Chapter 139
Chapter 139
FAYE
Claim
I lay sprawled across my bed, staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours. Sleep wouldn’t come, not with the weight pressing against my chest. No matter how many times I rolled over, pulled the blanket tighter, or forced my eyes shut, my thoughts circled back to the same place. Silver Hollow.
And Jason.
I hated the way his name still carried heat in my mind, like a brand I couldn’t erase. But what I hated more was knowing I hadn’t been honest with Alexander. He thought my resistance to going back was just stubbornness or irritation at being forced into politics.
He didn’t know the real reason. He didn’t know that the Alpha who would be hosting us tomorrow wasn’t just an ally…but my mate.
The secret felt like a ticking clock. At some point, Alexander was going to find out. Whether from whispers, from the members of Silver Hollow, or from Jason himself, it was bound to surface.
And when it did… what then? If he found out from someone else, without the full truth, without context…he’d think I’d hidden it deliberately. He’d think the worst, that I’d chosen to keep him in the dark for a special reason.
And maybe I had hidden it. But not because I wanted to, not because I didn’t trust him. It was because I didn’t want to relive it. I didn’t want to put words to the wound…and because the truth was embarrassing. But it didn’t matter what I wanted anymore. If I was going to tell him, it had to be tonight. The night before everything unraveled.
With a frustrated groan, I pushed myself off the bed. My legs felt heavy as I padded through the quiet corridors of the house, each step echoing my own doubts. By the time I reached Alexander’s door, my heart was pounding like I’d run the length of the training grounds.
I knocked once before I could change my mind.
The door opened, and there he was.
For a split second, the words I’d rehearsed died in my throat. His hair was damp, falling in dark strands across his forehead, the faint scent of soap and steam clinging to him. A towel hung carelessly around his shoulders, and though he’d thrown on a t–shirt and sweatpants, there was no disguising the warmth radiating off his skin…he had just had his bath. Just the sight of him like that was…refreshing.
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Chapter 139
Claim
I had to call myself to order in my head. Focus, Faye. You didn’t come here to stare at him like a lost puppy.
“Hi,” I managed, slipping past him before I lost my nerve.
He didn’t stop me, just arched a brow as I crossed the room and sat down on the edge of his bed. The sheets dipped under my weight, the familiar scent of him already curling around me, unsettling in ways I didn’t want to dwell on at the moment.
Alexander closed the door and wandered toward the couch, dropping onto it with the kind of casual ease only he could manage. He leaned back, stretching an arm across the top as he looked at me. But instead of demanding why I was there…like I half–expected him to…he started speaking as if this was any other night.
“I hope you’re ready for tomorrow,” he said, voice steady, almost teasing. “Anything left that you need? ”
I forced a shrug, feigning nonchalance. “I’m set p>
It wasn’t true…I didn’t care about bags or clothes or whatever…so I wasn’t set.
He must have figured it out. “If there’s anything last minute,” he continued, “James can take you to town in the morning before we leave p>
I nodded, still pretending to play along. He was being thoughtful in his way, practical as always, and here I was about to tear open something he couldn’t have seen coming.
My fingers twisted in my lap. Then I softly said his name. “Alexander p>
He looked at me, the faintest tilt of his head, acknowledging the shift in my tone.
“I wasn’t honest,” I blurted, my voice sharp in the quiet room. “When you asked me why I didn’t want to go back to Silver Hollow…I wasn’t honest with you p>
The air changed. I drew in a breath, steadying myself before I spoke.
“You know how they told you that Sage gave herself to someone else, and because of that, I was given to you instead?” My voice felt quieter than I intended, but it filled the space between us anyway. “What they never told you is the rest of that story. The man Sage gave herself to–Jason, now the Alpha–he was my mate p>
I forced myself to meet Alexander’s gaze. For the first time since I started talking, his full attention was on me. His eyes narrowed just slightly.
There was the faintest hint across his expression…surprise, subtle but unmistakable. I was right…he had no idea. I felt my chest tighten, but I pressed on before the weight of silence
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could choke me.
“The very night you and I had our mating ceremony…that was supposed to be my night with Jason.” The words left me in a rush, tumbling faster than I could control. “But just moments before the ceremony, I found him in bed with Sage p>
Saying it out loud felt strange…like dragging an old wound into the light of day only to find it no longer bled. I had expected the familiar sting, the rush of betrayal that used to claw at me in the dark when no one was around to see. Instead, all I felt was a faint echo of embarrassment, as though recounting someone else’s shame.
I realized then that I had healed more than I thought. I didn’t feel broken as the words left me. I didn’t feel undone. If anything, the weight I had carried alone for so long seemed lighter now that I’d finally said it to him.
Relief slipped in quietly, unexpected but real. Still, my pulse raced as I searched Alexander’s face, desperate to read what he was thinking. His expression was calm…controlled, as always…but I could see the edge of tension in his jaw and eyes as he processed my
confession.
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