The Heartbroken Luna's Choice Banish Love novel Chapter 209

Chapter 209

Trista’s POV

It was 2:30 AM when my IV finally ran dry.

Cassian hit the call button for the healer, and only then did I force my heavy eyelids open.

When he instinctively reached out to help press the cotton ball over the injection site, I shifted my weight, coldly dodging his touch. I held it down myself, watching the tiny bead of blood soak into the cotton.

Cassian froze, his body stooped awkwardly over the bed. Those massive hands–hands that controlled an entire territory–hung uselessly in mid–air.

He looked at me, his deep, dark eyes searching mine. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he struggled to force a sentence out of his dry throat.

“Does it still hurt?” he whispered.

The second the words were out, I felt his pheromones spike.

He was drowning in guilt.

He knew better than anyone what a pack–whip did to a person; he’d taken those hits himself and knew they were enough to break a warrior. For someone like me, it was agonizing.

But to my ears, his question sounded pathetic. Empty.

I stayed on my side, a tiny, hollow smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth. My voice was as thin as a spiderweb, “It doesn’t hurt.”

Our eyes met. I gave him a look of pure, filtered sadness.

Cassian looked like he was the one being tortured–the backwash from our mating bond was clearly hitting him so hard he could barely stand.

“Trista, I know you’re in pain,” he said, his voice thick with a jagged kind of grief.

His eyes were shot through with red. “If you’re pissed, if you feel wronged… then take it out on me. Scream, throw something. Just… don’t do this. Don’t look at me like I’m a stranger.”

Watching him lose his cool, I struggled to sit up.

“I’m fine. Really.”

Caring hims

The sting of the whip on my back was nothing compared to the white–hot agony of he didn’t want to mate with me all those years ago.

No physical wound could ever hurt as much as discovering he’d trashed our vows, or watching him play “happy family” with Samantha at the healing center.

Cassian sat on the edge of the bed, our faces only inches apart.

09:51 Mon, Jan 12

Chapter 209

83

Finished

He tried to take my hand, lowering his Alpha pride. “I handled tonight like a disaster. I shouldn’t have brought her into our suite. I definitely shouldn’t have let her touch your clothes”

I pulled my hand back, smooth and subtle. “I’m already sharing my husband with her. It’s just a dress, Cassian. Let her have it.”

That comment made him snap. He grabbed my wrist again, staring at me for a long time, hesitating. Finally, the “explanation” came out.

“Trista, whether you believe me or not, what I have with Samantha isn’t what you think it is.”

I looked down, a cold laugh echoing in my head.

I didn’t have to ‘think‘ anything. The whole pack saw it.

“Back in college, Samantha saved my life,” he said. “She spent a year chasing me. She was a rogue, yeah, but she was honest, hardworking, and kind back then. I agreed to date her, and by the time we graduated, I actually considered making her my Luna.”

When I didn’t respond, his grip tightened until I knew there would be marks.

“Howard used her family to threaten her. He forced her to leave, forced her to bond with someone else. She spent six years in France being abused by that mate. She had multiple miscarriages. She was severely depressed. She only came back because she had no other choice–she was running for her life and her kid’s.”

He leaned in closer. “Trista, I admit I lied for a month to avoid coming home. I know I trashed your trust. I know I hurt you while I was trying to play savior for them. But I swear on my life, I never once thought about choosing her over you. I haven’t betrayed our mating. I haven’t betrayed you.”

I looked him in the eye. “What exactly is your point, Cassian?”

He frowned, looking frustrated.

“All I hear,” I continued, “is how much you admire her. How much your heart bleeds for her. How much you’re still living in that past. If that’s the case, why are you so obsessed with keeping me trapped in this mating?”

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