Page 35 of His Forsaken Alpha

A knock sounded at the door, and he frowned. He’d quite clearly asked to be left alone when he’d checked in. Snagging the empty tumbler, the glass clinking along the insides, he left the balcony behind and closed the French doors. After setting the glass on the counter of the small bar, he ambled toward the entry door. One peek through the peephole and he froze.

No.He rested his palm on the door, both elated and terrified at the prospect of opening it.How did he find me?

“I know you’re in there, Wynter. I saw light moving under the door as you moved closer.”

Wynter cringed, tears already forming in his eyes.

“Just open the door, baby.”

Baby?

A tear slipped down Wynter’s face. He wiped his cheek and shook his head, forcing any trace of emotion from his expression before he’d face his alpha. After a deep breath and release, he opened the door to the only man he’d ever loved, his heart shattering all over again when his gaze landed on that handsome.

So many years had passed, but Wilder Cavanaugh was still the most stunning man Wynter had ever laid eyes on. Sure, the blond hair was a little lighter thanks to the addition of gray and silver strands threaded through and the hint of crow’s feet more pronounced, but Cavanaugh was still ruggedly handsome at sixty-something. He looked closer to his fifties.

“Hello,” Wynter said, shocked he was able to speak at all.

Silence hung between them.

“Is that all I get? A hello?” A pained look crossed Cavanaugh’s face. “You know why I’m here.”

Wynter clenched his jaw, holding back a tsunami of need and grief. “What is it you expect from me? I just put my alpha into the ground earlier today.”

The last time I saw him, he’d almost learned the truth.Cavanaugh had nearly come face-to-face with a four-year-oldversion of himself that day. Everything would’ve shattered then and there.

Maybe I should have let it.

“One, he wasn’t your alpha,and you damned well know it.”

I do.

“Two,it’s not as though I came here and expected to find out you’ve been hiding a secret from me for over thirty years.” Cavanaugh scoffed.“Lastly…”He paused, the look on his face screaming he was at his wit’s end. “Please tell me you’re not trying to blamemefor us being apart? Whose choice was that, Wynter?”

I’ve never blamed you… for anything.Wynter fought the tears threatening to come as he held his alpha’s gaze. It hadn’t beeneitherof their choices, though Cavanaugh didn’t know that.

When he didn’t get the answer he wanted, his alpha rested a hand on the doorframe, learning closer. “Can I come in?”

A little closer made it that much easier for him to scent his mate. Hisrealmate. He fought the rising need within. Decades passed and clearly that bond had never died. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“I think I deserve a few answers. At the very least. Don’t you?”

Wynter had dreaded that moment for thirty-five years. “Can you not give me a little time to grieve before you make demands of me?”

“You’re grieving?”Cavanaugh asked, a brow rising. “Oh, that’s right. He became your everything. The very best alpha that hadever alphaed. Wasn’t it something like that? The lie you told me all those years ago?”

Cavanaugh brushed past him into the hotel suite. He spun to glare at Wynter. “You stoleeverythingfrom me, Wynter. I’m sorry if I’m struggling to have enough sympathy after you lost the man whonevershould’ve had you in the first place—andI find out the whole truth of what you’ve done.”

Wynter glanced out into the hallway, terrified someone might have seen them or overheard what his alpha had said. When he found it empty, he relaxed and closed the door.

Cavanaugh shook his head, anger raging in his eyes. “You’re still that godsdamned worried about what other people might think? Oh no, an alpha came into your room, the same day as your husband’s funeral. Maybe I should take out a full-page ad in tomorrow’s paper, alerting the whole province that nothing happened and not to worry.”

Wynter ignored the baiting, focusing on the mistake made instead. “Warden was legally my mate. Not my husband.” He closed his eyes, not sure why he picked that battle.

“That manwasn’tyour anything, and you know it.” Cav marched closer. Too close. Wynter stopped breathing; his alpha’s scent sent his senses reeling.

“You’re mine.He stole youfrom me, Wynter.”

Wynter shivered all over, the emotion behind Cavanaugh’s words hitting deep.

---