Page 63 of The Alpha's Fallen Spell
“I told you—”
“I know what you told me,” I interrupt gently. “But I’m not asking you to give up your life here. I’m not asking you to come back to the palace. I’m just asking for a chance to be a part of this life you’ve built.”
She studies me, suspicion clear in her gaze. “Why now? After a year?”
“I’ve been looking for you since the day I found out you’d left,” I explain to her again. “But as for why...I realized what I’d lost. And I’ve spent every day since then trying to find my way back to you.”
“The Silver Ring is still out there,” she points out. “Can you really afford to be stalking me when there are more artificial shifters to save?”
Her words hit their mark. “I’ve taken a leave of absence,” I tell her. “Griffin is handling the search for the remaining facilities.”
She is clearly surprised. “You left your post? You?”
“Some things are more important than duty,” I say quietly.
Fiona laughs, but it’s a bitter sound. “And you only figured that out after I was gone. Convenient.”
“I deserve that,” I acknowledge. “But yes, sometimes we only understand what matters most when we lose it.”
“And what made you think I’d give you another chance?” she asks, leaning forward slightly. “What makes you so special that I would risk the life I’ve built just to sleep in your bed?”
The crudeness of her question catches me off guard. It’s deliberately provocative, designed to push me away. But I can see the vulnerability beneath it—the fear that I might hurt her again, that I might once more decide she’s not worth the sacrifice.
“Nothing,” I say honestly. “I’m not special. I’m just a man who made a terrible mistake and wants a chance to make it right.”
She starts to rise. “We’re done here.”
“I didn’t reject you because I thought you were a problem,” I say quickly, reaching out to catch her wrist. “I rejected you because I thought I was making a sacrifice for my kingdom.”
She freezes, not pulling away but not sitting back down, either.
“Do you really think I didn’t want my fated mate?” I continue, my voice low and intense. “I wanted you, Fiona. Even when you were broken. Even when you were struggling. Every instinct I had screamed at me to claim you, to protect you, to make you mine.”
Her pulse starts to race beneath my fingers.
“But the kingdom needed me more,” I say. “At least, that’s what I told myself. I was afraid of what would happen if I put you first. Afraid of failing my brother, my people. So, I made a choice. The wrong choice.” I tighten my grip slightly, not enoughto hurt, just enough to emphasize my words. “I regretted that choice the moment I returned to find you gone. And I’ve lived with that regret every day since.”
Fiona is still, her expression blank as she looks down at me. “Let go of me,” she eventually says, her voice barely audible.
I release her immediately, knowing I’ve crossed a line. “I’m sorry.”
She steps back, rubbing her wrist even though I know I didn’t hurt her. “You don’t get to do this,” she says, her voice shaking slightly. “You don’t get to breeze back into my life with pretty speeches and sad eyes and expect me to fall into your arms.”
“I don’t expect that,” I say quietly.
“Then what do you expect?” she demands. “What do you want from me?”
“A chance,” I reply. “That’s all. A chance to show you that I’ve changed. That I understand what’s truly important now.”
For a moment, I see a softening in her eyes, a hint of the connection we once shared. Then, her expression hardens again.
“Leave,” she says definitively. “Don’t come back here. Don’t try to contact me again. Whatever was between us is over. Accept that and move on with your life.”
She walks away, her posture rigid, her movements sharp with suppressed emotion.
“I can’t do that,” I say to her retreating back. “I won’t give up on us, Fiona.”
She pauses, just for a heartbeat, then continues moving away from me, not once looking back at me.
