Page 33 of Redeeming His Omega Mate

I stopped in my tracks, memories of the first time he had asked me this very question flooding my mind. It was the first time we’d slept together. I had been in love, even if I was too scared to admit it. After all, I’d found my fated mate. Foolish as I’d been. I thought he felt the same way. Now, that memory has turned sour.

Slowly, I turned to face him, my emotions hardening into anger.

“You’re not even going to bother changing your tactics, huh?” My voice was sharp, laced with a simmering rage that threatened to explode. “Do you think I’m that stupid?”

Damian drew back, visibly startled. “What are you talking about, Tala?”

“You think I’m going to fall for the same bullshit that got me into your bed in the first place?” I spat.

“Tala—”

“Just stop, Damian!” My voice wavered, raw with frustration. “You got what you wanted from me years ago. Why can’t you just leave me the hell alone?”

“Tala, what the hell are you talking about?” he barked.

“I’m talking about how you pretended to love me,” I said, my breath shuddering as the words finally broke free. “How you lied just so you could get me into bed.”

The admission cut deeper than I wanted it to. I hated thinking about it, let alone saying it out loud because it made me feel used. And heartbreak was one thing, but being used? That left a wound time couldn’t touch. Being valued only for what someone could take from you was a pain that lingered long after love had died.

Damian staggered back as though my words had struck him physically. His expression twisted with pain. “Is this what you’ve thought all these years?” His voice was strained and wounded. “Tala, please tell me that’s not what you believed.”

“What else was I supposed to think, Damian?” I threw my hands in the air, frustration bubbling over. “We spent so many nights together, and then one night, when you decided you’d had enough of me, you rejected me. You invited me to that party just to humiliate me.”

“No, no, Tala,” he said, shaking his head as though trying to erase my words from existence. “That’s not what happened. I swear it.”

“Then why?” I snapped, the pain of years ago ripping open like an old wound that refused to heal. “Why did you reject me?”

Silence fell between us. His eyes were dark and turbulent, but he didn’t look away. For a long moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer.

“I didn’t want any of this,” he said quietly. “Believe me, Tala. I only ever wanted to protect you.”

“You’ve got a pretty sick definition of protection,” I scoffed. “I’m done with this conversation.”

I turned to leave, but Damian caught my arm and spun me back around.

“Let go of me,” I warned, trying to yank my arm free, but he didn’t budge.

“It was never about getting you to sleep with me,” he ground out, his jaws clenched. His eyes darkened with frustration. “Fuck, I hatethat you think that. I loved you, Tala. More than anything. Not a single day went by in the last seven years where I didn’t think about you.” He blew out a sharp breath, his expression softening. “You have to believe me.”

My erratic breathing began to slow. I wanted to believe him. But how could I when he’d fucked me, knocked me up, rejected me, and left me humiliated in the pack?

“How do you expect me to believe that?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

“Because I’ve been miserable since the day you left.”

Silence stretched between us as we stood there, staring at each other. His words settled over me, daring me to embrace and accept them. But the weight of the past clung to me, stubborn and unyielding, refusing to let go.

I opened my mouth to speak, but another voice beat me to it.

“What the hell are you doing with my fiancé?”

I jumped back, spinning towards the doorway where Serena stood, eyes wide with a mix of confusion and anger. And without a word, I dashed out of his chambers as fast as my legs could carry me.

Chapter 15

Tala

The morning of the outreach came, and my nerves were all over the place. I stood by the gate of the pack house, watching the guards load crates of supplies into the wagons. A cold breeze seeped in through my coat, but it wasn’t the morning air that made me shiver. It was my racing thoughts.

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