Chapter 191 You Lost Me

Eira held his gaze, her voice calm and final.

"I’d rather die than ever bond with you again."

The words hit Alpha Sebastian like a punch to the chest.

"Eira... why?"

She almost laughed.

"You cheated on me, and you’re still asking why? Are you hearing yourself?"

"Just forgive me. Give me one more chance. I swear I’ll never—"

"There won’t be a next time."

She signaled for the guards to release him. With a soft click of her tongue, the two German shepherds trotted to her side and crouched at her heels, hackles raised.

Mrs. Jones stepped behind Eira, still wearing her apron and gripping a spatula like a weapon. The guards flanked them, watching Alpha Sebastian closely.

Alpha Sebastian rubbed at his bleeding calf.

"You keep acting like this was one mistake," Eira said. "One apology, one dramatic promise, and everything goes back to normal."

"I know I hurt you."

"No. You know you’re losing me. That’s not the same thing."

His face tightened.

"I made mistakes, Eira. But I never stopped caring about you."

"You cared when it was convenient."

"That isn’t fair."

"Fair?" Eira’s eyebrows lifted. "Fair would have been telling me the truth before you brought Serena back into our home. Fair would have been defending me when your family treated me like hired help. Fair would have been giving me the loyalty you gave her."

Alpha Sebastian shook his head.

"I was confused. I thought I could fix everything."

"You thought you could keep both of us."

His mouth opened, but no answer came.

Eira gave him a cold smile.

"Don’t look surprised. That’s exactly what you did."

"I can make it right."

"No, you can’t."

"I’ll cut Serena off. I’ll make my family apologize. I’ll give you whatever you want."

"I don’t want anything from you."

"Everyone wants something."

"I don’t."

His expression cracked.

Desperate, he reached for the only language he understood.

"I can give you your own company. A house. A new car. You’ll never have to work for anyone again."

Eira stared at him.

"There it is."

"What?"

"You still think this is a negotiation."

His face went pale.

"I’m trying to show you that you matter to me."

"No. You’re showing me what you think I’m worth. Money, a title, a house, and a few shares if you’re feeling generous."

"That’s not what I mean."

"It’s all you know how to offer."

His hands began to shake.

"I don’t care about Dr. Shaw’s patent anymore," he said. "It’s gone. Fine. I don’t care about the company or the Council. I only care about you."

"You always say that after you lose something."

His face twisted.

"Did you forget that I stood beside you at your mentor’s funeral? I drove you back to the Omega home. I stayed with you through every rejection letter after graduation."

He was reaching for the woman she had been.

The woman who had loved him.

Eira let out a short, bitter laugh.

"So that’s your whole case? A funeral, a ride home, and a few rejection letters?"

Alpha Sebastian fell silent.

"You showed up when I was at my lowest, and I mistook that for love. I was drowning, and you were the first hand I could reach."

Her voice stayed steady.

"So I held on. I gave you everything. I thought I was finally getting a real family and a real home."

Alpha Sebastian’s eyes reddened.

"I loved you."

"You loved what I did for you."

"That’s not true."

"I cooked your meals while you funded Serena’s career. I handled your family’s errands while you flew across the country for her birthday."

"I didn’t know how much I was hurting you."

"You knew enough to hide it."

That stopped him.

Eira continued.

"We were newly bonded, and you were sending Serena love letters. You bought her an expensive designer bag, then handed me the cheap freebie that came with it."

Alpha Sebastian flinched.

"You wanted her to be the glamorous career woman. You wanted me to quit my job, stay home, and raise your pups."

His lips parted.

"You bought her diamonds. You signed me up for a fertility class."

"I thought you wanted a family."

"I wanted a real one. A home where people actually cared about each other."

Eira’s voice stayed calm, but her eyes were ice-cold.

"I always wanted a pup. One healthy pup, raised in a loving home. You shut that conversation down every year. Then, out of nowhere, you decided you wanted an heir and acted like giving me one was some generous offer."

She gave a short, humorless laugh."That was when I knew I was done."

Alpha Sebastian’s face went pale.

"I was going to sit down with you and end things like adults. I was going to let you go to Serena. But you wouldn’t sign. Everyone in the Pack told you to finalize the dissolution, and you refused every time."

Her gaze hardened.

"You weren’t protecting our bond. You were keeping me trapped in a relationship that had already died."

"No," he rasped. "The gifts I gave Serena were compensation. I knew I could never bond with her. I never planned to dissolve ours. I couldn’t stand losing you, Eira."

Eira stared at him.

"You couldn’t stand losing control of me."

Alpha Sebastian flinched.

"Was that what our bond was to you? Something you could keep locked away while you pursued someone else?"

She shook her head.

"You had the title. The money. The house. The final say in everything. I had to keep shrinking myself just to fit into the life you wanted."

Her voice remained steady.

"That wasn’t a partnership, Sebastian. It was a power imbalance with a mate bond attached."

"I’ll change," Alpha Sebastian said. "I swear I will."

Eira did not even blink.

Mrs. Jones had been wiping her eyes during the argument. Now she stepped forward, angry enough to forget she was still holding a spatula.

"Alpha Sebastian, did you ever bother to notice how exhausted she was?" she demanded. "She was skipping meals, working herself into the ground, and trying to manage a household that treated her like staff. You called that love?"

Her voice rose.

"She has a dishwasher now. She has help. She has people who actually notice when she hasn’t eaten."

Eira reached back and gently caught Mrs. Jones by the arm.

"Mrs. Jones, please stay behind the dogs. He’s bleeding, and we don’t know whether he’s current on his rabies shot."

Alpha Sebastian’s expression fell.

For one brief second, he had thought Eira was worried about him.

She was worried about Mrs. Jones.

"Don’t come back here," Eira said. "And stop making this worse for yourself."

Alpha Sebastian stared at her.

"If you truly believe you were wrong, write it down. A full confession. Put in writing that you betrayed our bond for Serena."

Eira never expected him to do it.

"I’ll write it," Alpha Sebastian said immediately.

Her eyes lifted, surprised despite herself.

"I’ll write everything. And after that..." His voice shook. "Will you take me back?"

Eira’s expression went completely flat.

"So that’s the deal?"

"No. There’s no deal."

"Eira—"

"You write it because you owe me the truth. Not because you think it buys you another chance."

His face crumpled.

"Please. Is there really nothing left? Not even a little of what you felt for me?"

Mrs. Jones gave an offended scoff.

"The nerve of this man. He wants a second chance after spending years acting like she was disposable."

Eira kept her eyes on Alpha Sebastian.

"Whatever I felt for you is gone."

The tears he had been holding back finally spilled over.