Contractually Yours Alpha (Riley)

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty Four

The disappointment in his voice was even harder to bear than the betrayal I had suffered from people I once called friends.

"I should have told you, but I knew you would've kept assuring me you were fine- even when we both knew you were dying inside. She said you were going to die, whether you stopped or continued with the doses. I just... couldn't lose you."

"Who is this 'she' you are referring to?" he asked, and I immediately realized my slip.

"I... it doesn't matter. You're alive, and that's what's important."

Slowly, he let go of me, and I instantly missed his warmth. How does it feel?"

"What?"

"To be so close to achieving your dreams?" he asked. I wanted to tell him I didn't care anymore about the goddamn title; all I wanted was to have him by my side. I wanted him, but before I could tell him just that, he spoke on. "I hope it was worth it."

Those final words had felt like some kind of goodbye.

"I, Ethan Alexander Darkwood, reject you, Kaida Dawn, as my fated mate." He said.

Seeing Alexander with a dagger through his heart had been horrifying, but this... I couldn't even put it into words. I could only stare at him.

He didn't look away. He watched me, a single tear slipping down his face-the only sign of his pain.

He was hurting. And it was because of me.

"No, please, I beg you, don't do this. Don't leave me. I have no one else-the rest, they are all traitors; you are all I have left."

"I am giving you what you've always wanted."

"I don't want it! What I want is you."

"You know, I almost believe you mean what you say-I want to believe you, Kaida. But... I don't know what to believe anymore."

"You will not leave me; you will remain in this pack and rule..."

"You don't get it!" he said, his voice rising. "I don't have a wolf-I can't be their king!"

"Your mother was a demon; it didn't stop her from being the queen..."

His next words came out more like a plea "Set me free, Kaida. This is all I ask of you: accept the rejection and end our bond. Let me go."

"I can't.... I love you, and you love me too."

"That is the problem. Loving you is my biggest weakness; I don't want to love you anymore. That's why you have to let me go."noveldrama

"What we have, it's beyond the mate bond, Alex. I would never love another man the way I love you."

"You would never know, not until you let me go."

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty Rour

I watched his face, the plea still in his eyes. He wanted this realized; he wanted to leave me, all alone, and he

I couldn't have the bond holding him back. I had taken so much from him; it was only fair I gave him this one thing And yet I couldn't do it.

I wanted to fall on my knees and beg; I wanted to make him see reason, but we were past all that; no amount of begging or pleading would change his mind; he had made his decision, and not even I could make him change it.

"I, Kaida Blackwood Dawn, accept your rejection."

I recoiled from the impact as the bond between us shattered. The pain only worsened, but he didn't seem as affected as I was. And then, with a haunting clarity, I realized-when Cynthia drove that dagger through his heart, she had changed something. She had broken something that could never be repaired or fixed.

I couldn't bear to look at him standing there any longer, so walked out the door, ignoring the eyes watching me. The crowd parted as I passed-some too afraid to step too close-but I didn't care. All I wanted to do was get to my room and break down in peace.

Alexander hadn't died, but the man I loved was gone.