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“Are you ready for one more secret?”

He paused from eating. “I think this one is the scary part, right?”

I nodded my head and bit my lower lip.

“Fire away then.” He said as he leaned back on his chair.

I didn’t waste any more time and dropped him the bomb. “I met Riley’s mom.”

Chapter 69

RILEY.

I’d been home fortwo days. This was the first time I went out and saw the sun after I holed up in our room when I returned.

My Gamma Couple had been attending to pack matters. I told them I just needed two days to myself, and tomorrow I would get back to work.

They didn’t ask why and what happened in Atlanta. Perhaps my Beta had already called them and explained. And I was thankful for that because I couldn’t find the strength to tell them everything.

But there was one more thing I needed to do before I could start fixing up whatever was left of my tired soul. Maybe by doing this, I could finally move on and see a silver lining.

It was time to meet Andrea.

I rolled down the car window and spoke with Beta Paul. He was at their border. It didn’t take long before he opened the gate and allowed my car in. I was expecting him to search me as they did when I went here before, wanting to take Andrea away from Caspian, but he didn’t.

Instead, he offered to drive my car so we could reach the packhouse immediately using a private route and told me he wanted a word about Alba.

So I moved out of my seat and let him drive, all the while he talked about him and Alba.

I missed a lot.

Alba had never contacted me again since I threw them out of the territory a few months back. But I was happy that Caspian’s Beta was taking care of her. I congratulated him and told him that he and Alba were free to visit my territory if they wanted to.

It didn’t take long untilwe reached the packhouse and I found myself face-to-face with Caspian and Andrea.

I was lost for words. Now that I was standing in front of her, I didn’t know how to start. So I asked permission from Caspian to speak with Andrea. I knew he might reject it, but I would understand, but fortunately, he didn’t. He let me have a moment with Andrea alone.

He showed me again how he was a better man than I was.

I sat on the couch while Andrea chose to sit on the single sofa facing me, a center table between us.

For a moment, no one said a word. She was looking at me while I was trying to read her. I was trying to check my feelings too if I still have something for her. But there was nothing, just regret for all the pain I had given her.

“Why are you here, Riley?” She broke the silence.

I let out a sigh and rested my elbows on my thighs, my hands clasped together as I looked at her in the eyes.

“I woke up today and I told myself, it’s time to face my past so I could move on. So I could free myself from guilt. I know I haven’t said sorry to you yet, and I don’t know how to. But Andrea, I want you to know that the person you saw in me for the last three years was not the real me. It was the person I created to prove to myself that I was better. You and Caspian were the victims of my self-loathing. When Caspian came, I kept thinking about what he had that I didn’t. It became an obsession. Until I found myself getting lost in it. I wanted to be better than anyone, better than him because I didn’t like myself either.”

I paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “When you left that night, I decided to move on and be a better Alpha. I left everything to the Goddess. I was ready to be alone. But Selene had her own plan. I met my fated mate that night, Andrea.”

A smile slowly crept on her face. “Nadia, right? We’ve heard about her.”

I nodded. “But the Goddess knew how to make me pay for all my sins to you. She gave me a mate, a wonderful female, someone who has lived her life almost the same as yours.”

She stayed silent the whole time I told her about Nadia—about her uncle, and the men with whom she was paraded in search of the highest bidder.

“It was a slap right on my face. For the first time, I was ashamed of what I did to you. I had a hard time telling her about you. It was the reason I threw you and Caspian out when you visited my territory. She was there but she knew nothing about my past with you. I was terrified she would leave once she found out about you and what I did to you. But she surprised me again. Once she found out, she admitted she was terrified of the person I was, but she gave me a chance.” My eyes started to water, and I dropped my gaze to the floor as I blinked back the tears.