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Xavier didn’t turn to look at me, but nodded his head briefly. “I know now that it was my own mistake, my own blinding pride and stubbornness. You were too young to lead back then. So not having my mate with me wouldn’t have changed the result.”

“Then you found out who I was.” My voice was dry. Everything made sense now. “I’m an alpha’s daughter.”

“Everything I didn’t want.” He snapped his eyes to mine. “I promised myself I would never lead again and you…”

“And if something happened to Chad, you would have to.”

He nodded his head. “Yeah.”

If something happened to Chad, if he couldn’t lead the pack, the duty would fall on my and Xavier’s shoulders. Mainly Xavier’s. Everyone knew the man took the lead.

“So you denied me and lived a life with your sweet Emily.” I rolled my eyes. “Instead of being a man and standing up!”

I flung the blankets back and reached for my pants, putting them on. “Instead of telling me this, you kept it to yourself!”

What a surprise. Xavier lived to keep secrets.

“I’m not proud of what I did, Chloe.” Xavier defended himself, clearly hurt by my response. “I ran away from my responsibility and, when I found you, I didn’t want you.”

“And now your emotions won’t let you deny me anymore.” I crossed my arms shaking my head. “But the question is, Xavier, are you willing to risk everything to be with me? Are you ready to be a man?”

“You mean.” He stood up. “You will still have me?”

“I didn’t say that. I said, are you willing to be a man? I can’t understand your actions, but I understand your fear. But, Xavier, we are all scared. We all have things that scare us. We all have a past. But the question is, when are you going to stop dragging it around with you?”

“If something happened to Chad, I wouldn’t be able to lead. I’m not an alpha.”

“You can’t live through the past, Xavier.” I reached my bedroom door and flung it open. “You need to decide what you want, and when you do, you need to leave your past behind and face the future. Without me or not. I can’t be with a man who isn’t one.”

I slammed the door behind me. I needed air. I needed to get away from him. But what I really needed was to come to terms with what he just told me.

He had done something that I could never do. Run away from his pack. Even if they were dead, it was still his land. He should have rebuilt his pack. He should have done something. Not run and HIDE!

Of course I knew the stories of what had happened to his pack. They were like horror stories that haunted every alpha. Everyone’s first fear. To be wiped out.

So why couldn’t I bring myself to forgive him for what he had done? I came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase and realized why.

It was because he had once again lied to me and now I knew the truth. It only made me doubt him more. He had hid it from me, like a dirty secret. He hadn’t stood up and faced it. He hadn’t attempted to make amends for what he had done. Like a man should.

Instead he lied, hid and lived with regret. Everything I despised in a man, because a true alpha, a true man, wouldn’t do that. I now understood what my father meant. My life would not be easy if I chose to accept Xavier. So should I fight for him? Or should I let Dan not save his mate and live a life with a man whom I could trust and love with all my heart.

I was standing at a crossroads and I needed someone to push me in the right direction.

Xavier’s POV.

I watched her slam the door and I sat here frozen. She knew now the decision was in her hands. I wasn’t running away anymore. She had to realize that. If I wanted to keep hiding, I wouldn’t have told her.

But I told her because I wanted my mate. And even if she hated me right now, I wasn’t letting her go, not now, not ever.

She was mine and I wanted her. And as I thought that, I felt my old self come to the surface. The side that would not sit back and take anything, my alpha streak coming out, ready to claim his mate, ready to fight for her.