Chapter 236

Alaric’s POV

I had a few ideas about Noel’s other half. It had to be something agile like a big cat or perhaps a fox, yet it also had to be something very menacing. A big cat could be menacing, but wolves tended not to fear cats. Perhaps a large brown bear? Or some other large predator?

But that wouldn’t fit either, would it? A large predator wouldn’t be able to slip through the shadows unseen.

Perhaps he wasn’t a shifter at all, in that case. There were whispers of other kind of beings around the continent. Like those that drank blood…

“I guess I’m just curious,” Cara said. “I wished he would feel comfortable to share that part of himself with me, although I guess I must learn to accept that he might not want to, especially after I rejected him.”

She said the words with such sadness, that it almost seemed like regret, and immediately caught my attention.

I didn’t want to drag out the issue. Cara had clearly made her choice between Noel and me, choosing me time and again. She even shared with me that Noel rejected his mate bond to her to give her freedom and help stir her wolf.

“I didn’t feel anything,” she had told me back then. “It wasn’t anything like when our bond was broken.”

Still, seeing how fond she was of the man, a hint of ugly jealous built up inside of me.

The second chance mating bond must have been easier for her to break as she didn’t have her wolf to feel the bond on her end at all. Yet, now that things had progressed and her wolf was growing stronger, was it possible that she could feel the draw toward Noel still?

He had broken the bond on his end, but she never had the chance.

It made me nervous, not knowing whether I had reason to be jealous or not. As if she could tell, Cara glanced at me.

“Alaric?”

“Forgive me,” I said. “I have a question, and it’s going to sound ungrateful to Noel, who has done so much for us both these past few days.”

“Just ask it,” she said. “Then I can give you a straight answer that will hopefully make you feel better.”

I fell quiet a moment, thinking about what I wanted to say. Then, after carefully looking around to ensure we were alone here in the lobby, I asked her, “Do you have feelings for Noel? Now that Lucy is returning, I imagine things might be… complicated.”

I thought Cara might just brush off the question, but instead she took it seriously and considered it.

While I was glad she was taking it seriously, I felt as if I was standing on a bed of pins and needles waiting for her answer.

She was my mate, and would be for the rest of my life. If her heart was split, I would have to live with that, even if I didn’t like it. Even if, in a way, it hurt me to know I wasn’t alone in her heart.

I had no one to blame but myself for pushing her away to begin with, for allowing her the chance to find a second chance bond with someone else.

I could regret the past, but I couldn’t blame her for the mistakes I made, or the consequences of those mistakes that lead us here to this moment.

After a moment more, she spoke, “I assume that you are talking about romantic feelings and not those of friendship.”

“Correct,” I said, and braced myself.

“Then no,” she said. “I do not have any romantic feelings for Noel. He is a good friend and always will be, regardless of what his mysterious half might be. But no, and it wasn’t for a lack of trying.”

I had just started to feel relief, but my good feelings immediately vanished as I sucked in a sharp breath at her words.

“Before we had fully reconnected,” she said, “I had wanted to like him in that way. I tried to leave myself open to the bond.” She lowered her head with some shame. “I fear I only lead him on. In the end, I didn’t feel anything. I couldn’t.” Looking up again, her eyes met mine. “My heart has only ever truly been yours, Alaric.”

The fears I had held just now, and for the past several months… The worries over Noel and the mating bond he thought he shared with Cara… My jealousy and worry that I might have to share her heart…

All of it vanished in the span of a few short words.

My heart has only ever truly been yours.

Such sweeter words had never been spoken before. My own heart soared in pleasure, comforted at last, no longer harboring those dark fears and trepidations that she might love another and leave us for him.

Noel was a good man and a good ally. And that was much easier to accept now that he was no longer a love rival.

Looking at Cara, I told her, from the depths of my own heart, “I love you.”

She smiled in return. “I love you too.”

At once, I leaned in and kissed her and she eagerly returned it.

I had been a fool to worry about anyone else. Kissing Cara like this now, I could feel her love for me thrum so obviously in our touches. It was as if our hearts were connecting in some way other than the mating bond. Or not just through the mating bond itself.

This thing we shared transcended all that.

She wasn’t just my mate, my partner, the mother of my children.

She was my everything.

And I was prepared to do whatever it took to make sure I kept her safe and happy.

Because of the revelations, the brunch was canceled early, and the contests were pushed back another day for deliberations.

The matter of Lilia was in hot contention, as some people believed she should be expelled from the games for her connection to Melinda and the elders, who had already been condemned in the court of public opinion. Others weren’t quite as convinced, and thought as Lilia didn’t directly partake in their crimes, she must not have known about it.

I was hoping that Lilia would be banned from the games, but, remembering how fiercely the head commissioner had fought against Eamon and me when we had our meeting, I understood this likely wouldn’t go in our favor.

I tried to explain that to Cara, so she could temper her expectations.

Then, that night, we saw on the news that the commission had made their decision.

The head commissioner stood in front of several reporters’ microphones right in the lobby of the hotel downtown.

“The commission has discussed the matter of Lilia’s involvement in the crimes of her patrons, and we have decided that this contender should not be held accountable. No one shall be held guilty of association alone. Lilia has been a good contender in the competition until now and shall continue to be so.”

Standing beside me, Cara frowned. “She keeps getting away with it.”