Chapter 126 – The Regret

Chapter 126 – The Regret

Trinity's POV
I felt that familiar wave of fear wash over me, my body tensing as uncertainty flooded my system. Something in his tone, in the way he was looking at me, suggested he was about to say something that would change everything between us.
I whipped my head up to meet his gaze directly, my voice coming out sharper than I intended.
"What?"
His amber eyes held mine with an intensity that made my stomach flutter with nervous anticipation. 
"You haven't been with numerous men," he said, his voice low and certain, "and if you have had a man, there's no way he had a bigger dick than me. You're too tight for that to have happened."
The bluntness of his statement, and the crude confidence in his voice made me blush so hard I was certain my face must be the color of a ripe tomato. 
The heat spread down my neck and across my chest, and I couldn't help the soft laugh that escaped my lips—part embarrassment, part disbelief at his audacity.
"That really got to you, huh?" I asked, my voice breathless with laughter and lingering embarrassment. The fact that my offhand comment about his masculinity had clearly been eating at him was both endearing and ridiculous.
His brows furrowed at my response, and I could see something shift in his expression—the defensive posture melting away to reveal something more vulnerable underneath. 
Instead of the angry retort I expected, he surprised me by drawing me closer, his strong arms encircling me as he pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead.
The tender gesture was so unexpected, so different from the heated intensity of moments before, that it made my breath catch in my throat. This wasn't the Nasir I was used to.
"I don't know how you managed to make me start caring about you this much," he said, his voice carrying a note of wonder, as if he was just as surprised by his feelings as I was. "But I guess I've been greatly mistaken all these years."
My heart began to race as he continued, his words wrapping around me like a warm embrace.
"You're amazing," he said, his amber eyes never leaving mine, "and strong and genuine."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over my features with something that looked almost like reverence. When he spoke again, his voice was rough with emotion.
"And God, so fucking beautiful."
My breath caught in my throat at the raw honesty in his voice, at the way he was looking at me like I was something precious and rare. 
My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest, warmth spreading through every cell of my body until I felt like I was glowing from the inside out.
‘Is this what being loved feels like?’
 The thought made my eyes burn with unshed tears. This overwhelming sensation of being seen, being valued, being cherished—was this what I'd been missing my entire life?
"Nasir..." I whispered, his name barely more than a breath on my lips. I didn't know what to say, how to respond to this sudden shift from the man who had tormented me for years to the one who was now looking at me like I hung the moon and stars.
"Trinity," he said, my name rolling off his tongue like a prayer. His voice was softer now, gentler than I'd ever heard it before. What he said next completely shattered what remained of my defenses.
"I'm so sorry for bullying you all those years," he said, and I could hear the genuine remorse in every word. "I can't imagine the pain I must have put you through. I hope you can forgive me."
The apology was another unexpected thing he did. All those years of cruel words, of being made to feel small and worthless, of wondering what I had done to deserve such treatment—and here he was, acknowledging it all, taking responsibility for the hurt he'd caused.
"I..." I started, then stopped, my voice catching as emotions I'd buried for years came rushing to the surface. "Nasir, you have no idea what those years were like for me."
His face crumpled slightly at my words, guilt and regret written clearly across his features. "I know," he said quietly. "And I know that saying sorry doesn't undo any of it, doesn't take away the damage I caused."
He was quiet for a long moment, his hands still resting on either side of my face, his thumbs tracing gentle patterns on my cheeks. When he finally spoke, his voice was heavy with shame.
"I was a coward," he said simply. "I was scared of how different you were, scared of admitting that the mate bond was already starting to form even when we were just kids."
My eyes widened at his confession. "The mate bond was there when we were children?"
"Subtle, but yes," he nodded. "At least for me it was. This pull toward you, this need to be near you, to protect you. But I was twelve years old and didn't understand what it meant. All I knew was that you, a wolfless girl that didn’t belong, made me feel things that terrified me."
"So, you decided to hurt me instead," I said, not accusingly, but trying to understand.
"So, I decided to push you away," he corrected. "I thought if I could make you hate me, if I could convince myself that you were beneath me, then maybe these confusing feelings would go away."
"Did they?" I asked softly.
His laugh was bitter and self-deprecating. "Not for a single day. If anything, they got stronger. Every cruel word I said to you, every time I made you cry, it felt like I was tearing out a piece of my own soul. But I was too proud, too stubborn, too fucking scared to admit I was wrong."
I stared up at him, seeing him clearly for perhaps the first time. Not the cruel bully who had made my teenage years a nightmare, not the arrogant Alpha who thought he owned everything he looked at, but a man who had been just as confused and frightened as I had been.
"I used to dream about you three apologizing," I admitted quietly. "I never thought it would actually happen."
"I more than care, Trinity," he said, his voice intense and certain. "What I feel for you... it's consuming. It's terrifying and wonderful and completely beyond anything I ever thought I was capable of feeling."
Tears finally spilled over, tracking down my cheeks as years of hurt began to transform into something that felt like hope.
"I want to forgive you," I whispered. "I want to try."
"That's all I can ask for," he said, pressing another soft kiss to my forehead. "A chance to prove that I can be better, that I can be the man you deserve."