You finally know what it meant

Her skin stayed white. Her eyes were still closed. Not a twitch. Not even a small one. James sat with his back to the tank, feeling the rage and anguish build. Tears fell freely to the ground. The Novaxan who had tried to hard to help sat across from him. On him, and the child, sat a deep grey.

"I am...so sorry. Our elders...they made the wrong choice. If they knew what you meant to her..."

"She meant it to me too... I'd never wanted so badly to keep someone safe before."

"What had she said that made you come?"

James clenched his fists at the words. At Archie, knowing he'd said them. "She said...your alpha told her I had lied about caring for her..."

A light flicker of blue worked across his face. "And did you?"

James shook his head. "No...if anything I...I cared more than I let myself say."

"To us...that could be called a lie. To leave an emotion unsaid...we cannot do that. To do so...is to hide something imperative to ourselves."

It made sense. Even as the world remained blurred and his heart broke, he saw the logic. "I...think I get it, then... He knew...he just wanted her to hear it from me."

Again, a blue flicker. The child gasped, but the male chattered something. The male asked, "Hear what?"

"I...guess it doesn't matter now. I wanted to say it so much that last day...I never did."

"Say what?"

"I love her..."