Page 82 of His Surrogate Omega

“Damn it, Jamie… we’re mates.Through sickness and in health. I vowed to stand at your side for the rest of our lives, and I meant it. I love you. I deserved to know.”

Jamie had once thought the old, ancient wedding vows Rohan had wanted to include sentimental and sweet. Now, he saw them as a yoke around his alpha’s neck. “I won’t drag you to the grave with me. You need to go on and learn to live without me.”

“Because you’ve already given up!” Rohan blasted.

Jamie looked away.

“That’s right. Dr. Ford told me you’ve refused treatment. How could you?”

“I don’t want the last weeks of my life spent sick from the poisons they’d shoot inside my body. I just want peace. I want the pain to be over.”

“Instead of standing up and fighting, you gave up. I’ve never known you to give up onanything.”

“I’ve never given up on you,” Jamie cried. “I’ve spent every waking moment trying to save you from this pain.”

“What do you mean?”

“I needed to give you a reason to live.”

Rohan’s eyes widened, and his breath hitched. He sat back, silent for a moment—disbelief etched on his face. “What… what are you saying?”

“After one mate dies… the other is often not long behind. Even in mates as young as we are, I’ve heard of alphas lost without their omegas and dying months later of a broken heart. I needed to give you a reason to live on without me. Something to fill your heart… once I was gone.”

Rohan’s mouth dropped open. He was silent, his face etched in turmoil. His chin wobbled, and his eyes shone with tears.

“Now you have a child…and an omega… who needs you,” Jamie whispered.

Rohan’s gaze met his. “So this was your plan all along, hmm? To go out and find yourself a replacement? As if the love I feel for you is a switch that can be turned off and then back on with someone else.” He laughed mirthlessly. “Guess what? It can’t. I will go on loving you until the day I die… not the day you do.”

“You have to let me go,” Jamie whispered, hot tears sliding down his cheeks.

“You might be willing to give up. I’m not.”

“Ididn’tgive up.” Jamie sighed. “The cancer isall over, Rohan. Further treatment might give me another few months, at the very most—but I would spend them sick and in torment.In hell. I’ve already spent so many months tortured, and I don’t want to leave like that. I wanted to go out on my own terms. And I wanted to find a way to saveyouin the process.”

Tears openly fell from Rohan’s eyes. “By pushing the one person who loves you the most away. Pushing him into the arms of another man?”

Jamie brought Rohan’s hand to his lips and laid a gentle kiss there. “I want you to find a new path… a new love… a new life… that doesn’t include me. Pushing you away would make it hurt less in the end.”

“You’re mad,” Rohan whispered.

“I’m not. I can see with a clarity I’ve never had in my life.” He smiled. “Knowing the end is near… it puts a lot of things into perspective. I knowexactlywhat I’m doing. I’m protecting the alpha I love.”

“By keeping me in the dark.” Rohan turned his hand to cup Jamie’s cheek. “I could have lent you my strength. If only I’d known… I could’ve helped make these past weeks better. I love you so very much, Jamie… but I hate that you did this. I hate what you have robbed me of.”

“I needed to push you away… you have another omega now. One who will need you much more than I do.”

“No,” Rohan said.

“I sense your bond with him.”

Rohan roared in anger. “No!” He scrubbed his face with both hands before looking at Jamie. “A bond you’ve forced every step of the way. Youcreatedthis situation… we are but pawns to you. Stop it. Stop it now.”

“I can’t. I need to know you will live on. I need you to make me a promise,” Jamie cried. “After I’m gone… I want you to claim Gray as your own.”

Rohan shook his head fiercely. “No.”

“I did all of this… so I would know you had something to hold on to after I’m gone. I can’t leave this world unless I know you’ll survive. Don’t make my sacrifices be all in vain,” Jamie said as convincingly as he could.

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