Mira swallowed. Memories belonging to the old owner of this body immediately swarmed her mind.
She remembered it all. The way the old Mira lured Ming Tao out here. The way she had him rough handled by rogues. How she even had access to such brute men was shocking to this Mira but it happened. It was all a trap from the very beginning. The old owner of this body was so disgusted to be in the cheetah clan that she wanted an out. So she did the unthinkable. She bribed some rogues to do her bidding for a reward and lured the Mighty Cheetah, her own husband out to this lake. Ming Tao had no idea what he was going to walk into at that time and when he came to meet his wife who never wanted anything to do with him, they were ambushed. At first, his priority was keeping her out of harms way, till he realised she was the cause for this. They strapped him and bound him to the lake. This Mira saw it as clear as day as the old Mira had him trampled on. She joined in the delight of the beating and whipped him so many strokes before having them force his head into the lake while still hurting his body that was not plunged into the lake. Ming Tao begged. Begged for her to stop. He wanted to know why she was doing that to him when he cared for her so damn much.
And in all his misery, all the old owner of this body could do was laugh and say ’isn’t it obvious? I want to have the pleasure knowing I will be a free unmated woman!’. And this was when she partook in the torture. She forced his face into the lake, an attempt to drown him while he was being held by rogues. Despite his struggling and gasping for air. And when he was on the brink of death, she had them toss his tied with thick vines body into the lake, knowing fully well he would barely have strength to save himself.
This Mira felt horrified. Suddenly, the picnic did not seem too romantic anymore and she wanted to be out of here. Her body tensed with dread that was a little too familiar, like the one she felt before she fell down that height in the pride land.
"Do you?" Ming Tao worded, breaking her reverie.
Mira flinched. His tone was too calm and eerie. Almost as if he wanted her to remember like it played a major role to the reason they were here. And alone. Mira’s heart began to beat faster in her chest. What the old Mira did to Ming Tao that night does not even scratch the surface of the other terrible things she made him go through. It was no shocker why he hated Mira that much and wanted her gone from the pride. He too had been in a position where he trusted her blindly and it all ended the same horrible way.
"I. . ." Mira uttered. Her words hung in her throat as terror came to be. She could not fathom any other reason why they were here in this very spot this all happened. "I do."
"This lake was named the dying lake after that incident. A part of me died that night, a little past midnight." Ming Tao breathed. He was sat in a position that gave him the splendour of gazing directly at Mira and he noticed her uncomfortable hand movements as she squeezed into the fur and the stiffness her body had. Ming Tao chuckled under his breath. "I would never hurt you, Mira. You don’t need to be on guard."
This made Mira’s breath hasten. He noticed. "I am so sorry." She said.
"For what? Being afraid of me or for causing me pain?"
"Both. I am so sorry for everything I did to you in the past. You deserved none of that."
"I know." Ming Tao stated. "I did not deserve to be treated badly by my own wife. But you made me question my reality. You made me question if I was better off as dead because you seemed to want me dead. You said to me that you would rather starve for the rest of your life than accept me to be your mate. And I never understood why. What did I do so wrong that made you hate me so much?"
His eyes met hers. Mira’s eyes glistened with tears she tried to not let fall down her face. She did not deserve to burst out crying and make this about her when truly, the one hurting was Ming Tao.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I was a fool and hated myself so I projected it to all of you." Mira’s voice broke. Ming Tao noticed immediately then pulled her to him in a sharp tug. The bowls between them separated their bodies from colliding entirely but he could hold her tight.
"Don’t cry. I’m not saying this to make you sad."
Mira sniffed. She let her head sink into the fur of his coat. She did not deserve this man one bit yet here he was comforting her when he needed comfort. Mira shifted closer to him, careful not to hit the wooden bowls, and wrapped her hands around him.
She let her fingers feel his skin through his coat, like she wanted to merge their bodies together. "You didn’t deserve any of the cruelty I made you go through. I cannot change my past but I will spend my entire life making it up to you. Fixing every part of you I broke." Mira stated. It took Ming Tao a while before he let his head sink into her shoulder, fully partaking in the warmth of her embrace.
"Do you swear that?" Ming Tao mumbled into her skin.
Mira nodded. "On my very life." She uttered. "If you will let me." She added. Ming Tao broke the hug and pulled his body off hers. He let his eyes sink into her glistening orbs. Those eyes of hers devoured his very soul and became his undoing.
Ming Tao swallowed. "I want to rewrite the memory of this place." He said, his eyes still locked in hers as his hands put all the bowls from between them away and out of the confinement of the large fur rug. "Please let me."