Bad Love: An Alpha's Regret (Leah and Aaron) novel Chapter 340

I knew it couldn’t last, and all too soon, Axel is shifting, pulling away from me.

Except he doesn’t let me go and get up from the bed.

He simply loosens his hold and leans back from me, then sets his hand beneath my chin so I’m forced to look up at him.

I can’t even imagine how wrecked I must appear right now.

After that hurricane of rage in the cellar storeroom leaving my hair in a tangle, and now with tears wetting my face, I must look quite the sight.

However, Axel doesn’t seem to notice.

He looks worried—like he actually cares about me—as he stares down at me with a furrowed brow.

“Emily,” he says, again in that low voice that makes me shiver. “Talk to me. What happened down there?”

I’m not really ready to talk—truthfully, I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to talk about this—but I know it's long past time I actually started telling someone, anyone, some of the things that happened to me.

I take a deep breath and have to look away from him, focusing on the wall beyond his shoulder.

“When you took me—locked me—in the cellar, it triggered memories from when the old Roberts Alpha used to—”

I plan to say more, but it’s like words suddenly leave my brain.

Axel looks distressed.

“Emily, you don’t have to tell me. Whatever it is, it’s in the past. I’m sorry, if I’d known—”

“But you didn’t know, not enough of it anyway,” I tell him, because it looks like he’s ready to start beating himself up over it. “Because I didn’t tell you. Because I refused to talk to anyone about what happened to me. Like I could make it go away, make it hurt less, make me less broken if I forced it to be in the past and pretended it didn’t affect me now. But it’s not that easy. It’s not going to go away unless I deal with it.”

I take a deep breath, returning my gaze to Axel to find him watching me closely, and I think I see a hint of pride in his gaze.

“I need to start dealing with it,” I say resolutely, even though I’m terrified of facing the things inside me. Especially the biggest secret I’m keeping from everyone. “And the way to do that is to begin by talking. At least that’s what the pack therapist told me. I need to tell you what happened, so you understand.”

Axel nods, his gaze trained on me, giving me his undivided attention, as if nothing could be more important to him at this moment.