Chapter 32 Chapter 32

Chapter 32 Chapter 32
"I don't know how to fix this," he admitted. "I don't know if it can be fixed. But I want to try. If you'll let me."

I turned to look at him then, really look at him. The boy who had tormented me was gone, replaced by a young man whose eyes held depths of regret I'd never seen before. The bond hummed between us, carrying his sincerity, his pain, his hope.

"I can't just flip a switch and forget six years of hurt," I said. "Even if the Goddess says we're meant to be together. Even if the bond makes me want to trust you."

"I'm not asking you to forget," Kyle said. "I'm asking for the chance to prove that I'm not that scared fifteen-year-old boy anymore. That I can be someone worthy of the incredible woman you've become."

The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over. I wiped them away angrily, hating how vulnerable they made me feel. "Don't you dare call me incredible. Not when you spent years convincing me I was worthless."

"You were never worthless." The words hung between us like a bridge I wasn't sure I could cross. My throat felt raw, and I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to stop the tears that kept coming despite my best efforts.

"Then why did you make me feel like I was?" The question came out broken, smaller than I'd intended. "Why did you let me believe it for so long?"

Kyle's silence stretched on, and when I finally looked up, I saw him struggling with something, his hands clenched at his sides, his jaw working like he was fighting to get the words out.

"Because I was terrified," he said finally. "Terrified of what I felt for you. Of how completely you consumed my thoughts. Of how wrong it felt to want someone who was grieving, who needed protection, not some confused boy's obsession."

I hugged my knees tighter to my chest, trying to make sense of his words. "So you decided to hurt me instead?"

"I decided to push you away before you could see how pathetic I was." His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "Before you could reject me first."

The honesty in his voice made my chest ache. Through our bond, I could feel the truth of his words, the years of self-hatred that had driven his cruelty. It didn't excuse what he'd done, but it helped me understand it in a way I never had before.

"I never would have rejected you," I said quietly, the admission slipping out before I could stop it. "Back then, if you'd just been kind to me... I was so lonely, Kyle. So desperate for anyone to see me as something other than the broken girl who'd lost everything."

His breath caught, and I felt his shock ripple through the bond. "You... what?"

Heat flooded my cheeks as I realised what I'd just confessed. "It doesn't matter now. That girl is gone."

"No, she's not." Kyle moved closer, dropping to his knees beside the window seat so we were at eye level. "She's still there, underneath all the walls you've built to protect yourself. I can see her sometimes, when you think no one's looking."

I wanted to argue, to deny it, but the words wouldn't come. Because he was right. Somewhere deep inside, that lonely twelve-year-old girl still existed, still craved the acceptance and love she'd never received.

"What do you want from me, Kyle?" I asked, exhaustion weighing down every word. "Really?"

"I want the chance to know you," he said. "The real you, not the version you show the world to keep everyone at arm's length. I want to earn back what we threw away." He paused, his amber eyes intense. "And I want to protect you from whatever's coming with Silverclaw."

At the mention of Xavier and his pack, ice ran through my veins. I'd been so focused on the pack's reaction to recent events that I'd almost forgot about that asshole.

“Why?”

Kyle's amber eyes held mine, unwavering in their intensity. I hadn't meant to ask such a loaded question, but now it hung between us, demanding an answer.

"Because I love you," he said simply. "I have since we were kids. Even when I was hurting you, even when I was telling myself I hated you, it was always love underneath. Twisted and broken and expressed in all the wrong ways, but love nonetheless."

I drew back, his words hitting me like a physical blow. "Don't," I whispered. "Don't say that if you don't mean it."

"I've never meant anything more." His voice was steady, but I could see the fear in his eyes, fear that I wouldn't believe him, that I'd reject him now the way he'd once rejected me. "I know it doesn't erase what I did. I know words are just words. But it's the truth, Imogen."

The bond between us pulsed with his sincerity, making it impossible to doubt him. But believing him and forgiving him were two very different things.

"I need time," I said finally. "To process everything that's happened. The shift, the bond, the Goddess, Silverclaw... it's too much all at once."

Kyle nodded, disappointment flashing across his face though he tried to hide it. "I understand. We all do. Just... don't shut us out completely? Please?"

I couldn't make that promise, not yet. Instead, I changed the subject. "What happened at the pack meeting? The one I was conveniently excused from due to 'medical requirements'?"

A hint of a smile touched his lips. "I wondered if you'd catch that. Dad thought it would be easier if you didn't have to face everyone right away."

"Right, because hiding the freak will make everything better." The bitterness in my voice made him wince.

"That's not how he sees you. How any of us see you." Kyle ran a hand through his hair, that familiar gesture I'd seen a thousand times. "Dad addressed the rumors head-on. Made it clear that anyone spreading gossip about you would answer directly to him."

"And that's supposed to stop them? They'll just be more careful about who they text."

"Maybe." He shrugged. "But he also explained about the Silverclaw threat, not everything, just enough for the pack to understand why security's being tightened. And he announced the triple bond."

My head snapped up. "He what?"

"He announced that his three sons are mated to Imogen Lancaster, daughter of Alpha Dominic Lancaster, and that any disrespect toward you would be treated as disrespect toward the future Luna of the pack."

I stared at him, trying to process what he'd just said. "Future Luna? As in... singular? I'm mated to all three of you. How does that even work?"

"That's... complicated." Kyle looked uncomfortable for the first time.

“Yeah, I guessed it would be. I’m guessing by your face, there was some backlash from the ‘Alpha heirs are hot fan club’.”

Kyle's expression darkened, confirming my suspicions. "There were... objections. From some of the unmated females in the pack."