Rejected by My Alpha Now He Replaced Me with a Copycat Luna novel Chapter 146

Chapter 146

Ezra’s POV

I chuckled, moving around the room to get set up.

“I really need to get better acquainted with this house. I had no idea this was even here,” Raven said as she studied the framed artwork on the wall made up of mostly my and Asher’s designs.

“It’s tucked away. Just how I like it.”

I felt Raven’s eyes on me more than I saw them. Her attention had a warmth to it. But it probed, too-not forcefully or harshly, but in a way that

said she wanted to know more.

She didn’t disappoint. “Why do you hide what’s clearly a gift?”

“The place’s pretty personal,” I told her honestly.

“It’s how you process,” Raven surmised.

I nodded as I washed my hands and donned gloves. “The pain has always been an outlet. The beauty left behind is proof that I made it through.”

“You hurt yourself to deal with whatever’s going on in your head.” “That makes it sound twisted.”

“Isn’t it just a little twisted?” she asked quietly. “Maybe. But so am I.”

Grief passed over Raven’s expression. “And tonight, you need to deal because you’re worried about me.”

It wasn’t a question, but I still felt the need to answer. “I’m not used to fearing for someone other than me.”

“Not even your brothers?”

I shook my head. “I’ve always just known they’ll take care of themselves.”

Heat flashed in Raven’s blue eyes. “I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can. But it’s different. You’re a part of me. You’re my soul’s mate. The urge to protect you….it’s like it drowns out everything else.”

She frowned and then pushed up the hem of her shorts on one leg. “Then let me help you deal. Let me take the pain.”

Raven’s POV

What Ezra didn’t understand was that his pain was already a living, breathing thing to me. I could feel it raking against my skin, clawing at my

heart.

But wasn’t that the burden of love? You got all the wonderful things: connection, passion, understanding. But it also meant that you hurt when the person you loved did. It was just amplified for me because of my empathic gift.

I’d never regret it. Not even as smoky tendrils of Ezra’s pain tried to grab me and put me in a vicious stranglehold, Because what would have happened if I wasn’t here? Would Ezra have been left to deal with it himself?

If so, I understood why he’d turned it all off. It was too much for anyone to bear alone.

“No.” The word was low and a little angry as it tore from Ezra’s throat.

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“It’s my pain. It’s not for you to take.”

I stared up at him as he stood there, some tattoo device I couldn’t identify in his hands.

“And you don’t take on my pain? You help me fight back my nightmares. You profect me with everything you have. You listen and truly hear.”

A muscle fluttered in Ezra’s cheek. “It’s not the same. I’m too dark.”

“You’re not.” I reached out, needing more connection. I gripped his black tee with faded Jack’s lettering and tugged him to me.

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