MY SKIN'S SMOTHERING ME : HELP ME FIND A WAY TO BREATHE

His icy eyes showed only tiredness. He felt little to anything anymore, besides resentment. If he was to impregnate a woman without even knowing her truly, without even asking her to be his, then he was no better than Beartooths kind. He sighed, knowing the death of those children was for his and Raynes best interest and that they felt no pain.

His body and sat solum on a rock, his new wings perched on his shoulders were closed for quite some time. He didn't sleep, he couldn't. Not with the sound of Beartooth claiming a throne. He knew all too well he was going to be found if he didn't find shelter, and this poor girl didn't need to be brought into it. She'd be killed, if not made into a slave to Beartooth. And if those children had lived? They'd be used as pawns, if not killed too.

His eyes registered that Rayne had awoken just a few feet away from him. He frowned, the sadness in her eyes made him feel sheepish for even thinking the words he needed to say. But there was no easy way to tell her this. "Rayne . . . I . . ." He stumbled out at first. He took a deep breath, leaping off of the rock he sat on, his wings gracefully out around him. "I can't keep seeing you. I'm sorry, and I know this is painful for you especially with . . . Them on top of it. This has nothing to do with you though. I'm sure you're a wonderful woman, but I rushed into things way too quickly. Honestly, I don't even really know you and you don't really know me. There's no connection past that string that once tied us." He said, his eyes looking to meet hers as his head sank low to the ground. "My brother is going to try and hunt me down . . . I can't involve you in this, or anyone - especially children. I need to find safety, and my other brother." He said, picking his head up. The pity in his face only turned to emotionless. "He would have killed them if they survived . . . And you. I'm sorry."

Bastian;