Page 13 of My Possessive Alpha

I couldn't ignore the flare of curiosity in my chest as I looked at him. "'we'...but why? Why do you want to help me at all, Sebastian?"

Keeping his gaze locked on me, the edges of his disappointment softened somewhat, and with his arms crossed, he rested his chin against his fist. "I don't want anything to happen to you. Whether it's for your sake or my selfish need to ensure you're not forced into anything you don't want, I won't let that happen."

His words, while gentle and reaffirming, hit me like a punch. It was strange to hear that kind of declaration from him, given how we were never exactly anything before, yet I found myself opening up by a fraction because of it.

Regardless of how it affected me, I retained my resistance enough to remind myself I couldn't simply give in just because he said the right things to me. I had to stand my ground until I could determine who was telling the truth.

Tired of the mental gymnastics and the conversation, I gave him a curt nod before turning away and disappearing into another room.

All the while, I struggled to internalize what was going on and the impossible position I found myself in.

I wanted to believe my parents wouldn't lie to me, that they had my best interest in mind, and that they wanted to protect me by informing me of Sebastian's plans.

Yet, I couldn't ignore Sebastian's sincerity when he tried to defend himself. Believing he could be so cold and heartless as to kill an alpha and his luna for the status was impossible to swallow, too.

Either way, someone was misleading me, and I hated being stuck in the middle of it all.

Chapter 8 - Sebastian

As difficult as it was to leave Lydia alone after our conversation seemed far from over, I knew I had no other choice. I was determined to honor her request, regardless of the many questions I still had for her.

She disappeared into the bedroom, and as much as I wanted to chase after her to defend myself more, I knew I couldn’t push. I had to give her time to decompress and understand the less-than-ideal situation she found herself in.

It seemed I, too, needed that time as I pushed out the back door of the cabin and found myself taking in deep breaths of fresh air while I tried not to let those lies get to me.

I couldn’t believe what Lydia had told me. That her parents twisted some false narrative about me and preached it to her like it was gospel. Because of it, she had some warped perception of me that was damning enough to fracture her trust in me.

I hated how it made me seem—how those lies made me out to be someone so unlike my true character.

Despite being a shifter and an alpha, I always did my best to maintain my integrity. I never wanted anyone to be able to say that I was a terrible alpha or that I didn’t keep the best interest of my pack in mind.

As I was a leader, I couldn’t stand the thought of taking advantage of my power and influence.

After hearing and witnessing some of the poor leadership my friends endured, I always knew I could never let myself cause the same pain for those who chose to follow me.

Above all else, I hated what those lies had done to Lydia. She was stuck between believing me or her parents—the verypeople who brought her into that pack in the first place, despite coming from a perfectly fine one.

At first, I struggled to understand why her parents would lie about me and my parents in the first place, but as I looked out into the woods around me, contemplating everything I knew about the situation, it eventually became perfectly clear.

For whatever reason, her parents wanted her to leave the pack to join Jack’s, but my parents tried their hardest to dissuade them after they heard some unsavory things about him. Because of this, they likely needed to paint my family in a bad light to indoctrinate Lydia as they had been.

Even if she couldn’t see it yet, that manipulation was incredibly effective, and as much as I didn’t want to admit it, they had been rather successful.

From what I could tell, they tried to use Lydia to get into Jack’s good graces. By being the parents of his Luna, they’d find themselves in a pretty comfortable position. Yet, I could only imagine Jack hoping to take advantage of their blind allegiance and their daughter.

Just like those shifters at the bar, she was likely nothing more than fresh meat to Jack. Even with what little knowledge I had about him, the characterization didn’t seem so farfetched. He was an older man with a nasty habit of preying on young women, and that was all I needed to know.

My hands balled into fists at my sides as that notion crossed my mind. It took everything in my power not to let that anger get the better of me. I hated the idea of anyone taking advantage of Lydia—enough to make my blood boil and make me wish I could have the chance to put Jack in his place.

But before even considering pursuing that idea, I knew I had to make amends with Lydia first. I needed to convince her I wasn’t the brutal monster her parents painted me out to be.

I didn’t kill anyone for my status, which would never change.

The past we shared, regardless of the outcome, was the driving force behind my desire to fix things and my new attraction to her. Despite her old, awkward self, there was something magnetic about her now. I was drawn to her, and the thought of knowing she might find herself in a precarious situation because of her alpha and parents didn’t sit right with me.

Regardless of those new feelings sprouting within me, I wanted to prove to Lydia that I was still the man she used to know, even if that time felt increasingly more distant.

I needed to correct that narrative, regardless of what it might take. She deserved to know the truth and to know that I was on her side.

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