Page 7 of Betrayed Alpha Bride

“Yes, Iris said that to me as well,” Clara says, frowning. “But she also assured me the match would be favorable. She’s obviously made a huge mistake.”

“I don’t think it’s a mistake,” I counter, a hard edge creeping into my voice.

Clara’s beautiful eyes widen, absorbing the sunlight and shimmering with depths of gold. I’m enchanted when I look at her. There’s really no other word for it.

A strong breeze whips up behind me. I hear it caress the waters of the lake and rush across the grass as it rattles the trees and stirs around us. Clara’s long, dark brown hair gets caught in it, tossing around her pretty face until she pushes it back behind her ears.

Magic. She is pure magic.

“Galen, if you wanted to be with me, you would have made it clear long before now,” she says tartly.

I frown. “Excuse me?”

“You broke up with me, remember?”

I sigh. “Well, yes, but—”

“But what?” she asks, challenging me with her stare. “By all means, explain why you dumped me when I thought everything was going great.”

I can sense the frustration and bitterness in her. I know underneath it all is a deep wound—one that I made. It hasn’t healed, either. It’s been underneath her armor, bleeding this whole time.

“I had no choice,” I say, meeting her eyes. “I need you to understand that.”

“All I understand is that you rejected me,” she whispers. Her voice is so soft, there’s no anger in it now. Only pain.

No!

“Clara, you know that I was always meant to be alpha—”

“Yes. What does that have to do with it?” The challenge is back in her tone.

“The elders and my family believed that a match with you would weaken all of us. I don’t believe that, and I never did, but I was young and stupid then—”

“What do you mean?” she asks, her eyes wide with shock. “What do you mean, weaken all of us?”

I stare at her for a moment, hoping she’ll get it on her own so I don’t have to say it out loud. The confusion on her face only grows, and I sigh with resignation, flicking my eyes away before meeting her gaze again.

“You can’t shift,” I say clearly.

She flinches, then presses her lips together. I can see her fighting tears.

No, my love, no. I’ll never let anything hurt you ever again!

“Please don’t cry,” I say, reaching across the table. She stares at my hand as if it’s a trap set with a treat she can’t resist. She’s obviously drawn to me, but fighting it.

When she reaches back and I take her hand, the relief that floods through me is so powerful, I almost collapse. All she does is put her hand on the table, but that gesture speaks volumes to me.

She wants my comfort. She still craves my touch.

I cover her hand with mine, and the magic is back as if it never left. Like sunlight in my veins, pleasure races through me, warm and thrilling, echoing through my soul.

“Clara,” I whisper, squeezing her hand gently.

She keeps looking at me, her eyes wide and glittering with tears she can’t shed. Her flippant manner when she first saw me was all a shield—I see that now. Underneath it all, she’s still in love with me. She’s still that young, carefree girl I knew so many years ago.

The girl I broke.

“We can’t do this,” she says, shaking her head, but not taking her hand from mine. “You just admitted it. The pack will never allow it.”

---