CHAPTER 124 : FINALLY

Bryan and Aiden agreed without hesitation, and Kira followed them out of the room, down the passage until they stopped in front of the hidden room door.

Aiden pushed it open and stepped aside so she could enter first.

As Kira entered, she looked around, and it was definitely not what she had expected. The room felt too impersonal, too functional. It felt like a cell to her. Her eyes scanned the room, and then she noticed the shelf on one side.

On the shelf, she saw small bottles filled with liquids. The contents themselves looked quite strange as she picked it up carefully and asked, "What is this?"

"Morane made that for us," Bryan explained as he stepped closer, watching her calm expression to everything. "It is meant to help us for the curse. She is also the one who told us to prepare a room like this when she first found out about the curse. She wanted us to be prepared just in case, because she had a very bad feeling about everything."

"I see," Kira nodded, turning the bottle in her hand before placing it back on the shelf.

"When you said a hidden room, and I am sure I correctly heard the word room, I thought I would be seeing something… different. Maybe something warm, not too cold like this," she told them as she turned and stared at the wall of the room, not blinking. "This feels more like a cell, a prison cell, than a room."

"That's true," Bryan admitted, but didn't say anything else as she stopped staring at the wall and moved to the other side of the room. 

Something else caught her eyes, and she stopped moving, staring at it. She felt her stomach twist slightly as so many questions began to fill her mind.

Kira swallowed hard as she asked, "What… what are the chains for?"

"The chains," Bryan repeated as he and Aiden exchanged a glance. They knew she would ask this question, and they also knew she might not like the answer.

Knowing this made them hesitate a bit. But, finally, Aiden stepped forward, his voice calm as he explained the use of the chains to her.

"We use them to chain ourselves," he said softly. "The pain helps. It has helped so far and… It is a way to restrain us if things don't go as planned or if we lose control."

"Oh," Kira whispered as she tried to stop looking at the chains, but could not. 

So many imaginations started flooding in; she could see them bound like animals, struggling and pulling, the chains burning their wrists, the pain they were feeling. 

The thought of them struggling, unable to move freely and be in all that pain, made her chest ache and immediately, she shut her eyes as if trying to shut out those painful imaginations.

When she opened her eyes after she had calmed her mind down, she asked them a question, her voice low and quiet as she tried to hold herself together. "Does it hurt?" 

"Not really," Aiden replied, not wanting to worry her as he stepped closer. 

But Kira didn't turn to them yet; she still had her eyes on the chains. So, she asked again, "Does it hurt?"

"It does," Aiden sighed and admitted, his voice softer this time. "But it's nothing we can't handle. We heal quickly, love. It's just for that period of time when we need it, and that's it. Please don't worry about it."

Yet, despite all those convincing words from Aiden, Kira said nothing but finally turned to them. She felt like her heart was breaking, and as she looked at them, she gave them a shaky smile.

"Are you crying again, love?" Bryan asked, giving her a little pout as he watched her closely. He didn't want her to be sad again and kept pouting, thinking that maybe it would make her laugh or something.

"No, I'm not," she said quickly. But they could feel her sadness and Bryan stopped pouting, realizing that it wasn't working.

Quietly, Kira stepped forward and took their hands. She held Bryan's hand in her right hand, while she held Aiden's hand in her left hand. 

Afterward, she brought each of their wrists to her lips and kissed their wrists gently.

"I don't like the idea of you both being chained," she murmured as she then rubbed their wrists with her thumbs soothingly. "I hate that you have to go through something like this… that you have to feel the way you do and feel this kind of pain. I hate it."

"We hate it too," Bryan smiled gently and gave her a quick peck on the lip, catching her off guard. "But don't worry, love," he said reassuringly. "It is just until we break the curse. Once we figure it out, we won't need this room, or the chains, or any of it."

"I know and from what you have told me about this curse, it's been years now and still, nothing. So, how are we going to do that?" She asked worriedly.

"Let's not worry about that right now," Aiden said softly as he gently pulled his hand from her grasp, only to take it back again, now holding her hand in his own. "You have taken in a lot today. Why don't we go and eat something? I'm hungry, you know; we haven't eaten anything. We didn't want to eat without you and waited for you after we showered."

"So you showered?" Kira asked rhetorically, and before they could answer, obviously not picking up the fact it was a rhetorical question, she continued. "If you showered and you knew we would have the conversation in the bedroom, why didn't you both just wait there? Why wait in the living room?" 

"We-" Aiden tried to answer but ended up laughing with Bryan. "I can't believe that is what came to your mind to talk about."

"I'm sure when you are done laughing, you will have the same thought," Kira scoffed and released Bryan's hand, then pulled her other hand free from Aiden's hold. 

"And food sounds good," she muttered before she sidestepped around them and walked out of the room.

Bryan and Aiden immediately turned, smiling widely as they followed her out, silently.

Now seated in the dining room, Kira called out to a passing maid. "Please reheat the leftovers for us. There's no need to prepare anything new."

"Yes, Luna," the maid bowed slightly and hurried off to follow the order.

As they waited for the food, Aiden began. "Love, have you been eating properly?"

"It feels like everything has been about us lately. We want to know how you have been," Bryan added. "Did you at least take care of yourself?"

"I have been fine," Kira answered simply.

"Fine is not good enough," Aiden stated gently.

"You mean too much to us for 'fine' to be okay, and we don't believe that either," Bryan added, leaning closer to her. 

"Well, who's fault is that!" She snapped and shot them a glare, and she could have sworn that they almost had a heart attack. 

Their facial expression was what made her laugh softly and shake her head before speaking again. "I was too worried and angry, but I did take care of myself. Satisfied?"

But before they could respond, the door opened, and Morane stepped in. 

"Alphas, Luna," Morane greeted with a respectful nod, her expression serious but composed. "I apologize for barging in this way, but I have found out what the curse is."