The Beast's Possession

**Aife

pov**

Bane left me behind. Again. But I couldn't say it surprised me.

Unlike other times, he sent someone in to entertain me, but it was clear that his men were just as uncomfortable in my presence as I was in theirs.

The jokes they told each other weren't funny to me. The topics they discussed didn't interest me and in general, we were nothing but strangers to one another.

At one point, I couldn't take it anymore so I moved away from them and sat at the table that had been set for a romantic meal.

I wasn't hungry, all I really wanted was the company I was promised, but even that was too much for Bane.

Soon after I sat at the table, one of the men got up from the couch and approached me. He didn't sit at the table and stood at a pretty safe distance, but it was clear he had questions.

"You don't have to wait until I tell you that you're allowed to speak, you know. If you want to ask or say anything, feel free to do so," I tried to encourage him.

The guard cleared his throat and switched his weight from one leg to another as his eyes darted everywhere but at me. "Yeah, do you want the company? We can talk about anything, even fashion and women stuff. I know things about periods too."

I couldn't help but laugh at his attempt to ease the tension that was surrounding us all. "No, I don't want to keep you guys tied to me. Feel free to enjoy yourself and discuss whatever you please. I don't mind being on my own. Promise." The guard looked genuinely relieved, but still stuck around. "Are you sure? We don't mind providing company if you need it."

Once again, I repeated myself and assured him I would be fine on my own. He didn't try to convince me otherwise anymore and at one point, I guess all of them grew tired of sitting around me like babysitters and doing nothing.

I noticed they had left only after Bane finally came back. He had been away for hours, so I was pretty curious about the excuse he might try to use now.

However, once he stepped closer, I immediately noticed his intent to use some shitty lies to fool me.

"I-" he stared, but I quickly raised my hand to stop him from going any further.

"Don't give me another disappointing excuse. Truth or nothing at all." The look on my face had to be enough, but clearly, Bane kept his act up and ignored it.

"Can't you hear me out first?" He ran a hand through his hair, an action I had seen so many times when he was stressed, overwhelmed and annoyed.

Slowly, I rose from my seat and placed my hand on the table. "I can. Only if it's the truth, not more lies you feed me just to keep me in the dark. I've given you many chances, more than you deserve, so I think this is about time you start appreciating it. Don't take me for granted, Bane. Stop doing that."

"I'm not," he tried to talk, but I stopped him again.

"And I wasn't done. You can't expect me to listen if you can't return the same favor. Now, as I was saying - don't take me for granted. Don't take my forgiveness for granted. I am completely fine with you, hiding your past, but the present is ours, not only yours. Your secrets, the skeletons in your closet - share them at your own time. But whatever we share today, this moment, it has to be shared now. Give this some thought and decide if you will do the right thing or keep running away."

With that being said, I pushed the chair back in place and started walking towards the bedroom door.

Bane tried to step closer and stop me, but I glared at him so he froze mid-step.

"I don't intend to run," he muttered.

His words did nothing but annoy me even more. "Right," I dragged the word to mock him. "You wouldn't run because that isn't what you did as soon as we entered the cabin, right? I told you this before - you run because that is all you know. Once there is a problem, you turn your back on it. Give my words some thought and approach me only if and when you are ready to talk."

"What if it's never? What if I will never be ready to discuss it?"

I turned to Bane and offered him a sad smile. "Then maybe there is no future for us." I shrugged and disappeared inside the bedroom.

The moment I pressed my back to the door, tears started streaming down my cheeks. I didn't want this to end before it started, but I knew myself, I couldn't be with someone who refused to open up.

Bane wasn't just emotionally unavailable, he was locked up, wrapped in massive chains, and thrown in the lake like some safe, filled with life threatening secrets.

Sucking in a deep breath, I tried to calm myself and stop crying, but no happy thoughts helped me to reach the goal.

Giving up, I decided to get some sleep, but even that idea failed when Bane knocked on the door.

"Don't cry, sweetheart. I hate seeing you cry." His voice was low, strained, as if he was in pain. "You can't see me now," I muttered.

"I have a vivid imagination. Can I please enter? I don't want to lose us, so I will do my best to answer any question you have."

Honestly, I thought that I could drag out his apology and make him suffer a little, but as soon as Bane spat out the right words, I pushed myself off the door, opened it and let Bane enter.

The first thing he did was wrap his arms around me and pull me into his embrace. "I don't want to lose us. I don't want to lose you. I can't," he kept repeating as his hold around me grew increasingly tighter.

"Why did you leave?" The question was weighing on me just as much as the answer was on him.

A part of me expected more lies and avoidance, but instead, Bane sucked in a sharp breath and told me what sounded like nothing but the truth, just as I demanded.

"Because of the envelope you handed me. It isn't the first one of that kind I've gotten. Call me a coward, but I panicked and needed some distance. I needed to figure out my thoughts and think of what steps I should take next first. It's not the envelope that scares me, it's the person who has written those. I could ignore anything, laugh at threats and ill wishes, but I can't deal with anyone threatening you."