Page 50 of The Alpha's Pretend Mate

"I didn't use you!" Cassius growled, his careful composure cracking. "Dammit, Alysa, I was trying to protect you! Everything I do… it’s to protect this Pack, my family. And now you…"

She blinked, thrown off balance by his words. "Protect me? From what?"

Cassius ran a hand over his face, suddenly looking exhausted. "From me. From this… mess I've created. You deserve better than a broken man with more baggage than he knows what to do with."

“Who says you’re broken?” Alysa's anger deflated, replaced by a deep ache in her chest. "And shouldn't that be my choice to make?"

"I'm your boss," Cassius said, his voice low and pained. "I took advantage of you. I let my desires override my better judgment, and—”

"Stop," Alysa cut him off, moving closer until she was standing right in front of him. "You didn't take advantage of anything. I wanted you, Cassius. I've wanted you for so long."

His eyes searched her face, a war of emotions playing out in their depths. "Alysa…"

"No, let me finish," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "I'm not some fragile flower you need to protect. I'm a grown woman who knows her own mind. And my mind, my heart… they want you."

Cassius closed his eyes, pain etched across his features. "You don't know what you're asking for. I'm not… I can't be what you need. What you deserve."

The moments stretched between them, heavy with expectation. She refused to back down, eyes locked onto his.

“Then why did you sleep with me?” The question hung in the air, raw and accusing. “Did you think I was just going to sit here and wait for you to decide what you wanted?”

Cassius ran a hand through his hair, a gesture of frustration she’d come to recognize. “You don’t understand the position I’m in. The expectations—”

“Expectations? What about my feelings? What about Aurora? Did you think we could have a one-night stand and go back to how we were?”

A painful silence enveloped them. Alysa's chest tightened, her heart pounding against her ribs, feeling as if the walls were closing in. Cassius opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He seemed trapped, lost in a whirlwind of thoughts.

“I’m trying to protect you!” he finally said. “From what this could become, from me.”

"Why don't you let me decide if I need protecting?" Alysa reached out, her hand hovering just shy of touching his cheek. "Cassius, please. Don't push me away."

For a moment, she thought she'd gotten through to him. His eyes softened, and he leaned ever so slightly into her touch. But then, like a shutter coming down, his expression closed off again.

"I'm sorry, Alysa," he said, his voice rough. "But this… us… it can't happen. It was a mistake."

The words hit her like a physical blow. Alysa stumbled back, her vision blurring with tears. "A mistake," she repeated, her voice hollow. "I see."

"Alysa, wait—” Cassius reached for her, but she jerked away.

"No, I think you've made yourself perfectly clear," she said, fighting to keep her voice steady. "Don't worry, Alpha. It won't happen again."

She turned and fled the room, not trusting herself to look back. If she had, she might have seen the anguish etched across Cassius's face, the way his hands clenched at his sides as if physically restraining himself from going after her.

Alysa made it back to the guest room before the first sob tore from her throat. She collapsed onto the bed, burying herface in the pillow to muffle her cries. The pain in her chest was almost unbearable, a gaping wound where her heart used to be.

How could I have been so stupid?

As the tears subsided, leaving her feeling hollow and wrung out, Alysa made a decision. She couldn't stay here, not after this. In the morning, she'd call Aleksander. It was time to go home.

With that thought, she curled into herself, letting exhaustion pull her under. Her last conscious thought was of Cassius's face and the look in his eyes just before he'd pushed her away.

A mistake. That's all I ever was to him.

Chapter 13 - Cassius

The first rays of dawn crept through the curtains, casting long shadows across Cassius's bedroom. He hadn't slept a wink, the events of the previous night replaying in his mind like a torturous film reel.

Alysa's tear-stained face, the hurt in her honey-brown eyes, the tremor in her voice as she'd called their night together a mistake—it all haunted him. The silence of the room felt oppressive, as if the air itself was holding its breath.

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