Leah's POV
"Finn, I'm here," I whispered as I walked into his bedroom.
I didn't know why. Whenever I talked to him, my voice was softened and quieter than usual. There was something so melancholy about him that made me want to hug him in my arms, devoting all my tenderness and love to him.
Is love supposed to be this painful? I thought to myself.
Finn stood still in front of the French window without any acknowledgment of my presence. It seemed that he was enjoying the lake view outside. But when I walked closer, I found out that he was just staring at the void in front of him.
He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.
I didn't know where they found this outfit for him, but they certainly didn't fit him. The pants were a bit short on the legs and a bit loose on his waistline, dangling on his hips just like that.
I need to take him shopping and buy him new pants. I added that to my mental to-do list.
"Hey." I stood next to him and looked up into his eyes, trying to look for a slight hint suggesting that he recognized me.
There was nothing.
Not even a single dash of light in his icy blue eyes.
"Finn, do you recognize me? It's Leah," I asked.
"Leah. Leah..." He mumbled my name in his mouth a few times as if he was trying to relate to it.
But this attempt certainly failed.
He just stood there like a frozen statue without any display of emotion on his face.
My heart was throbbing while my lips were trembling -
"What can I do to save you, Finn? Just tell me. I will do anything for you."
Tears fell down my cheeks like broken pearl necklaces.
I thought to myself, why does this have to be this hard? Moon Goddess, why? What have I ever done to you to make you treat me in this way? All that I have ever wanted in life is to start a family with my mate. And what you've given me is a man who ignores me for five years and a man who doesn't even recognize me. I have a big heart and I have the ability to save the world. But what kind of Lycan am I if I can't even save my own mate from his misery?
Just when I was about to turn away, Finn suddenly grabbed my arm gently.
Before I knew it, he had already pulled me closer.
With trembling hands, he lifted my face with both of his palms and stared into my eyes.
I had nowhere to dodge his glare, so I looked at him in despair.
"Finn, it hurts me so badly to see you struggling like this," I mumbled.
At almost the same time, I saw tremendous fear in Finn's eyes.
"Leah... Don't cry..." He muttered, trying to wipe the tears off my face with his long, slender fingers in a panic.
With more tears coming out of my eyes, he looked completely freaked out.
"Leah, please don't cry..." His voice was almost begging. "It's all my fault. Please don't cry..."
For a brief moment, I thought he recognized me. But then, I knew that he was just repeating my name mechanically like a robot.
He wasn't trying to comfort me. He didn't care if I was sad. The only genuine thing he could feel at that time was his own fear.
And I didn't even know what made him feel so afraid.
Having realized that I just couldn't stop crying harder.
At that time, a pair of hands abruptly pulled me back.
I looked up and saw my brother, with Jalin standing next to him.
"Leah, are you hurt? Why are you crying like this? What has he done to you?" My brother shot out a string of questions.
I shook my head and mumbled, "No, brother. Finn didn't hurt me in any way. It's just... It's just that I feel so sad... I can't even..."
"Enough, Leah," Lucian said. "I love you so much to see you being tortured by this kind of pain. You were perfectly fine without a mate."
"I don't know what to do, brother! How am I supposed to love someone who doesn't even recognize me?! I can't be rejected by my second chance! I will die!" I cried out loud.
Lucian didn't respond to me. Instead, he carried me up, holding me tightly in his arms.
While he was walking past Jalin, he asked in a commanding voice, "Are you going to deal with this situation, or do you want me to deal with it by myself?"
"Sorry, Alpha. I'm working on it." Jalin replied in a low, cold voice.
Jalin's POV
"You're making my life very miserable, Finn. And you know what it means." I walked toward Finn and said.
Finn immediately got on his knees and said, "Please don't hurt my brother! Please don't! I will do everything you tell me to do!"
I shook my head and said, "You've said the same thing in the club, Finn. I trusted you at that time and I asked you to do one thing and one thing only. Don't tell me that your head is blank again and you've already forgotten about it."
"No! No! I haven't! You asked me to make her happy..."
"And now Leah is crying! What have you done to her?!" I shouted.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cleary! I'm so sorry! I haven't done anything..."
"Do you think this is funny? I'll show you what is really funny. I'll go to the basement right now and rip off your brother's arm. That will be fun."
Finn panicked and grabbed my arm.
"No, Mr. Cleary! I'm begging you! I will do everything to make Leah happy! It's just... Please tell me who Leah is... Please..."
At that time, I realized that this son of a bitch kneeling in front of me was more troubled than I had ever imagined -
He was so fucking afraid that he couldn't even recognize his own mate!
Is that even possible?!
Anyway, I happened to have the right potion for dealing with an acute anxiety attack.
As I said, Lycans are mysterious creatures. You just never know when they will have a nervous breakdown.
That's why I have to keep Leo's magic potion everywhere in case of their meltdown.
I walked into the kitchen, pulled the fridge door open, and took out a bottle of potion from the fridge.
Then, I walked back to Finn's bedroom, removed the lid of the bottle, grabbed Finn's hair, and poured the whole bottle of liquid into his mouth.
I should have shovee the whole fucking bottle down to his throat, but that would kill him, which means the end of Leah's life. I couldn't believe this fucking gigolo was her second chance. Moon Goddess really had a twisted sense of humor.
"Drink it down, Finn. It will calm you down," I said in a ruthless voice.
Finn didn't protest. He obediently drank up the last drop of the bottle before curling up on the ground and coughing violently, which made me even more furious.
"Do you feel better now?" I looked down at him and kicked him.
"Yes, Mr. Cleary..." He wiped his mouth and replied.
"Good," I said and smashed the bottle into the trash can. "Now go downstairs and tell Leah that you love her."
Finn looked up at me and said with despair, "Mr. Cleary, I... I really can't..."
"Do you want your brother to stay alive?" I asked in a pressing voice.
"Yes, Mr. Cleary..."
"Then do what you've been told," I grabbed him up from the floor and pushed him out of the room. "If you mess up this one, I will make sure that both you and your brother will pay for it."