Page 85 of The Gamma's Second Chance

She falters for the briefest moment, then gathers herself, doubling down on her anger. “You claim I’m your sun, yet you’re in here staring at the ring you bought for your ex-girlfriend after you ran off this afternoon because someone told you she found her second chance mate. Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

She fights against my hold, but I wrap my arm around her waist, keeping her in place as my fist tightens around the ring box in my hand.

The one she assumes is the ring I bought for Rachel.

I kick myself for the terrible timing of Harrison’s mindlink. I didn’t realize or think about how she might interpret my sudden departure after speaking with Rachel’s parents.

I can’t blame her for her misinterpretation. She has no context for what she walked in on or for what happened today. She’s assuming the worst of me, and why shouldn’t she? I’ve given her no obvious reason to trust me. I’ve been too wrapped up in my head with my fears of rejection and my self-doubt to open myself up to her fully, and in doing so, I fed into her own fears of rejection.

But no more. It ends now. Tonight.

“I don’t care about Rachel finding her mate,” I say, my fingers splaying across the small of her back.

“You ran off, and you were tense and pissed.”

“I was tense and worried,” I correct her. “Harrison mindlinked me, and I had to go speak with him. Rachel and her secondchance mate had nothing to do with my reaction. I promise. That was the furthest thing from my mind.”

It’s the complete truth. I’m happy for Rachel, and it doesn’t bother me that she found her mate. She deserves happiness.

But as soon as Harrison mindlinked me, all thoughts of Rachel disappeared, and the only thing that mattered was picking out the ring for Cassandra.

“Then why were you gone for so long, and why were you staring at her ring just now?” she insists, pushing against me with her palms on my chest, trying to put distance between us even though my hold on her is relentless.

“This ring?” I lift the box between us, and she frowns at it. I shake my head, and she frowns more. “It’s not the ring I bought for Rachel. I threw that ring in the dump weeks ago. The day after you arrived, actually. This…” I swallow and draw her in closer to my chest with my arm around her waist, snaking my hand to her hip. “This is the ring I bought for you.”

It takes a moment for my words to register in her brain. But when they do, her body relaxes, and her fighting and fidgeting stop.

Her eyes lift to mine, wide and innocent, and when she speaks, her voice is low and trembling. “For me?” I nod and pop the box open with my thumb, drawing her focus to it. She gasps, and the pain recedes from her eyes. The tears of frustration, bitterness, and sorrow morph into tears of astonishment and wonder. “It’s a daisy,” she whispers, tracing the petals crafted from diamonds. “When did you get this?” she asks, meeting my eyes again.

“Today. It’s why I left and why I was gone for so long. Harrison took me into town to pick it out. I couldn’t tell you because—”

“You wanted it to be a surprise,” she says, finishing my sentence for me.

My hand rubs her back, up and down her spine, now that I know she won’t bolt. But my tight hold on her remains. I can’t let her go. Not now.

“None of that excuses me leaving you alone for so long. I fucked up and I’m sorry.” She takes the box into her hands, examining the ring further, and I tuck her hair behind her ear. “I had this whole plan. I was going to ask you to be my chosen mate at the ball. But when I got home, I started thinking—overthinking, actually—and then you showed up and now…”

“I ruined everything?” she says, her eyes flicking up to mine, a sheepish blush creeping across her cheeks.

I shake my head and cup the back of her neck, my thumb stroking her jaw. “No, Daisy. You’ve ruined nothing.”

She straightens herself to her full height, confidence returning to her aura and certainty blazing in her eyes. “Then ask me.”

Just like that, all my doubts, questions, and insecurities return in full force.

What if she wants to be a true oracle more than she wants to be with me?

“Ask me,”she says. She wouldn’t say that to me if her answer will be no, if she isn’t willing to sacrifice that future to be my mate.

But what if it’s a trap?

I doubt Cassandra is that heartless, but then again, I never thought my fated mate would be someone who’d reject me right as I orgasmed. It took longer than I care to admit to not associate pain and rejection with the high that happens right before a release, and Kimberly showed little to no remorse for traumatizing me the way she did.

No. Cassandra isn’t Kimberly. Cassandra may push my buttons to get a rise out of me, but she is kind and empathetic. She is playful and vivacious. There isn’t a cruel bone in her body.

One question remains, though. A big question. The one that has my stomach twisting, my heart pounding, my palms sweating, and my tongue swelling like it did when I spoke to her mother on the phone last night.

“Why are you hesitating?” she asks, her brow furrowing and the ring shaking in her trembling hands.

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