Page 71 of Brutal Alpha's Forced Mate

For a moment, I want to fight her. To argue, to push her away so she doesn’t see how much I need her. But I’m tired. Tired of lying to her. Tired of lying to myself.

“I’m not good at this,” I admit finally. “I don’t know how to say what I’m feeling. Hell, I don’t even know how to make sense of it half the time.”

“Then stop overthinking and just say it.”

The words are simple, but the challenge in her eyes hits me like a lightning strike. There’s no point in hiding anymore. Not from her.

“I love you.” The confession falls from my lips before I can stop it, and the weight of it makes my chest ache. “I love you, Jaslyn. I’ve been trying not to, but it doesn’t matter. You’re under my skin. You’re in every damn thought I have. And I know I’ve been a fool to push you away, but—”

“But what?” she presses. “What are you so afraid of?”

“Everything. I’m afraid of losing you. Of not being enough for you. Of ruining the only good thing I’ve ever had.”

“Gray, do you honestly think I don’t know what I’m getting into? You’ve been an ass, sure, but I’ve seen you. The real you. The one who would throw himself in front of a demon without a second thought. The one who would dive into a lake to save me, even when he’s terrified of letting someone get too close.”

I don’t respond right away. How can I? She’s right. I’ve spent so much time keeping people at arm’s length, trying to protect them from me. Or maybe it was the other way around.

“Gray, I stayed here because I see you,” she continues. “The you who feels like he has to carry everything on his shoulders, like he has to be perfect because the pack depends on him. But you don’t have to be perfect. You just have to be real.”

I close my eyes for a moment. She doesn’t know the half of it. She doesn’t know how long I’ve carried the weight of myparents’ deaths, the guilt that gnaws at me every time I look at the pack. The belief that if I falter, they’ll fall apart.

“When my mother died,” I say quietly, “it wasn’t in a fight. It wasn’t some noble, heroic sacrifice. It was an ambush. She was caught alone by hunters while she was out gathering supplies for the pack. I was twelve. She didn’t even make it back to say goodbye.”

Jaslyn sucks in a breath, but she doesn’t interrupt.

“And my father—” My voice breaks, and I shake my head, struggling to find the words. “My father was the strongest man I knew, but after my mother… something in him broke. He tried to keep going, for me, for the pack, but the weight of it was too much. He made mistakes. And one of those mistakes got him killed.” I swallow hard. “I was nineteen when I took over as alpha. I wasn’t ready, but I didn’t have a choice. Everyone was looking to me to fix things, to hold the pack together. And I tried. God, I tried. But I always felt like I was one wrong move away from losing everything.”

“Gray,” she whispers, “you can’t blame yourself for that.”

“Can’t I?” I let out a bitter laugh. “If I’d been stronger, smarter, maybe my father wouldn’t have felt like he had to shoulder everything alone. Maybe he’d still be here.”

“You were a kid. You did the best you could.”

“It wasn’t enough. And it’s why I’ve been so scared with you. Because if I let you in, if I love you the way I want to, and I lose you…” My voice breaks again, and I shake my head. “I don’t know if I’d survive that.”

Her hand slides up to cup my cheek, forcing me to meet her gaze. “You’ve already lost so much, Gray. Don’t lose this, too. Don’t lose us.”

I close my eyes, leaning into her touch, and for a moment, everything else fades away. The fear, the guilt, the weight of the past—it all takes a backseat to the woman standing in front of me, the woman who stayed for me despite everything.

“You’ve always had it easier,” she says softly, and I open my eyes, startled by her words. “The pack accepted you from the start. You were the future alpha, the golden boy. Me? I was the outcast. The one they whispered about behind my back, the one they only tolerated because I didn’t have a choice.”

“Jaslyn—”

“I don’t say that to make you feel guilty,” she interrupts. “I say it because I need you to understand something. You made me feel like I mattered, Gray. Like I wasn’t just a burden or a problem to be solved. You gave me a place to belong, even when I didn’t think I deserved one. I’ve spent my whole life fighting to prove I’m worth something. And with you, I don’t have to fight anymore. With you, I can just be me.”

Her words shatter something inside me, and the walls I’ve spent years building come crashing down. I reach for her, pulling her against me. She comes willingly, her arms wrapping around my neck.

“I love you,” she whispers. “And I’m not going anywhere, Gray. Not unless you tell me to.”

The finality in her words leaves me breathless. For the first time in years, the weight on my chest feels lighter, and I realize that maybe I don’t have to carry it alone anymore.

We barely make it back to the packhouse before the call comes in—a sharp knock on the door and Theo’s voice muffled on the other side.

“Alpha Gray, you and Jaslyn are needed in the main hall. Emergency meeting.”

Jaslyn glances at me, knitting her brows together. She’s still dripping from the lake with her hair plastered to her face. Her green eyes are wary. I know she’s waiting for me to say something, maybe to groan about another crisis or order her to sit this one out, but I can’t summon the energy to care about pack politics right now. Not when the memory of her almost drowning is still burned into my mind.

“I’ll be right there,” I say, my tone clipped.

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