Page 55 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

“You are stressing about everything, aren’t you?” I’m pulled out of my thoughts by Deacon’s voice.

Leaning against the beam of the doorway to the kitchen, he looks especially handsome tonight in a dark shirt that looks like it’s painted on his muscles and faded blue jeans that hug his thick, muscular thighs.

“Deacon, I have something to tell you,” I start, more nervous than ever.

You are a father, Deacon. Those boys you tucked in bed are yours. Those boys you’ve been teaching to play baseball are yours.

“You want to leave,” Deacon spurts the words with acid, but his face is as calm as ever.

I was supposed to leave today, but I stayed. Like always.

“Do I get to convince you to stay, Winter?” Deacon continues, pulling away from the doorway and whisking towards me. ” Because I want you, Ash, and Adrian to stay with me forever, baby. Call me selfish, hell, I’m a fucking bastard for demanding this much or for telling you this right now, but I… I need you guys. These past few days have been the best for me, and I’d sacrifice anything to get you guys to stay. What can I do, Winter? What do I do to make you stay?”

“Deacon, that's the last thing…”

Cutting me off completely, eating the distance between us in three long strides, he corners me against the marble countertop behind me. His huge hand splays on my right cheek. ” I love you, baby. I love you for bringing those amazing little boys to life. I love you, and I’m fucking dying to show you just how much.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

DEACON

I’m grasping at straws here. I know I am.

I know she’s contemplating leaving me high and dry and never letting me see those boys again. I can’t fault her for that, but would I be delusional if I thought telling her I loved her would make her stay?

I love this woman more than I can put into words.

I’ve loved her for so long that when I decide to just up and say it, my heart feels like it’s been relieved of a fucking burden.

The only problem is?

The woman I just said that to a few minutes ago might not feel the same way I do.

Not in the way she looks at me, her emerald eyes wide in surprise, her plump lips parting with a gasp.

My thumb caresses her cheeks, and I take full advantage of that because this might be the last time I see her in my kitchen, in my pool, on my couch, in my living room, and all the places her scent has occupied for five days.

“You don’t have to say it back. This is not me pressuring you to say it back, baby. I want you to know how I feel. I want you to understand that I regret rejecting you every second of the day because you did not deserve that.”

I want to add, “I regret rejecting you and the boys, but since she’s still convinced, I believe I’m not her boys’ father, I keep that part out.

She’ll tell me the truth when she’s ready, and I’ll be there waiting for her when she does.

Leaning closer, possibly signing my own death sentence, I drop a subtle kiss near the corner of her lips. Her lips smell of raspberry, and I want to taste them, but I practice self-restraint.

“You deserve so much love, baby.”

She shivers from my touch, but she doesn’t push me away.

I drop another kiss on her cheek, breathing in her scent like it’s the oxygen I need to satiate my wolf's hunger and thirst.

“You single-handedly raised those boys all alone, and that deserves praise, baby. You are their rock. You are the reason why they turned out good.”

Another kiss to her forehead has her hand joining mine on the cheek.

I anticipate her next words, the way a man resigns to his own death. I brace myself for the bomb she’ll drop in the form of her words, knowing that it’ll directly hit my heart and leave me bruised.

“Deacon?”

---