"I felt that too... and part of me thinks Lola isn't as weak as she portrays herself to

be."

"What if she's connected to what happened to you three years ago?" Raven whispers. "What if she wasn't acting on her own?"

I close my eyes. I can still see Lola's face when she looked at Alec. The manipulation. The entitlement. The hatred when she turned toward me.

It doesn't feel natural. It feels planted. Twisted in a way.

But I don't say any of that. Not yet. Because my heart is still bleeding from something else entirely.

My body stiffens before I even smell him. it's Alec.

His footsteps are slow as he stops in front of Raven's door, almost as if he's hesitant and unsure. As if he's afraid.

My chest squeezes painfully.

Raven flicks her gaze between us before standing. "I'll give you guys a moment."

She squeezes my shoulder before opening the door, giving Alec a look and then disappearing down the corridor.

And now it's just me and him.

Alec stops a few feet away, hands clenched at his sides, eyes raw with exhaustion and fear. He looks like he hasn't slept. Like he's drowning. Like he's one breath away from breaking.

"Sadie," he says quietly.

I don't look at him because If I do, I might just crumble, and I can't have that. Not in front of him.

He slowly steps closer, like he's approaching a fragile thing he doesn't know how to hold.

"Please look at me."

Something twists in my chest but I keep my gaze on the floor.

"Sadie... I'm so sorry." His voice cracks. "I didn't want her kiss. I didn't expect it. I was in shock. That the only reason she managed to even get close to me."

I clench my jaw so hard it aches and I speak. "I don't want to talk about this right now."

"But I need to explain. I need you to understand that I didn't want any of what happened yesterday with her."

I whisper. "Please stop."

His quiet and I can feel his eyes on me.

I stay quiet but finally lift my eyes to meet his.

His entire body stiffens, because whatever he sees in my expression guts him instantly.

His breath hitches. "You think I want her? Goddess, you really think I want her." "Yes," I say quietly. "She is the love of your life after all, the perfect mate." Alec's face shatters, and seeing that hurts me, but I force that feeling down.

He takes a step toward me, then stops himself. Like he wants to touch me but knows he doesn't have the right.

Knox whimpers inside him; I can feel it through the bond.

"I need you to know that I don't want her." Alec says, voice trembling. "You're the only one I want, Sadie. Only you."

"I wish I could believe that," I whisper before I can stop myself.

His eyes widen, and he shudders right

brefront of me. I watch him

break, his face falls, his eyes lose the light and his shoulder

sink.

"Please," he begs, and this is the first time in my life I've ever heard Alec's voice breaking.

Seeing him like this shatters me, but I can't give in, so I stand.

"I'm not ready to hear anything more

today," murmur. "I need my head clear heed my emotions ste

And right now, they're not. ".net>

swi

Alec swallows hard, nodding even though it clearly destroys him.

I step around him.

He doesn't grab me. Doesn't force me to stay. Doesn't beg. He just watches eyes hollow, shoulders slumped. A King brought to his knees by something as simple and devastating as love.

When I pass him, our shoulders brush.

And even that tiny touch sends a tremor through both of us.

"Sadie..." he breathes, calling my name, but I don't turn. I can't.

Then I walk away, my heart breaking and Alec's shattered breathing echoing behind me like a ghost I can't outrun.