457: FOURTEEN YEARS OLD (8)

FOURTEEN YEARS OLD (8)

Kace didn't know that he would break this news this way. He had been thinking about dealing with the most complicated scenario, if the situation forced him to explain this to Hope.  2

Just like how he had been nagged by Serefina for a year now. Kace knew that he had to tell Hope about this sooner or later. 

Yet, Kace would have never imagined that this topic would actually be brought up by Hope herself. She paved a way for Kace to discuss this. 

"Me?" Hope pointed at herself with her forefinger. Her expression was incredulous. "But, how?"

"I don't have an answer to that Hope." Kace was all serious now. Hope wanted him to not treat her like a child, therefore he wouldn't treat her like one. "It wasn't me who has the privilege to choose my own mate."

Hope was lost for words for a few minutes and Kace was very patient to wait for her reaction next. 

"But, don't you think I am too young for you?" Hope still couldn't believe it, though somewhere in a small corner of her heart, a tiniest part of her was relieved to hear that. 

"I don't think about you in that way." Kace raised his eyebrows. 

Hope blinked her eyes adorably since she couldn't understand Kace's contradictive statement. "You said that I am your mate, but you also said you don't think about me that way?" 

"At least not until you had come to the right age to think about things like that." Kace nodded to himself. Hope was fourteen now. She was in her early teenage phase. Probably, they could have this kind of conversation again three years from now.

"No." Hope didn't know why, but she rejected the idea. "I want to choose my own boyfriend," she said sullenly. 

Kace and Hope stared at each other for more than ten seconds before the former finally broke the silence between them. "Sure." He nodded. "You can choose whoever you want to be your boyfriend."

The sound of Kace's voice was very pleasant, but Hope knew for sure, there was an underlying meaning to his words and her guess was right. 

"But if he touches what's mine, I will make sure he loses his hand,"Kace said those words in a languid tone as if he didn't mean what he said when the truth was; he would be more than happy to prove otherwise. 

"I am not yours." Hope widened her eyes in disbelief, her rebellious side was triggered. She was raised by Serefina after all, thus on one or two occasions, she would show this self- sufficient side of hers. "I am not a thing. You don't own me."

Hope didn't know why she found a need to defy Kace. Probably because she was still questioning her own identity, but all of a sudden Kace had claimed her as his. 

Hope didn't really dislike the idea, since Kace wasn't bad at all. Damn! He was hot, actually! And Hope was blushing at this mere thought. 

Honestly, Hope had never seen a man as good looking as him. 

However, this feeling was complicated. She felt the need to deny it and didn't want to be claimed that way. 

"You are mine, Hope. Just like how I am yours." Kace shrugged his shoulders as his goofy smile returned to his lips. "I think this is enough for you for now. We will talk about this later when you are much older."

"You always talk like that," Hope grumbled.

Kace stood up and kissed her forehead.

Despite Hope saying she refused to be Kace's mate, it felt very natural for her to be kissed by Kace and she didn't mind it at all.

============== 

Hope was biting the tip of her pen when the teacher was explaining a story of the past. The girl was spacing out while looking out of the window until she felt someone nudging her side.

Hope whipped her head around to face Ian beside her while glaring and mouthing 'what?'

As a reply, Ian pushed his book over to Hope. On one of the pages was his handwritten message, which said; 'What are you thinking? You have been spacing out since the morning class.'

Hope frowned when she read that. She realized that her actions must have attracted this boy's attention because he was very talkative and for most of the time today, Hope ignored him. 

Hope took her pen and scribbled under his sentences. 'Nothing'.

Actually, Hope was thinking about her conversation with Kace last night and it felt like she just opened a pandora box. She didn't know how to discern this information. 

Kace was… old. 

Hope was not sure how old he was, though his face still looked the same like her first memory of him, but Hope didn't think she wanted to be with him.

However, in contrary, the moment Hope was with Kace, their interaction that followed always felt very natural. 

Kace had said that she didn't need to think about this, at least not now, when she was only fourteen years old, but Hope couldn't help it. 

And if Hope thought about the days that she spent with Kace… all of those were filled with her either drooling, crying, or throwing tantrums like a baby. 

Maybe this was only her being self- conscious, but she didn't think that she had left any good memory for Kace to remember. 

Lana had told her that Kace was the one who would change her diapers whenever he was around when Hope was a baby.

They used to laugh about how Hope would pee or poop on him on some occasions while Kace was holding her.

They were funny memories and Hope would taunt him about this occasionally. 

But, not now.

Those memories turned into nightmares overnight! 

Hope didn't know why her view on Kace had changed all of a sudden after she learnt she was his mate. Did she not like the idea?

If that was the case, she didn't need to feel bothered like how she felt right now, right?

"I feel like I am going to die soon." Hope whispered, she covered her face with her palms.

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