The Alpha’s Fated Outcast: Rise Of The Moonsinger

Lenny

"I cannot deny that having children was the best thing that ever happened to me. To say the truth, it's the best decision I've ever made," I said, as I faced Cassidy in the empty corridor. "Fatherhood has a way of grounding anyone. Cass, I won't call my kids regrets, but you pushed me into this situation in the first place."

She let out a bitter laugh. "That's because you were too cowardly to reject me properly, and let's end this charade. How many times do I have to tell you that I cannot love you, regardless of the mate bond or not? Your mother was a witch, and I want pure-blood Lycans. I will not dirty my bloodline with traces of wizardry or whatever supernatural contamination runs in your veins."

"That's unfair, Cassidy." I shook my head, feeling years of suppressed pain rising to the surface. "What you're doing to me, what you've done to me all these years—do you know how much I suffered every time you ran around after Ramsey, begging to be loved, while I was always right there, ready to love you?"

"And so the cycle continued," She said with a devious smile that made my heart break all over again. "The person I want doesn't want me, so the person who wants me will never get me either. I'd rather marry Caius than accept our bond. Please do yourself a favour and let's break it once and for all. It's been long overdue."

I stared at her for several long seconds, feeling the years of hope crumbling inside me. "Doesn't it matter that I love you?" My voice came out as a whisper. "I love you, Cassidy. I never stopped loving you. All these years, I waited..."

"You waited while warming the beds of other women and making babies," she shot back. "You didn't learn anything from your friend, did you? Ramsey is devoted to Lyla, completely devoted to her."

"Are you going to compare me with him again?"

"Yes!" she nodded. "For what it's worth, Ramsey knows how to love a woman and prove he loves her. All the years he looked for Lyla… yeah, he had a few indiscretions, but he didn't stop searching. Despite every attempt I made to get him to make me pregnant, he deflated them. Ramsey understands loyalty."

"And I don't?" I asked.

"Yes, you don't, Lenny. You confess you love me, but where is this love? If a woman walked past you naked, you'd fill her up with your seed without hesitating."

The accusation stung because there was truth in it, but not the whole truth. "That's not—"

"I already have a high chance of ending up bitter like my mother," she continued. "And now that everything's changed, now that I'm at Ramsey's mercy, I don't want to misuse my second chance. Caius doesn't come with burdens. He'll treat me well, and I'll learn to love him."

eyes filled with tears as I stared at her. "You don't mean that, Cass.

that chilled me to the bone. "I will do my duty as

out and grabbed her hand desperately. "Please don't do this. Please don't throw your life away on some misguided

I don't want to be a wicked stepmother. I've seen your children—they're so beautiful and bright and cheeky, just like their father. Their mothers have somehow cultivated great friendships with each other, and that's because they think you'll never settle down, that no woman can ever truly own you. They've made peace with that

with jealous women fighting over you. I'd become a bitter mate and a wicked stepmother. People would see even more reasons to hate me than they already do. I'll give you time to think about everything I've said, and

"Cassidy—"

to talk about it, mate bonds do not translate

that," I said

makes the right people yearn for each other for the rest of their lives. It's the biggest joke ever made.

I pleaded, "Let me prove to you that there's nothing to worry about. I can change, I can be

to come find me when you're ready to reject me properly. Make it

heels and walked away, her footsteps

was being torn from my chest. Years of hope, of waiting,

came crumbling down with

the main staircase, watching me with pity written

you were coming,"

expression filled with concern. "Are you

rolled down my cheek without my permission. "I don't think a hug would calm the storm inside me, C. I love that woman so much that I waited all these years, hoping one

for my hand, and slowly, we walked back

she immediately pulled me into a proper hug, and I felt the

like the lovesick puppy I was back then, only for her to look up at me and, without a second thought, asked me to