Page 35 of Mated To The King's Gamma
I can’t.
I feel a tear slip down my cheek, the warmth contrasting with the cold numbness inside me.
Azalea has already suffered enough because of me. She always has. And now she is here, trying to save me again.
She shouldn’t have to.
No one should have to.
I can hear her breathing beside me, can feel the warmth of her body as she lay down next to me on the cold floor. I blink, my vision swimming as I stare into the distance.
Everything is slipping.
Everything is too much.
Then, her fingers brush my cheek.
Her touch is light. Careful. Like she is afraid I might shatter. Maybe I already have.
“I can still feel it,” I whisper.
Azalea tenses beside me. “Feel what, Abs?”
“The noose,” I murmur, my voice barely audible. “It’s still there. Tightly wound. I can’t breathe.”
Her hand moves, tracing the scar behind my ear—the one that matches hers. A reminder of the death we almost shared.
“I can feel it growing tighter, digging into my skin and burning through my flesh. I can feel how it slides over my skin, growing tighter and tighter. Feel my blood rushing in my ears. I don’t want to feel it anymore.”
I can’t keep feeling it anymore.
“What happened?” she whispers, her voice breaking.
I swallowed hard. “I can’t be what he needs me to be,” I admit.
Gannon.
I have tried.
I have really tried to be what he needs, but I’m not enough.
“He shouldn’t be punished because I am broken,” I choke out.
“You’re not broken, Abbie.”
“But I’m not whole either,” I say, my voice cracking.
He deserves better. Tyson deserves better.
Azalea is quiet for a long moment before she finally asks, “And what does Gannon need, Abbie?”
I frown. “A mate. Someone to love him who won’t hurt him like she did.”
Azalea hesitates. “Who hurt Gannon?”
“Sia,” I whisper. “She didn’t want him. And I can’t have him. It’s the same.”
But Azalea shakes her head. “Gannon wants you, Abbie. Tyson wants you. And me? I want you.”
