Page 61 of My Fated Mate

Finally, unable to bear the silence any longer, I clear my throat. "Elowen, I…"

She sets her fork down, her gaze locking with mine. For a moment, I see emotion in her eyes, but I can’t identify it.

To my dismay, she releases a mirthless laugh.

"You what, Thorne?" she asks bitterly. "You want to apologize again? Tell me how sorry you are?"

Shame burns in my throat. "Yes. I messed up. I betrayed your trust, and I…"

Her laughter cuts me off. "And you thought a fancy dinner would fix everything?" she scoffs. "You thought that a plate of foodcould erase the pain? You have a very inflated view of your own power, Alpha."

The words slam into me, each one a shard of ice piercing my heart. The flicker of hope I'd clung to was extinguished, replaced by a suffocating despair.

"I… I don't…" What do I say? Everything I am trying is wrong. "I just want things to be like they were before. I want you back."

"Want me back? Do you even remember what 'before' looked like, Thorne? Before you took my heart and stomped on it?"

Tears well up in her eyes, but she blinks them back, her jaw clenching with suppressed emotion. "No," she continues, her voice trembling slightly. "You can't just rewind time and expect everything to be okay. The damage is done, and I… I don't think I can forgive you."

The admission hangs in the air. Forgiveness, the one thing I craved more than anything, is out of reach. The enormity of my mistake crashes upon me, leaving me breathless and reeling.

"But… but the Mendshore Bloom—Greta said it could help…" I realize how pathetic I sound.

"A magic flower? That's your solution? Forgiveness isn't about a quick fix, Thorne. It's about trust, about rebuilding what was broken. And right now," she pauses, "there's nothing left to rebuild."

Tears stream down her face now, unchecked and raw. Her pain mirrors my own, but she has strength. I can see that in her. She hurts, but she can move past me if she has to. I can’t move past her, though. I don’t want to.

As she pushes back her chair and turns to leave, my world crumbles. I reach out, a silent plea for her to stay.

"If I had the chance to do it all over again," she says hoarsely, “I wouldn't choose you as well."

It's a gut punch. A blow to the fragile hope I'd clung to. The belief that the Mendshore Bloom could somehow bridge the chasm I'd created shatters into a million pieces.

Despair threatens to consume me, but the primal instinct of the alpha wolf within sparks a flicker of defiance.

"Elowen," I begin, my voice hoarse, "look at me."

She hesitates, her gaze reluctantly meeting mine. The storm of emotions there tears at my soul.

"What do you want?" The question is raw.

A tear escapes the corner of her eye as she whispers. "I want to leave."

Chapter 18

ELOWEN

Tears sting my eyes, blurring the image of Thorne's face etched with heartbreak.

Even as I utter the words, a part of me screams in protest. Saying them feels like severing a fragile thread that still binds us, however tenuously.

But what choice do I have? This pack, this entire situation, feels like a gilded cage. The longer I stay, the deeper the resentment grows.

And the stupid affection.

Thorne stares at me, his expression a battlefield of emotions—pain, anger, and possibly acceptance.

Why doesn’t that make me happy? Why does nothing make me happy? Why is it that only the memories of kissing him make me happy? And at the same time, those memories hurt so much.

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