Chapter 43 Chapter 43

Chapter 43 Chapter 43
SEBASTIAN

"Sebastian..." Annalisa began, but I cut her off immediately as a sliver of irritation rippled through me. "Why are you making this so hard?"

I blew out a frustrated breath. I almost regretted having this fake bond with Ruby instead of Annalisa. But Ruby was the only one who knew my secret, which was why I had this arrangement with her in the first place.

Why couldn’t Annalisa just move on? I thought we were done having this conversation. I thought we’d ended things between us.

I didn’t miss the tears that glistened in her eyes before she lowered her head, staring at the ground.

My heart sank. Fuck... I hated how much I’d hurt Annalisa. She had sacrificed so much to earn my heart, but she deserved someone who could love her back in the way she needed. And that someone wasn’t me.

"I know I’ve hurt you, and I’m sorry," I said gently.

Her scent of arousal filled the small space under the staircase, making my cock twitch even as I'd been trying hard to ignore it.

She raised her head and reached for my hand, pressing it to her cheek. The contact with her skin sent a tingling sensation dancing through me.

I could see the pain in her eyes, the way her lips trembled as she whispered, "Please, just this once." She arched against me, her breath tickling the skin of my neck. My own breath came out heavily, my heart thumping away.

"I fucking miss you. I fucking want you" Her breath brushed against my lips as she continued rubbing her hips against me. It took everything in me not to moan.

My wolf stirred restlessly, whispering in my mind, 'As much as I want us to fck her, it’ll only make things worse.'

Of course. I couldn’t afford anything to go wrong with this business arrangement with Ruby. I started shaking my head.

"I can’t, Annalisa. I love Ruby. It doesn’t feel right to cheat on her," I told her firmly.

Seeing the pain on her face, I hated myself for causing it. But I needed this to end.

Knowing my words had hurt her, I thought she would pull away, but instead, she stayed. A single tear slipped down her cheek. My heart clenched, and I found myself brushing it away with my thumb.

She looked at me with those pleading eyes, the ones that always begged for something I couldn’t give her. For a moment, I almost gave in. But then my wolf interrupted, messing with my head by flashing images of Ruby.

'You told her it doesn’t feel right to cheat on Ruby. If we do anything with Annalisa now, she might suspect Ruby isn’t our mate,' my wolf said. I agreed with him.

I drew in a breath softly, guilt rippling through my chest. Then Ruby’s scent hit me. It was faint but strangely overwhelmed Annalisa’s arousal and snapped me out of my conflicted haze.

My hand dropped from Annalisa’s cheek as if it had been burned, and without another thought, I rushed away from her.

I followed the trail of Ruby’s scent, searching for her. My heart pounded as if it already knew I was too late. And I was.

She was gone.

Of course, she’d seen me with Annalisa. Of course, she’d think the worst. My jaw tightened as I pictured the hurt she must have felt, though I didn’t want to admit why I cared so much.

The vibration of my phone pulled me from my thoughts. Robert’s name flashed on the screen.

“Where are you, man? Class started five minutes ago,” he said as soon as I answered.

“On my way,” I muttered.

“Better get your ass here,” he said before hanging up.

I headed toward class, barely noticing the girls that were waving at me as I tried to shake off the frustration and guilt. But Annalisa’s words from earlier wouldn’t stop echoing in my head.

We’d already talked about this. She knew I didn’t feel the same way she did, yet she kept bringing it up, refusing to let go, even when she knew I had a mate now.

As I sat through the lecture, I couldn’t stop thinking about Ruby; her face, her scent, the way she made me feel. It was all-consuming.

Ruby wasn’t my fated mate. My wolf didn’t recognize her as such. Still, I felt this way. It had taken everything in me not to rip Robert's head off yesterday, even though I knew he was just trying to piss me off by getting close to her after noticing my jealousy.

That was why I’d gone to see my shaman earlier today, hoping for answers. But she had dismissed my concerns, saying Ruby wasn’t my mate and that no bond connected us.

If she wasn’t my mate, then why the hell did I feel this way? Why did her scent hit me so hard, making it impossible to think straight?

The shaman had said it might be my wolf’s cravings, but that explanation felt too simple, too dismissive. It didn’t account for the way Ruby lingered in my thoughts, even now.