass of whisky down, opening the door to see his mate.

Ahsan looked surprised to see him. 

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, doing his best not to check out his mate. 

Ahsan did not have any such inhibitions, his gaze roaming Seb's body. "I didn't think you'd open the door."

Sebastian grinned wryly, "Life has been known to be surprising."

"Can I come in?"

Sebastian stepped aside, allowing his mate to enter the room. "Would you like some whiskey?"

Ahsan's gaze roamed his house, before finally finding his way back to him. He did not respond so Sebastian filled him a glass anyway, leaving it at the other end of the table. He returned to his drink, ignoring his mate who was still standing mutely in the room. 

Ahsan walked to the table and gulped the entire glass of whiskey to Sebastian's surprise. 

Then he took a deep breath, "I'm a shitty person."

Sebastian opened his mouth to reply but Ahsan beat him to it.

"There's no denying it. I'm a shitty person. I have been for a long time. My parents were tortured and killed by humans. They made me watch as they played with them. I barely survived. I developed a foolish prejudice. And I did some terrible, terrible things."

Sebastian looked at him with unreadable eyes. 

"I'm not going to lie. I've killed humans. I've killed wolves. I've done stupid things for bounties. I've completed the blood ritual given by Lyracus to gain my powers. I've been an ass to your kind Luna. It was stupid. All of it. I see that now."

He took a deep breath. 

"Perhaps I am too far gone for redemption. Maybe in your eyes, I'm no longer salvageable. I understand that. I do."

He took another deep breath holding Sebastian's eyes.

"But here's the thing. The moon still thinks I can gain absolution. Otherwise, she would not have given me you. I've not changed overnight. I'm still the same person. I hold disregard for most humans. But I respect your Luna. I respect your family. That's far more than anything I've felt in ten years."

"What I'm trying to say is that you have changed me. You are changing me. You are my shot at redemption and I'm not giving that up. Not until you explicitly tell me to fuck off and very clearly mean it. Not when I still have a chance to grovel at your feet and that of your Luna."

A beat of silence passed. 

Ahsan fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.

Sebastian stared.

Ahsan's hand shot to his hair, "I guess all I'm saying is that if tomorrow, I make it through this fight alive, then I'll follow you anywhere Sebastian. Anywhere and everywhere. And I guess I just needed you to know that."

He dropped the empty glass on the table. With long, quick strides he left the house, the door shutting in his wake.

Sebastian collapsed on the chair, his mind numb. Holy fuck. He drank directly from the bottle. Could he-? Should he-?

He took another shot, leaving the bottle open. He jogged out not even bothering to close the door, shivering in the cold.

"Ahsan!"

The silhouette of his mate stopped and he turned. 

Sebastian jogged until he could see his mate's face, hope written across his features. 

"Don't die on me tomorrow and I'll help you apologize to Adira, yeah?"

A grin broke across Ahsan's dark features.

"Yeah?" Sebastian repeated.

"Yeah," Ahsan answered softly.