Chapter 8
By the time I snapped out of it, there was already a bottle of water in front of me.
I looked up to find Damon standing in the sunlight, his expression unreadable.
“I saw everything,” he said.
Then, after a beat, he added, “Even after that… you’re still going through with the mating ceremony:
I didn’t take the water.
“Do you regret it?” he asked softly.
I shook my head. “No. If I loved him, then that love–no matter how it ended–was still part of my story.”
He hesitated, voice gentler now. “Then what about me? Would you… ever consider giving us a chance?”
I nearly laughed.
Why were men like this? When you gave them your whole heart, they turned away like it meant nothing. But the moment you took it back–they came crawling, desperate to prove they cared all along
“Damon,” I said evenly, “I’ve told you again and again. I don’t feel anything for you anymore. Even if Felix and 1 end things, I still wouldn’t choose you
“Why not?” he asked, frowning. “We match on every level–status, background, history. We’ve known each other for years.”
I scoffed. “So I’m just supposed to pick between the two of you? Like without you or Felix, I’d somehow cease to exist?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
He reached out, but I stepped away.
And that’s when I heard another voice behind me.
“What’s going on here?”
Felix stood in the doorway, backlit by sunlight, but his face was shadowed his eyes cold and sharp.
He didn’t wait for an answer.
A second later, he threw a punch straight at Damon.
Damon reacted fast and hit back.
“Stay the hell away from Lydia,” Felix growled, eyes blazing. “I swear to god, if you try anything again-”
“Oh, cut the act,” Damon snapped. “You want to talk about playing dirty? You only chased her in the first place to piss me off. Don’t pretend like your feelings were ever real.”
Felix froze for a second, Jaw tightening.
Damon pressed harder, aiming straight for the gut. “I wanted Lydia–yeah. But she never gave me a chance. Can you say the same? That your feelings were ever pure?”
“Does she even know about the little she–wolf you’ve been tangled up with behind her back?
The color drained from Felix’s face.
He turned to me in a panic. “Lydia–walt, I can explain.”
Inside the car, Felix was explaining, said that girl was just someone who liked him. That seeing her reminded him of who he used to be. Chapter &
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That it wasn’t anything serious.
“Lydia, I love you. I’ve loved you for years. We’re about to become mates. Please, you have to believe me.”
His grip tightened around my hand. Desperate. Sincere.
But somehow, the storm inside me had already begun to quiet.
I looked at him calmly. “Maybe… we shouldn’t go through with the ceremony.”
“What?”
Panic flooded his eyes–raw and unfiltered.
“It’s in three days, baby. Don’t say stuff like that. Not now.
I smiled faintly. “You’re upset, aren’t you? You think I settled for you. That I’m still in love with Damon. That even when I say I’ve moved on, there’s still a comer of my heart that doesn’t belong to you.”
“No,”
,” he said quickly. “That’s not it. That’s not true.
But I kept going, voice trembling as the tears began to fall. “Felix, I really did love you. I loved how kind you were, how you made me Teel like I mattered. I don’t know why I fell, maybe it was the way you looked standing in the rain that day… but I knew I just knew–I wanted you.”
His eyes went glassy, and he reached out to wipe away my tears, hands shaking.
“Please don’t say goodbye,” he whispered. “Please don’t leave me.”
“Do you love me?” I asked.
“Of course I do,” he said instantly. “No one will ever love you more than I do.”
But you did hurt me, Felix. And maybe… that’s what love is too
I sniffled. “Then I’ll believe you. Just this once”
Because it wasn’t time yet.
Not yet.
