Broken Dreams

He would tense after her softly spoken words, and the look in his eyes looked so incredibly hurt that she had to pull herself back and rethink what had just been said. What had she done? Was he reacting to her own sadness? Her guilt or her worry? An apology would sit on her lips, but would not be spoken, because once her name tumbled off of his tongue she realized the painfully obvious. Themisto was hurting because of her - but it hadn't been anything she had done. The heartbreak was nearly tangible, she could hear it and almost taste it in the air as he struggled to speak. The young woman was not sure how to fix this - her heart belonged to another but she still considered this man a friend. He had was here for her, had risked so much by telling her of Glaciem's plans, and there was little that she wouldn't do for him... but she could not give him what he wanted, what he needed, all the same.

She could apologize, she could make up excuses and explain over and over again how she didn't know how he felt. But that would only make him hurt worse - and that wasn't what the alpha wanted to do at all. "Themisto, there is little I wouldn't do for you, but I can't give myself to you." He knew that wasn't an option, it was why his words were so heavy, so sad. "I care about you - deeply. We're family, and even though I have a lot of it, I love each of you dearly." To the point of it being a fault, even the ones that she hadn't met or begin to understand. "You're different though, even without familial ties I would trust you. With anything." Regardless of her rank or where she lived, she had faith in the amber eyed man. He had befriended her without knowing she was a leader, had made her smile and laugh without doing much of anything at all.

Themisto had managed to see sides of her that most did not after knowing her their entire lives, in less meetings than she had toes on one paw. "I never wanted to hurt you Themisto." But loving her was a lost cause, she loved Gideon entirely. Yet for a moment she wished that she could be there for him the way he wanted - seeing him so defeated was painful. "I'm sorry." He had not confessed, but now she understood. His patience with her, his endless caring, his willingness to fight beside her, he did it all out of love. Love that she could only return the way a friend would. Fiercely - but not romantically.

And that was the last thing that he wanted to hear, she was sure.