Chapter 118

Anastasia couldn’t help but snort and roll her eyes at his words, not bothering to hold back the evident look of annoyance on her face after everything that he had put her through.

“It was only after you had given birth that I found out you were only a surrogate and the baby wasn’t actually yours, but things had already gone on for so long then that by the time I had finally forced myself into telling you, you had already managed to figure it out. Things just started getting worse after that. You wouldn’t speak to me and every time I got close to you, I just kept fucking it up. I’m so sorry, Anastasia. I know my actions are inexcusable and I don’t expect you to forgive me after everything that I’ve put you through, but I need you to know that I’m sorry.” Despite the fact that his voice was wobbling with emotions and his eyes were now glassy, his lashes suddenly heavier, Marcellus forced himself to go on as this was just the very least of what she deserved.

“You also need to know that not for one second did I ever think that you were not good enough for me or not worthy. That couldn’t be farther from the truth and I will spend forever making it up to you for making you feel that way, regardless of whether you choose to reject me or not today.”

“And all of this could have been solved if you just came to speak to me.” Anastasia frowned deeply with a firm look on her face as she blinked back at him with an unimpressed look on her face.

“I know.” Marcellus sighed and as he turned his head away from her in shame, unable to face her anymore after everything that he had done and the despicable way that he had treated her. “I know I’ve fucked up beyond repair and that I don’t deserve you as a mate, so I completely understand that you’d want to reject me.” His lips turned down at the corners in the biggest, saddest frown that she had ever seen but instead of interrupting, she allowed him to continue as she sensed that her mate had a few things left to say.

“I just want you to know, Anastasia, that if you decide to give me this one chance, you won’t regret it. I won’t let you regret it. Ever.” Marcellus spoke aloud, his voice strong and firm with determination like the true Alpha that he was. “But I also know that I’ve done so many unforgiveable things and that I can’t expect your forgiveness, not after everything that I put you through.”

Anastasia allowed his words to settle in the air between them for a moment before she spoke up.

“You want to know another thing that you’ve done wrong?”

He nodded with a distant, sad look in his eyes despite trying to hide it from her. If the off chance that she decided to give him one more chance and stay, he wanted to stay because she wanted to and not because he had guilt-tripped her into it.

Marcellus was a proud wolf but more than that, he was a sorry mate.

“You put words in my mouth.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not going to lie to you and say that I hadn’t considering rejecting you after everything, but this past day, everything has changed.”

“How so?” Marcellus dared to ask as he held his breath; fearful of her response as it could either make or break him.

“Yes, you’ve fucked up. Really bad, but I have to admit that I’ve played a small part in this whole thing too by refusing to hear you out. Mostly because I was hurt as it seemed like you didn’t want me and thought me to be unworthy of being your mate.”

“I do want you. I’ll always want you and I never thought of it like that. More than anything, I was hurt and used that to make very stupid decisions.”

“I know that now.” She sighed and nodded, offering him a small smile in hopes that it would take him out of his misery. “I also know that going forward, we need to learn to communicate with each other better because this can’t happen again.”

“What are you saying? Going forward?” He asked, unable to hold back the hopeful tone.

“I want us to work.” She finally admitted aloud, suddenly feeling so much lighter now that it was out in the open.

“I want us to work, too.”

“But?” Anastasia questioned, very easily able to pick up on the hesitant look on his face.

“How can you forgive me?” Marcellus asked even though he knew it was equivalent to kicking himself in the balls but this moment wasn’t about him but rather, it was about his mate, even if it meant sacrificing his own happiness for hers.

At the end of the day, it was always her happiness that would matter the most to him.

“When I was there, alone and in the dark for so long, all I could think about was the fact that the last time I saw you, we had this huge argument and I threw you out of my house even though you deserved it. I kept regretting the fact that we never had the chance to live to our full potential but most of all, I hated that I was not on good terms with you.” Anastasia blinked back the tears as her bottom lip wobbled slightly more so at the feeling rather than the memory. “But most of all, I hated that we were angry at each other and that our egos were getting in the way of us simply just talking to each other and fixing things. I vowed to myself that if I manage to make it out of there, I’m going to hear you out and try and make this work because it’s the least that we owe to ourselves.”

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered again but this time, he dared to stand up and walk around the desk, slowly closing the distance between them. “I’m so sorry, my little spitfire.”

“I’m sorry, too.” She murmured quietly as she met him halfway, swallowing her pride as reached out for his hand and entwined their fingers together.

“You have nothing to apologise for. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Maybe not, but we’re both in this together.”

“Till the very end.” Marcellus promised as he raised her hand and pressed his lips to the back of it in a lingering kiss, his eyes locked on hers.

“Till the very end.” She couldn’t help but repeat in a breathy voice.

Now that they had cleared the air and spoken through all of their problems, Anastasia suddenly found it difficult to breathe as she stared at her mate, unable to bring herself to look away even though that was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

With nothing holding them back from being together, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip and as he took a step toward her, a dark, promising look in his eyes, a breathy, hopeful sigh escaped her.