---- Chapter 7 Isat there, frozen. Ihad already sensed his scent. I knew he would come. "Lyra..." His voice was hoarse, and he'd never been so humbled. "Is there really... no second chance for me?" "Tt was all my fault before. I ignored everything you did for us. I'll change, I swear! Believe me!" Looking at him now, he was a stranger. Acompletely different person from the proud, distant Alpha I remembered. He waited through my silence, then sighed heavily. He yanked at his tie in frustration. His once perfectly styled hair was now a mess on his forehead, making him look utterly defeated. When I stood up to leave, he practically lunged, his wolf instincts taking over. ---- He grabbed my wrist in a panic. His strength was shocking. "Don't go! Please... I'm not finished! You can't leave!" He was rambling, his eyes filled with a desperate panic. "I... I actually... I've been in love with you for years! I was just too stupid, too cowardly to admit it, to face it..." "Since you left, that house... it's empty. Like a tomb! Every day I go back, my heart feels empty too... It's all my fault! I failed you! Just give me one more chance, okay? One last chance!" It was so ridiculous. In ten years, he had never once said he loved me. Now, here he was, saying he loved me. It was an absurd joke. "Was that 'love,' Eric, when you kept that wolf-fang pendant from Aurora locked away like a holy relic in your office safe for ten years?" "Was that 'love,' when you held me close during ---- countless heat cycles, only to whisper Aurora's name over and over again?" "Was that 'love,' when you spent our tenth mating anniversary with Aurora?" Eric froze completely. Every one of my questions was a sharp slap across his face. His lips moved, but it took him a moment to find his voice. "Aurora... I swear, we haven't been in contact for a long time!" His breathing grew ragged, his golden eyes flickering with unease. "The last time we met, it was just... I just wanted to see if she was doing okay..." "T just... [just wanted to give my past a perfect ending "A perfect ending?" ---- I let out a cold laugh, a sound filled with ice. "And did you ever think about me? I waited for ten years, Eric. You turned my entire mating into a joke." "Your regret, your love... it's all too little, too late. And frankly, it's cheap. It just makes me sick." I turned and walked away. He stood there, frozen in place like a clumsy clown whose every pathetic disguise had been ripped away, his face ashen and defeated. The new product line was a massive hit, and I was so busy I was spinning like a top. My wolf was also exhausted from the overwork. Finally, my vision went black, and I collapsed in the middle of the conference hall. "You're awake?" As I blearily opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the ever-present ghost that was Eric, his face haggard from lack of sleep.