Chapter Twelve Cassius

CASSIUS

I hoped rescuing Xeraphina during her first wolf transformation would make her consider giving me a chance. However, being there for her did not give me the result I wanted. Despite Luna Sarah’s disapproval, I stayed and waited for her to shift into her wolf form. Luna Sarah was right - it would take time for Xeraphina to feel at ease around me.

I knew Xeraphina would be hungry when she returned, so I started making her favorite breakfast. The waffles were easy, but the omelet took a while because I wanted it to be perfect. In a skillet, I cooked diced ham and chicken. I chopped onions and minced garlic. I even minced parsley, oregano, and other spices in a separate skillet. With four eggs from the chickens, I made a huge omelet. I wanted to do everything myself to make sure it was perfect, even though some omega women offered to help. While I was waiting for Xeraphina, time felt like it was lagging. Now she’s here, but things aren’t going as planned.

I thought Xeraphina would reject me, but I never expected the intense pain in my chest when she did. The ache is dull but constant, resonating within me. Her words make it worse, pounding against my heart like a drum. She says we are a mistake and a source of heartbreak, adding to the heaviness piercing through my soul.

We are two worlds apart at this moment. “Xeraphina, all I can say right now is the truth. About how sorry I am that all this has happened. I was keeping the fact we are mates a secret and doing my best to show you I’ve changed over these last two weeks. Giving you all my attention. Spoiling you with random bull, like your favorite perfume and what not. I didn’t want to give away the surprise. I was trying to warm your heart, so what’s happening now wouldn’t happen. But now I don’t know if I can reach your heart. I’m going to do everything in my power, to show you how much I love you and how much I want to be with you. To be your mate.”

“It’s too late Cassius. I’ve rejected you. You just need to reciprocate. I want it this way. Considering what has happened in the last two years, I cannot be your mate. I don’t know if I can trust you,” she says, smoothing her balled fist over her heart.

Her lips tremble, quivering, as I glimpse the sadness reflected in her eyes. The weight of her sorrow is palpable, reaching deep into the depths of my soul. With a heavy heart, I watch as she averts her gaze from mine, a silent admission of our crumbling connection.

As the seconds tick by, each passing moment feels like a dagger piercing my chest, shattering my hopes and dreams. The pain intensifies, threatening to consume me. Yet, amidst the anguish, a flicker of determination ignites within me.

In that fleeting moment, I make a resolute decision. I will wait for five months. It is within this self-imposed deadline I vow to prove myself to her.

Five months, a mere pocket of time, but a crucial juncture that holds the key to our future. If I cannot melt the icy barricade guarding her heart, we will enter the rejection phase once more and part ways.

I’ll die when that happens. But I would rather be dead if I can’t have her. This is something I should have thought about two years ago, before ever getting married. She was sixteen by then. Not of age, but we could have stayed friends until she came of age. Luna Sarah was right. I should have reached out to someone. But, I’ll make this right.

“Xeraphina,” I say, putting my hand up to her cheek and tears fall from her eyes. “Please look at me,” I whisper. She shuts her eyes and takes a deep breath, but opens them and her gaze finds my own. “If I had told you the truth two weeks ago,” I said, taking a deep breath, then continuing. “Would you have forgiven me, loved me, and accepted me as your mate? Look past what happened yesterday, please. I’m begging you. I wanted the fact that we are mates to be a surprise. Because I know how much you’ve longed for your mate. I’ve been trying to redeem myself for the last two weeks. Yes, it’s a little late. But it was not my intention for things to go this way.”

More tears run down her face as she hyperventilates. She closes her eyes as she crumples to the ground and I follow her down, hugging her. I hold her tight and pray to the moon goddess that Xeraphina will give me a chance.

After she has calmed down, she glances up at me. “When I was eleven, I developed a crush on you. As time went on, maybe around the time I turned fourteen that crush turned into longing and that longing grew until I was sixteen. I had hoped that you were my fated mate. The night after yours and Charity’s wedding, I cried non-stop. My heart shattered.”

“After everything that went down yesterday, I reached out to the pack’s lawyer that works in the city. He has all the information that Alpha Joseph drew up. Both humans and wolf shifters will consider the divorce completed in a matter of time. But that’s not my question, Xeraphina. Before everything that happened yesterday, did you want me?”

“To be honest, I was so confused and going back and forth on whether I should accept you if you were my mate. But I have always had that sinking feeling we were mates.”

“We can make it through this, Xeraphina.” I say, wiping away her tears with my thumbs as I gaze into her mesmerizing eyes. “I promise to the moon goddess I will never cheat on you. Or ever hurt you again. It’s killing me that all of this has happened. I’ll earn your love beyond the mate bond and I will be true.”

“You will not reject me?” she asks, nuzzling her cheek into my hand.

“Hell no,” I say, placing my hand on her hand that has been clutching her heart. “I, Cassius Juriah Hansley Beta male of the Silver Crescent Moon Pack, do not accept your rejection Xeraphina Maliah Crestmont, Female Alpha of the Silver Crescent Moon Pack.”

In an instant, the mate bond intensifies, and I can detect no signs of discomfort in her. It’s as if she has undergone a complete transformation. She grins and directs her gaze towards the oven. “No offense, Cassius. Well, maybe a little. But I’m famished and would appreciate some time to be alone. Thank you for the meal,” she remarks, rising from the ground and strolling away from me.

‘What the hell just happened?’ I ask Talon as I watch her walk away.

‘You are a dipshit, human. She wants nothing to do with you right now. Leave.’