I smile tightly. “I had a duty to my family to fulfill. My father intended to solicit out my mating contracts when I graduated. I had every intention of being a good daughter to my father when I went to Fairhaven and then mating the alphas he chose for me once I had graduated. I... I underestimated what seeing Cassian again would do to me.”
In truth, my heart broke over him for the second time when I saw him that day. There’s so much of our story that we can’t tell, too many truths that would vilify my father. He kept us apart, intercepting our texts and letters. Cassian asked for his blessing to court me, and my father denied him. But neither of us knew that when our eyes met on that rainy August afternoon.
He looked at me like I was nothing to him.
Saints, I was so wrong about him. Even then, he loved me. Even then, all he wanted was to see me safe.
“You fell in love again?”
“He did, but I couldn’t let myself. I had to resist everything I felt for him, even if it grew more impossible by the day. I couldn’t follow my heart if I wanted to be the kind of daughter my father would be proud of. I tried to resist the draw between us, but Cassian, he understood. He knew the dilemma I was facing: my duty or my heart. He never pressured me. I let myself love him again so gradually that I didn’t even notice it at first. Day by day, I was allowing myself to love him just a little bit more. One morning, I woke up, and there was no going back.”
The last part, at least, is utterly true. Somehow, Cassian slipped past my defenses, disarming me with his smiles, with his actions and his words, and I let him in, more and more each day.
“You chose him over your duty.”
“There was no choice but him. I can’t imagine my life without him. I hope, in time, my family will be happy for me.”
“And yet you were seen with Andrew Radcliffe this past summer. Many suspected a betrothal.”
Cassian’s scent spikes and he goes tense beside me, but I know I have to answer this question, to face this head on. I curl my fingers around his and squeeze.
“Their suspicions were correct. My father had identified Mr. Radcliffe as a potential mate for me. We were courting over the summer. It was an incredibly advantageous match, beneficial to both of our families, but I couldn’t deny what I felt for Cassian.”
“You were intended to a rather wealthy alpha, but you mated an even wealthier one.”
“Jack!” Cassian protests, a growl slipping into his voice. “That’s enough.”
“Peoplewillthink I’m with you for your money, Cass. I don’t want the world to think I’m some spoiled brat who mated you so could keep me in comfort. Let me answer the question.” I look up at Jack. “We can cut this bit, right?”
He nods and poses the question again after a wary nod from Cassian.
“Cassian has always been incredibly generous, with both his resources and his time. The magic I learned last semester was notoriously challenging, and he spent so much time working with me, helping me learn it. Anytime I need him, he’s there for me. He makes me coffee just how I like it, and he comforts me when I’m upset or afraid. My time at Fairhaven has been difficult. Our campus has been attacked, and my friends have been hurt. Cassian has been there for me through all of it. And he’s not just generous, he’s brave and selfless. He took a hex intended for me on my first day at Fairhaven Academy.”
“Cassian, is that true? You took a hex for her?”
“Without a second of doubt or hesitation. My mate means the world to me, and I would do anything to protect her.”
There’s a hard edge to his voice. A warning to my father and to Andrew Radcliffe.
“Spoken like an alpha mated to the woman he loves,” Jack says with a smile. “So, how does your mate like her coffee?”
“Oh, ludicrously sweet and in volumes that can’t possibly be healthy for her. She’s always loved sweet things.”
“I picked you, didn’t I?” I tease. “The sweetest of all.”
The rest of the interview goes off without a hitch. Jack asks us about our plans for the future, and Cassian wisely keeps them vague but optimistic. He stresses my commitment to my education and extols my intelligence, my skill as a mage. He talks lovingly of my perseverance and my bravery, how I amaze him every single day.
And every word of it is true.
While we had to tell a few lies to avoid backing my father into a corner, when Cassian talks about why he loves me, there’s no lie, there’s no exaggeration. He speaks from his heart.
Is that how he truly sees me? As brave and capable, an intelligent and talented mage? He sees the version of me I often can’t, the woman I want to be.
And saints, do I want to be that woman for him, my mate.
* * *
We talkwith Jack a bit after the interview, and he stays long enough for a cup of coffee with Cassian’s family. He graciously accepts Bethany’s Yule gift, a blush pinking his cheeks.
