Chapter 66

Marcellus frowned deeply; his eyes trained on the hard wood of the desk as he tried to piece together his thoughts.

It had been over a month now, nearly since he had met his mate, his little spitfire and during the entire time, he had been lying to her. From the very first moment that they had met, he had been lying to her and now stuck in a web so deeply spun, Marcellus had no one to blame but himself.

It had been his choice and his decision to hide the fact that they were mates, and it had been him that had actively sought her out even though he kept telling himself that they couldn’t be mated; that she couldn’t be his mate. He had judged her without knowing her and that, was both his first and his biggest mate. He may not have realised it, but he been sabotaging himself from the very beginning, before they even had the chance to start.

Despite trying to convince himself that he was over it, that he no longer cared that she was pregnant with someone else’s baby, that had just been Marcellus lying some more to himself. Ultimately, he couldn’t shake the feeling.

But right now, he needed to make a choice. He could either choose his mate and raise her child as if he or she was his own, or he could turn around and send her away, never to see each other ever again.

When the mere thought of never seeing her again struck fear in his heart and caused it to miss several beats, Marcellus knew that he had made his decision. While he now knew what he had to do, that didn’t mean it was going to be easy. Especially since he was currently tangled up in a web of lies.

She’s going to hate me. He whispered quietly, groaning as he bowed his head to bury his face in his hands; the gravity of his choices and actions now finally catching up to him. After everything that I’ve done, after keeping all of this a secret for so long, she’s going to hate me.

She’s your mate. She’s our mate. She may be angry at you and give you the cold shoulder, but she won’t be able to bring herself to hate you. His wolf murmured back in a reassuring tone, choosing this moment to be gentle and soft instead of growling at his human counterpart for being so stupid as he usually would have done. Don’t get me wrong, she’s going to be absolutely livid when you tell her the truth and she’s probably not going to want to ever see you again.

Well, that’s reassuring. Marcellus snorted; the sound quickly followed by a tormented groan. You’re really not helping here.

I’m not finished. His wolf chuckled lowly. Like I was saying before you rudely interrupted me. She’s probably not going to want to ever see you again, but that’s where you have to work hard and stay consistent to show her the real you, and not the douchebag that you’ve been embodying for the past couple of months.

It sounds so easy when you say it like that.

The Alpha wolf snorted. Trust me when I say this, earning back our mate’s forgiveness is going to be far from easy, especially since she’s a little spitfire and while the journey may be long and hard, it’s all going to be worth it in the end.

There’s absolutely no doubt about that. Marcellus hummed in agreeance. I’ve got my work cut out for me, don’t I?

You can say that again.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Marcellus announced as he stood up abruptly, completely uncaring of the fact that he was being rude and insensitive, especially since they had travelled such last minute just because he had asked them to with the promise that there was a chance that they could become Luna. “I’m sorry, but neither of you will become the Luna of the Lupum Griseo pack.”

“You can’t just change your mind like that!” Carmella declared as she rose to her feet, an astounded expression on her face as Valerie just stared at him with wide eyes, completely in disbelief that he had decided to go with neither of them.

“As I’m the Alpha, I believe I can.” Marcellus countered with a roll of his eyes, not at all appreciative of the tone used on him. While he understood that

“If you don’t choose a mate, you’re going to lose the pack!” Valerie insisted, turning her head to glance at Carmella, needing the support.

“Well, that sounds like a me problem, doesn’t it?” He chuckled and when they both opened their mouths to say something further, he held up his hands to indicate that he wasn’t looking to listen to any more excuses, having already made up his mind.

“Once again, I apologise but this pack already has a Luna.” Walking around the desk, Marcellus made his way past them and toward the office door, not even looking back as he left them behind where they were sat with equally bewildered looks on their faces. “Feel free to stick around for lunch but after that, Beta Dalton will sort out travel arrangements for the both of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some grovelling to do.”

Marcellus didn’t stick around to hear any more of their complaints or questions – even if valid or warranted in regard to the situation – and instead, he all but ran out of the pack house and toward the pack hospital where he knew she was and had actively been keeping tabs of her.

Just as he had expected, Anastasia was napping when he arrived, a serene and peaceful expression on her face as sighed and snuggled her face further into the pillow, almost as if the mere presence of him calmed her.

Marcellus held his breath as he took a step further into the room, his shoulders drooping and a sigh of relief escaping him as he watched his sleeping mate. Staring down at her, he couldn’t believe that he had been prejudiced against her from the beginning, that he had pushed her away without even giving her a chance but then toying him around as if she meant nothing to him.

He could hardly believe the way that he had lied to her as looking down at her now, he knew that he was wrong. He was wrong about so many things but right on top of the list was Anastasia Mulberry – just as she would be on the top of every list for him for the rest of their lives.

He had judged her from the get go without really knowing her, unable to look past her pregnant belly. He had thought of her to be undeserving of being his mate and the Luna of the Lupum Griseo pack but now, finally, he had had, some sense knocked into him.

It was not her that was undeserving, on the contrary rather, but it had been him that was undeserving of her all along and right now, all he could do was hope that he wasn’t too late.