The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 92

Laila’s POV

How could he lie to me? How could he say he loved me?

Jason was so drunk, he didn’t seem to think my outburst was much out of the ordinary, although he did look at me sideways with some confusion, all while swaying dangerously on his barstool.

“I’m no liar,” he said, somewhat belligerently, even with his confusion lingering. “I loved her, even if I didn’t know it at the time. I squandered what we had for the sake of duty. I thought I had something to prove. Gods, if I had known I would feel like this.. If I had known she was going to die.”

He looked away from me, back to his whiskey. He lowered his head so low that it nearly dropped down onto the bar.

“And our daughter… My innocent child… Neither of them deserved what happened to them. We should have been a family. I should have protected them. I should have taken Laila as my wife, to hell what my father might have said. But it’s too late now. I didn’t love her like she deserved when I had her, and I’ll never get another chance.”

I couldn’t believe the things Jason was saying, and yet…

He seemed so earnest, with the alcohol knocking down his protective walls.

I was so used to seeing Jason with his defenses up, so stoic and stern–faced. This side of him was entirely new, and I ached with the pain that was so clearly showing on his face.

His sorrow was nearly palpable, hanging down on the air, pressing into me with the weight of a freshly fallen rain from his own personal little raincloud.

“I should have loved her better… I should have…”

He started to waver on his stool.

He started to lean back precariously, so I touched his back with the flat of my hand. He leaned into me, almost like he was called to my warmth. His eyes fluttered closed, and he hummed.

“You remind me of her,” he said. “Even when I try not to think it, I can’t help but notice the similarities. I wish… no… I’m sorry, Vanessa. You should leave this wretch be. Go to your life, to your beautiful daughter, and that terrible man who adores you.”

“Jason…” I started to say. “I…”

“You don’t have to pity me,” he said. “Just go.”

He leaned forward again, placing his head down onto the bar. He slumped and I was pretty sure he had passed out.

I didn’t want to leave him here, but there wasn’t much I could do. Perhaps if I called him a cab…?

No. He was a reputable Alpha. I couldn’t just abandon him. If someone from his pack saw him, or a reporter who wanted to make a story of this…

I had no reason to want to protect Jason, and yet, I felt that familiar stir within my chest. I wasn’t like him. He had abandoned me, not the other way around. And as angry and hurt as I was over the past, that didn’t mean that I was going to allow him to face a cruel fate simply because I was bitter.

I had to help him. That was just the kind of person I was.

And maybe, deep down, the frail girl that had once loved him so passionately was still whispering at me to keep him safe.

With a sigh, I dug into his pocket and retrieved his phone. He didn’t even have it password protected at the moment. I could see that Marcus, his Beta, had tried calling him several times throughout the evening. Jason had ignored him each time.

+25 Bonus

This time, I called him instead.

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