Our Spot

Harlyn

The celebration has gone well. I spoke to Lucy for a bit, Colton, Samuel, and the queen.

Now, the pups have gone to their rooms, much to Thorin’s disappointment, who wanted to stay with me and watch over me.

The queen reassured him that the guards would be with me and keep me safe, so he and Isaac were given a room within the prince’s chamber—the same place Stefan used to stay.

Lotta has been given a room in the princess’ chamber, so she is sharing the entire wing with Lucy. I have a room on the same wing as Lotta.

I’ve not seen Stefan for a while. Grabbing a jacket, I walk outside and spot the maids, soldiers, and guards at their usual spot. Walking past them, I find Stefan sitting in the same spot we used to.

Moving, I sit beside him, and he glances at me briefly before looking back down at his hands. We don’t speak for a while and just sit in silence. He is off, and I feel like he needs a break from everything.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers.

“You don’t need to apologise, Stefan; you did nothing wrong.” He hasn’t, and he shouldn’t be feeling guilty.

“Come on, Harl, yes, I have. I rejected you, not just that, but I pushed you away, called you names and hurt you to try and make you run from me. I then acted like a jerk because I was jealous that you were willing to speak to Lucy and not me,” he says. I go to reply, and he continues. “At one point, it was me you would have told, and I hated that. The I was an asshole because you had met someone else, I claimed you without your permission and slept with your Harlyn when you were engaged with another man.” His words are rushed.

He’s wrong. However, he has nothing to apologise for.

“You were trying to protect me, so don’t feel guilty for rejecting me or being mean Stefan. I don’t hate you for it, or blame you,” I reply.

“You did, otherwise the magic wouldn’t have worked,” he argues.

I nod, knowing he is right. “I did until I found out the truth, because I didn’t know the reason behind it. To me, you rejected me because I wasn’t worthy of being your mate, or anyones. To me, you rejected me because you wanted someone better. I saw it as you rejected me because I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t beautiful, I didn’t have a wolf, and I was useless. I hated you for making me feel like you were right,” I whisper.

After I knew the truth, those feelings left and I actually felt sorry for him, for being put in a position where he was forced to choose and forced to make himself look like the bad guy.

“Which I hate myself for. You were worthy, and beautiful, I just hated that you kept trying and was putting yourself at risk. Every day I thought of you, for years we had no idea you were exiled. I waited every day for you to return because I then knew that no one could force me to reject you, only you didn’t come back.”

I thought staying away was for the best. Then again, neither of us knew the full truth. Which is what ruined everything.

“You need to forgive yourself for it Stefan, I don’t hate you. I forgave you for it, you were still young and trying to protect me,” I say. He nods and sighs.

“Recently though? I wasn’t a young, I was just an asshole,” he aruges.

I laugh and nod. “Because of the bond, because I hadn’t accepted your rejection. Of course you and your wolf was jealous hearing about me and Wayne and seeing it. Then you were also trying to make me see sense when I was blinded by the magic, and you panicked doing the one thing you knew would keep me here,” I reply and he nods not answering.

“I’m not leaving Stefan, I told your mother tonight the pups can live in the palace.” It isn’t right of me to take them and not let them have the chance as royalty.

He turns and looks at me. “What about you?” he asks and I consider it. “Will you stay here, or are you planning to move into the manor?” He looks at me waiting.

“What would you prefer Stefan?” I’m happy to live in either place, but I’m not sure what he wants.

“I would prefer you to stay in the palace but it’s not my choice, it’s not about what I want,” he replies and I nod.

“Then I will stay in the palace, I just don’t want to do it if you would rather I stayed at the manor,” I explain.

“Why would I rather that Harl?” he asks, looking at me confused.

“Because you’ve been weird all day Stefan, and distant, so if you would rather I stayed at the manor, I’m happy to. The pups can stay here, I will still see them all day, just not while they are sleeping,” I explain.

“Harl, no. The point was so I didn’t make you feel pressured and pushed into doing something just because of me. I did that enough since you returned,” he explains.

“Stefan at no point since I came back did I feel pressured or pushed into doing anything,” I chose to do things myself.

“That’s a lie, as I claimed you even though you refused,” he argues.

“Okay, enough.” Turning I look at him. “It’s in the past, forget about it. We both did things wrong Stefan. Don’t distance yourself through fear it won’t help right now,” I argue. “I’ve forgiven you Stefan,” I say, and I lean my head against his shoulder.

“I hadn’t realised how much I missed this, until you came back that day, and I realised that even with Samuel when I remove my crown, it isn’t the same.” He lies back, and I nod understanding him.

I move and lie next to him, my eyes focused on the moon. “I thought I hadn’t told Wayne about this, about you,” I explain. “Since the magic has lifted, I remember telling him the first few days after I arrived. You had said ‘I won’t do that to you, Harlyn. I promise I won’t hurt you. I will never do anything that hurts you or makes you feel unworthy. I will protect you from everything.’ I now remember telling Wayne and that’s why he said them to me.”

To me, I thought I hadn’t told him about Stefan, I couldn’t remember speaking about Stefan rejecting me, about how close we had become, all that. I had though, and he used magic to hide it so he could use it against me.

“Thank you, Stefan,” I say quietly. His head turns and he looks at me with a confused expression. “For fighting to save me from Wayne, you could have just had the magic removed from the pups and taken them.” I’m surprised he hadn’t.

“I love you Harl, so I wouldn’t ever take the pups from you. I wouldn’t have given up on making you see either, no matter how many years it took.”

His words make me smile and we don’t talk. We enjoy the silence like before and stare at the moon.