Chapter 84

Words : 1043 Updated : May 20th, 2025

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Knox pops into my head, annoying the hell out of me. "Will you just shut the f**k up?" I growl, but it does nothing to avert his attention from Sadie. I've been here for the last forty minutes, my eyes barely moving from her face. No matter what I do, I just can't pull my focus from her. The need to smooth down her hair and touch her is so strong that I have to clench my fist to resist. It’s a need that goes beyond my understanding. Sure, we were taught about mate bonds, but no one ever mentioned just how strong they would be. Just how powerful. "Mate bonds between alphas and their Lunas are usually stronger than those of average wolves," Knox informs me. "And you didn't think to tell me this before?" "It never came up," he answers lazily. "Though I should have figured it out with Lola when the bond didn't feel that strong. I was so smitten with her wolf that I failed to notice that major detail." I breathe out, trying to hide my frustration and bitterness. Had I known this before, maybe I would have questioned things with Lola. Had he been keener, maybe we would have avoided the mess we're in right now. I can't really blame him, though. Just like him, I was so smitten with Lola that I could barely see straight. "Has her wolf reached out to you?" I ask, needing something to do other than stare at Sadie like a damn creep. "No, I tried, but she told me to f**k off," he murmurs, clearly not happy about being rejected. "It's not anything the human counterpart hasn't told us thousands of times." "True, but I thought her wolf would be more agreeable since they usually are." Female wolves are built to submit to the mate bond and their mates. They rarely go against what the mate bond or their mates desire. The fact that Sadie's wolf was able to deny Knox shows just how strong she is. "At least tell me you got her name?" "Nope," he says, popping the P. "She told me to piss off when I asked." Why am I not surprised? Given how strong Sadie's personality is, I shouldn't have expected anything less from her wolf. "I like that she's feisty," Knox says after a while. "It will make it more enjoyable to break her and make her submit." I don't say anything because, from what I've seen so far, I doubt anyone can ever truly understand Sadie. No one can make her submit. If she ever does, it will be because she wants to, not because she has to. I know Knox. He's a stubborn bastard. He won't easily accept that Sadie's wolf won't submit to him. The door opens, and Jason pops his head in. "I was told I could find you here," he says, entering the room. His eyes move from Sadie and back again. "What happened?" "I don't know," I answer. "I just bumped into her after my morning run, and she fainted." The nurse had washed and changed Sadie long ago. She is now clean and in a hospital gown. "What did the doctors say?" I explain everything the doctor said. After we're done, we sit in silence for a little bit. My eyes are drawn to her cheek, a place I've been trying to avoid looking at since the truth came out. The scar is still there. Still visible. I did a wonderful job making sure it would never disappear. I cut it deep enough to leave a scar. When I did that, I wanted to mark her as a traitor to her alpha. I wanted her to be reminded of what I did to her. To be reminded of my hatred for her. It worked. The scar is there, glaring accusingly at me. Unlike what other females would do, Sadie doesn't try to hide it under heaps of makeup. She wears it like a brand. My heart constricts. I clench my hands against the wave of emotions. I did this to her. I did this to my mate. I may not have known the truth when I scarred her face, but now I do, and it guts me. It shakes my soul that I hurt my mate in the cruelest way possible. The torture, the beating, the insults—all of it crashes onto me like a massive boulder. I feel crushed as the weight of what I did to my own mate shatters me. Fuck, I'm not an emotional person, but right now, I feel like curling up in a ball and crying like a baby. I continue staring at her. Knox is right; she's damn beautiful. How the hell did I not notice it before? Why did I look down on her? Why did I always treat her like she was insignificant? Was it because she was an omega, and I thought there was nothing she could offer? After all, alphas are usually mated to higher-ranking females. So many regrets. I'm drowning in them. Drowning in the fact that if I had just questioned things, we could have been happy. We could have been a family. My mate wouldn't hate me, and my daughter would know who I am. "Alec?" I turn when Jason's voice penetrates my fog. I sag against the chair, feeling the weight of my failures and regrets on my shoulders. "I came to let you know that Piper has arrived," he says. Everything is a mess, and I don't have anyone to blame. I stand up. "Let's go." But his words take a while to sink in. Jason follows suit, and we cross the room. I give Sadie one last look. This is the most peaceful I have seen her since I found her. I know that I am partly responsible for her troubles. For her unrest. I know she hates being here and being around me. It bothers me more than I care to admit.

Chapter 84

Comments (0)