The Broken Angel & Her Overprotective Brothers-Chapter 370: The Painful Distance

Seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, and hours into days. Without noticing, weeks and months passed and so did seasons.

As summer’s embrace loosened its grip, a subtle transformation covered the landscape. The air, once heavy with the warmth of sun-kissed days, now carried a gentle chill, whispering promises of cooler nights ahead.

Leaves, adorned in shades of gold, crimson, and amber, began their graceful descent, painting the world in a kaleidoscope of fiery hues. The earth, once vibrant with the vitality of summer blooms, now prepared for a slumber beneath a quilt of fallen foliage.

A symphony of rustling leaves and the aroma of bonfires filled the crisp, autumnal air, welcoming the arrival of fall with a sense of nostalgia and renewal.

Since the morning after Emily’s birthday when she and Shadow had a mental breakdown in her office, life had become silent for Emily. She and Shadow never discussed that matter again after that day.

Her life was mostly lost in work, the book she was currently writing, and practicing with Aleron. Every now and then, she kept hanging out with her brothers, friends, and Kaiden, but there seemed a gap between her and Shadow despite them spending every day in each other’s company.

It was another Sunday morning and Emily was sitting on the couch in the living room of her apartment while continuously checking her phone for something. There was a tense expression covering her face which didn’t go unnoticed by Kaiden as he handed her a cup of coffee before taking his seat next to her.

"Is something bothering you?" He asked while wrapping one of his arms around her to pull her closer.

Emily let out a sigh before she turned to look at her mate and answered, "I forgot to tell you about this last night. Daniel was going to propose to Annika last night but he hasn’t sent us any news yet. I’m getting anxious now."

She revealed the news to Kaiden who was surprised at first but then his expression changed into understanding. "Don’t worry too much, Angel. I’m sure everything went well. They have been dating for over a year by now and I don’t think of any reason for which Annika would say no. Just wait for a little bit longer. Alright?"

Emily nodded her head but still didn’t stop worrying completely. She too believed that Annika wouldn’t have said no but she was still anxious to get confirmation from Daniel.

"Are we going out today?" Shadow asked as he entered the living room while holding his cup of coffee. Instead of taking a seat next to Emily as he used to do, he settled down on the farthest couch while focusing his attention on Kaiden.

Usually, he did nothing out of the ordinary. No one would have noticed anything strange but Emily did. How could she not notice the change in his behavior when she was used to getting his utmost attention all the time?

The strange feeling in her heart almost made her eyes tear up but she held herself back from displaying her true emotions out on her face. While she noticed that Shadow had been distancing himself from her, she also knew why he was doing it. The last thing she wanted to do was to make him feel worse than he already was feeling.

What she didn’t realize was that Kaiden noticed everything that had been going on between her and Shadow. His eyes shifted between the two of them before they landed on Shadow who pretended as if he wasn’t aware of the hurt he was causing Emily.

"Shadow, let’s have a word." He told the man before turning his attention toward his mate who was looking at him with confused eyes. He patted her head softly before speaking, "Wait for us here."

He gave her a sweet kiss on her forehead before standing up and following Shadow who was already heading toward the balcony. The two of them remained silent for a while as they stared at the vast view of the city.

"What do you want to talk about?" Shadow asked while keeping his gaze fixed on the view in front of him.

On the other hand, Kaiden turned his attention toward the vampire lord and asked, "What’s going on between you two? I don’t think it’s an argument or something because such a thing can never shake your bond. But whatever has happened this time, it’s been going on for way too long. It’s been two months since her birthday, as well as since you started distancing yourself from her. Can’t you see that you are hurting her? Damn it, you are hurting even yourself!" He was almost about to start shouting because of how frustrated he felt.

"I’m just doing what I should have done a long time ago," Shadow replied calmly.

"And what is that? Distancing yourself from the two of us?" Kaiden asked while grabbing Shadow’s arm to make the man face him. "Can’t you see that what you are trying to do is futile? What’s the point of leaving now?"

"I’m not leaving you guys-" Shadow tried to clear but wasn’t given the chance.

"You are doing exactly that! Your plan of keeping distance from the two of us is equal to you abandoning us. Maybe you can’t see it, Shadow, but the three of us can’t live without each other. The three of us are equally important to each other." Kaiden said as he stared into the depths of Shadow’s eyes. "If I can accept our fate then why you two are trying so hard to fight it? If I can accept the three of us mutually in this relationship then why you two still can’t? Can you really not see that in the process of making things right, you are not only hurting yourself and Emily but me as well?"

"Kaiden..." Shadow wasn’t sure how to respond to Kaiden’s question and the hurt in the latter’s eyes made him realize what he failed to consider before. Kaiden was equally involved in the mess of their bond and every decision he made, had the same level of impact on the werewolf that had on him and his Princess.