Page 5 of Sacrifice

“Is it working?” I ask with a grin, knowing full well the answer.

“Maybe a little,” she confesses, her smile betraying her attempt at nonchalance.

Then, without another word, we’re kissing. It’s not just lips touching; it’s a conversation, an admission of everything we’ve been too scared to say out loud—our first kiss since the couch at my place, a kiss I’ve been dying for. Her hands are on my chest, mine are still at her waist, and for a moment, Oasis and its hustling streets fade into nothingness.

Later, as the last whispers of sunlight surrender to night, we walk back to the Bellanova, our steps instinctively syncing up, our fingers intertwined. Anticipation hums between us, a live wire charged with every glance and accidental brush of skin. We reach the hotel, and it looms over us, a silent judge waiting for a decision.

My heart races, every beat screaming at me to be brave, to take what I want—to take her hand and not let go. But then fear slinks in, whispering doubts and old insecurities that never really left.

I stop, looking at her, wanting her more than I’ve ever wanted anything.

“Want to call it a night?” I ask, my voice strained with the effort of keeping it casual. “Go back to your room?”

“Sure,” she replies, her voice steady but her eyes searching mine for an answer I’m not sure I have.

We reach her door, and I can’t help but feel the night is ending too soon. The hallway is quiet, save for the soft hum of the AC. She turns to face me, a ghost of disappointment in her eyes.

“Thanks for tonight,” Aisling says, her voice lower than before, tinged with something that sounds like regret.

“Anytime,” I respond, my words a lame attempt to lift the mood.

I lean in, placing a kiss on her lips—a farewell, a promise, or maybe a plea. It’s gentle, lingering, filled with all the things I’m too afraid to say.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come inside?” Aisling asks, her gaze holding mine. There’s an invitation there, one that sends my heart into overdrive.

“I…uh, don’t want to bother the guys,” I stammer out. And call me a coward, but I really just don’t want to go in there and engage with all of them—because being with her means being with them, and there’s four alphas waiting to show me up.

They can give her things I never can.

I don’t know where I fit in all of that.

“Right,” she nods, understanding dawning on her face even as her shoulders drop just a fraction.

“Goodnight, Aisling,” I manage, my voice steady despite the storm raging in my chest.

“Night, Rook,” she whispers back, and there’s a warmth there that almost makes me turn back.

But I don’t.

I watch her slip inside her room, the click of the lock sounding like a verdict. As I walk away, my steps are heavier than they’ve ever been. The corridor seems to stretch on forever, my own personal purgatory lined with indifferent doors and flickering lights.

The moment I’m alone, the self-recriminations start. What kind of man walks away from that? I clench my fists, feeling the bite of my nails against my palms—a pathetic attempt to anchor myself to something other than this gnawing sense of inadequacy.

“Damn it, Rook,” I mutter under my breath, my words a hushed curse in the empty hall. “You’re never going to be good enough for her, are you?”

It’s not just about being a beta—it’s about being her beta, when she has a pack of powerful alphas. And right now, I feel nothing like the sort who can protect, provide, or even please.

She deserves someone who doesn’t hesitate, who isn’t afraid to step into the light with her.

As I round the corner, heading toward my own lonely room, I realize I’m walking away from more than just her door—I’m walking away from the possibility of us, all because I can’t shake the feeling that I’m just not enough.

“Get it together, man,” I scold myself, knowing full well that confidence isn’t something you can just summon. It’s earned. And tonight, I’m bankrupt.

But as I shove my hands into my pockets and trudge forward, there’s a spark of something stubborn buried beneath the layers of doubt—a defiant hope that maybe, just maybe, she sees something in me that I don’t.

And tomorrow, I swear to whatever fates are listening, I’ll try to see it too.

Chapter two

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