Page 83 of Claimed By the King's Gamma

“What?No!I have a mate.I can’t just leave.He’ll worry,” she protests, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and uncertainty.

“Worry?Then where the hell is he, Abbie?”My frustration boils over as I try to drag her toward the door.

“No!”she screams, thrashing against my grip.“Gannon, stop!”Her voice cracks under the weight of her emotions, tears streaming down her face.“He loves me.He said he loves me.He’ll be back,” she sobs.

“I fucking love you.He doesn’t,” I scream at her, my words dripping with desperation.

Abbie whimpers, and I suddenly become aware my claws have slipped out, grazing her delicate skin.Thankfully, the wounds are shallow, and I release my hold on her, watching as they swiftly heal.

“You have a mate out there somewhere.How can you say that?”she demands, her tear-filled eyes searching mine for answers.

“No, I don’t.I want you.Can’t you see that?”My voice cracks with a mixture of longing and frustration.

“But I am not yours.I am Kade’s mate.He loves me, and I love him,” she insists, her voice wavering with a mix of conviction and doubt.

“If you think this is love, you are mistaken.Love doesn’t hide someone away.Love doesn’t force them to live like this,” I snap, my words tinged with both sadness and anger.Her brows furrow, tears pooling in her mesmerizing hazel eyes.She shakes her head before sniffling and wiping her hands on the front of her shirt.

“You should go,” she whispers, unable to meet my gaze.

I swallow hard, my heart heavy with unspoken words.She wraps her arms around herself, seeking solace in the comforting pressure of her own embrace as she turns back toward the kitchen.

“Abbie?”I call out to her softly, my voice filled with a mix of longing and resignation.

“Gannon, please… just don’t,” she breathes, her words barely audible.

“Tell me… Tell me you’re happy here,” I implore her, my voice a mere whisper in the air.“Tell me something because this… this isn’t right.I would take care of you.”

“I’m not yours,” she says slowly, emphasizing each word with a quiet determination.

“But you could be,” I murmur earnestly.“You just need to see beyond the bond, Abbie.See through his lies.”My voice trails off, uncertain if there is another way to convince her, to break through the walls that surround her heart.

“You were willing to be mine before, Abbie,” I tell her.

“That was before I discovered my mate, and you’re a Lycan it would never work.”

“I would change you, make you a Lycan, but you need to reject Kade and come home with me.”

“I can’t, he…he… He loves me,” she says, staring at the ground.

“But do you love him?Think about it, Abbie.If he wasn’t your mate, and you are locked up here, would you stay or come back with me?”

“That’s not fair,” she says.

“Answer me,” I demand.

“That would be different,” she says, gazing around at the place.

“You live in a castle.Who would choose this place over that?”she finally says.

“Fine, then if he wasn’t your mate, who would you choose, him or me?”

“But he is my mate!”

“Exactly, the mate bond tells you to love him, to stay with him, it is not a damn choice!But if you had one?”

She bites her lip.“I don’t know!I… please you must leave, you’re confusing me, stop.It all needs to stop.”

“Come back with me, even for a little while, just come back, come see Ivy, you wanted to see Ivy, right?”I beg.

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