Page 83 of Toxic

I couldn’t just leave it like that, so I headed for the door, determined to tell Soren the truth. It was now or never.

I saw him running down the stairs leading out of the building, a bit Cinderella-style, so I picked up my pace and caught up with him on the lawn in front of the campus, where he was about to cut across.

"Soren!"

My shout made him stop.

He slowly turned to face me, looking pale. The wind tugged at his long black mohawk, and his silver earrings glinted in the light from the campus streetlights.

He said slowly, "You shouldn’t have kissed me, Sky. We’re not boyfriends, and I’m saving this for a person who’d be with me like that."

A wave of fear washed over me, his tone making it clear where he stood. So this was it?

"Soren, the thing is… I want you to be my boyfriend," I blurted out. "I’ve been wanting to tell you that for a while."

A heavy silence fell. I could almost see the emotions conflicting on his face, but there was more. On some level, I could sense my own tension reflecting in his. My words brought him some strange pleasure, but at the same time, they sparked even more anger… because I’d gone against what he’d always told me.

"Skye, I’ve told you so many times how I feel about this. I’m not getting involved with alphas. It never leads to anything but a broken heart. No exceptions."

I couldn’t hold it in anymore. "Yeah, you’ve told me, but my head says one thing and my heart says another… and my heart wants more."

Because he stayed quiet, I took a deep breath. "Soren, I think I fell in love with you."

Soren squeezed his eyes shut, and I saw a slight shiver run through him.

Then he snapped, "That's the dumbest thing you could ever say. Don't you know? We, betas, are recreational use only!"

That wasn’t the reaction I was hoping for, and it crushed me even more.

"That's bull. All I want is for you to just give me a chance."

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"What chance, Sky? We’d start dating, and then a year, maybe two, you’d catch a whiff of your High Mate’s scent. What happens to me then? I’ll fall apart, Sky! It’s happened before, and I’m not going through that again. I have to protect myself, and this is how I do it. I’m sorry, but I can’t be your boyfriend."

I stared at him for a long moment, and he looked back at me with that typical sour look on his face, but this time it was filled with something else—pain, almost tragic.

"I’ll take suppressants, Soren. I won’t even be able to smell them."

But he only frowned again. "Do you really think suppressants guarantee you won’t recognize your perfect mate? There’s still touch, intuition… And what kind of future could you even have with a beta, anyway?" His lips twisted into a painful grimace. "Have you ever thought about that? I can’t have kids. Don’t shut yourself off from the possibility of finding someone you could start a family with. And besides, what am I? Just a campus whore."

I clenched my eyes shut. "Don’t say that! To me, you’re so much more, and I don’t care about all that other stuff. I justknow I want you, only you. I can’t stop thinking about you, Soren," I whispered, the words spilling out of me. "You’re in me, everywhere, like you’re in every cell of my body. You’re my breath…" I reached out and brushed his pale cheek.

But he stepped back, tightening his lips.

"Skye, stop! Stop, or I’m gonna have to say or do something that’ll hurt you, and I don’t want that. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and you seem like a great guy, but I can’t be with you. Graduation is in two days. After that, we’ll never see each other again… Please, accept that."

A wave of pain surged through me, making me tremble at the thought of losing him…

"Soren, I can’t imagine never seeing you again. I can’t wrap my head around it. You’re my whole world—"

"Stop!" he yelled, his face twisting with anger. But it wasn’t just anger—I could almost feel the devastation radiating from him like a physical force.

"Stop, Skye. Leave me alone. Accept that it’s over! I’m begging you, let it go."

"No, I can’t accept that. I don’t want to lose you. I won’t. I don’t agree!"

"I’m just a whore, Skye, do you get that?"

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