Chapter 129 It Takes Two to Tango

••• Charlotte's POV •••

I was quite shocked that Livie asked if I would go back to Hayden.

"Why are you asking me that question?" I asked her. "Didn't you say I shouldn't forgive him?"

She looked guilty when I threw her words back at her.

"So will you go back to him?" she insisted on me answering her question.

"I… don't know, Livie. He hurt me too much," I told her honestly. "Those three years with him left a deep wound in my heart. I can forgive him but I don't know if I want to go back to him."

Livie was silent for a while before she sighed. "Char, I'm gonna say something, but you might not like it."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"You said you concealed your identity because you wanted him to love you for you and not because of your identity as the heiress of the Moon Crest Pack," she repeated the reason I had told her.

I nodded in admission. "Yeah."

"But Char, isn't being the heiress of the Moon Crest Pack a part of you? And I'm gonna have to say this even if you are going to hate me," she paused for a split second before continuing, "Do you realize that it wasn't entirely his fault that he ignored you for the three years you were together?"

"What do you mean? You mean it was my fault too? Just because I concealed my identity?" I was surprised Livie would think that way.

"Listen to me first, Char." She rolled her eyes. "You know that Hayden is strong right? Even before he became the Alpha of the Red Claw Pack, when you first met him, he was already stronger than his brother, who was the Alpha of the Red Claw Pack at that time."

"I know," I said. Hayden was always strong and he became the strongest Alpha because he never slacked off during training.

"You should know that Alphas tend to prefer their mates to be of… similar status with them," Livie began to explain. "I mean… Alphas seldom want weak Omegas as their mates. I'm sure you've heard that Alphas in other continents rejected their fated mates if they are Omegas. It's similar to royalties in the human world. Kings don't take servants as their Queens."

"And your point is?" I asked her.

"My point is… When you were with Hayden, you pretended to be a weak and timid orphan," she said.

"I told you I didn't want him to want me because of my identity," I pointed out again. "What's the point of him caring for me just because of my high status?"

"But that's how the world works, Char!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "And Char, didn't you get my point? You pretended to be a weak and timid orphan. How was he supposed to love you for you when you weren't even being yourself? You PRETENDED to be someone else just to test him. Even if he fell in love with you, he wasn't in love with you for yourself, but for the weak and timid orphan you pretended to be. How would he feel when he fell in love with that version of you and then found out that you weren't at all orphan or weak and timid?"

Livie's words made me unable to refute her. I did pretend to be someone else, but I never thought about it in the way Livie was saying.

"After you guys divorced, he found out about your real identity and began respecting you for you being you - the capable heiress of the Moon Crest Pack who has brilliant business ideas and wants to give a voice for she-wolves. He loves the real you, Char, and not the fake you that you pretended to be."

"And Char, I think you were lying when you said you don't love him anymore," she continued.

"What do you mean?" Now I started to feel irritated with her.

"Char, do you know how much you used to love him?"

I rolled my eyes at her. How could I not know how much I used to love him?

"You loved him so much that you were willing to throw away everything you have, right?"

I rolled my eyes at her again. Wasn't it obvious?

"Let me ask you something, Char. If Sofia didn't jump off the cliff and framed you, you most probably would still be his Luna, right?"

Her question made me pause. The answer to her question was unfortunately 'yes'. If Sofia hadn't tried to frame me, I would most probably still be his Luna right now.

"You divorced and severed the matebond with him because he proposed it first and you were disappointed because he chose to believe Sofia rather than believing in you, not because you don't love him anymore," she pointed out.

"Yes, you were hurt at that time, but it didn't mean you don't love him anymore. If you don't love him anymore, he wouldn't be able to hurt you after you broke the matebond with him. You wouldn't feel hurt whenever you see him together with Sofia after the divorce."

Her words really didn't give me any room to refute.

"You might be able to forget him and move on if he didn't pester you and change. But when your heart was still healing, he started to change and become the man you wanted him to be. For me, it will be weirder if you don't feel moved by his changes or if you don't love him anymore. If it's so easy for your love to disappear, then I don't think you love him that much in the first place, but it wasn't the case, was it? You loved him so much that you were willing to throw away everything just to be with him," she pointed out again.

"Disappointed does not mean you don't love him anymore, Char. It just means you were disappointed and hurt," she sighed.

"Don't tell me your heart never skips a beat when you were with him after you guys divorced. Or that your heart never trembled when he protected and saved you all this while," she continued, making me speechless.

I did feel all those things and even more. My body seemed to burn and it was like I was in heat whenever we were close together.

"I can't help but think if you didn't pretend to be a weak and timid orphan when you first met him, he might have fallen in love with you a long time ago since from your stories, he seems to fall in love with you because you are a capable she-wolf instead of a weak and timid one."

All of Livie's words made me fall into deep thought.

Was I wrong in concealing my identity when I first met Hayden?

"Of course I'm not saying that he's not a bastard for ignoring you and letting his family and pack members bully you during those three years, but… it takes two to tango, Char. If you didn't pretend, his pack and family wouldn't be able to bully you. You wouldn't let them."

"I'm not forcing you to go back to him, but… he's really changed a lot and it wouldn't be bad for you two to get back together, rather than finding another mate like Theo," she shuddered when she thought of Theo.

"I won't find another mate," I told her and explained when she looked at me with confusion. "I asked the Moon Goddess not to give me another mate when I broke my matebond with Theo."

"Then wouldn't it be good to get back together with him?" she asked.

"What if he finds his second-chance mate in the future? I won't have another mate, but it doesn't mean he won't," I pointed out.

Now it was her turn to roll her eyes at me and snorted. "I don't think he will find a new mate given how obsessed he and his wolf are with you. His wolf shouldn't even feel a connection with you anymore after you broke your matebond with him, but strangely, he is still obsessed with you."

That was what I had been trying to find out - why Rhett still felt a connection with me and thought I was still their mate even after we broke our matebond and Lexi had disappeared.

"Anyway, I said all those things to help you find out about your feelings for Hayden. If you still think you can't give him another chance, then I'll support your decision," Livie said.

Honestly, her words somehow made sense…

But was it enough for me to want to get back together with him? I didn't have an answer to that question right now.

"Char, after you are discharged, I want you to accompany me to a place," she changed the subject.

"Accompany you to a place? Which place? Don't tell me you want me to accompany you to that human bar again," I teased, which surprisingly made her blush.

"No," she denied quickly. "You'll know when the time comes. I'll get Leo and Nate now." She bolted out of the room so fast, making me chuckle.

Now that I was alone in the room, I couldn't help but think about Livie's words again…