Page 67 of Eclipse Sector

I’d never answered her question that day.“Why not?”

Because the truth was that I’d been tempted to seduce her. To knot her. To make her mine.

Which had been so fucking wrong.

She’d been nineteen at the time, a young Omega on the verge of her future.

I hadn’t wanted to destroy it by tying her to me for eternity.

Yet somehow, I’d managed to harm her anyway.

As evidenced by her continued silence.

At least she isn’t crying anymore,I thought, admiring her clear eyes.

I continued to purr while holding her gaze. Time passed. At some point, I’d felt and ignored Lorcan’s arrival.

I hear you fucked up,he’d said.

When I hadn’t replied, he went about taking over my tasks.

All while Ivana and I continued this strange staring contest.

If the water had gone cold, Ivana didn’t react to it. I almost reached forward to test it for myself, but I didn’t want to risk spooking her.

She needed time.

I would give her time.

And my purr.

For as long as?—

“What are my other unsavory qualities?” she asked, her question so unexpected that I couldn’t stop my eyebrows from flying upward.

“What?”

“You told Lorcan that I need to find someone who won’t mind my childish games, boldness, misplaced confidence, and other unsavory qualities. What are those unsavory qualities?”

Fuck. The fact that she remembered the precise phrasing I’d used, when even I couldn’t recall all of what I’d said, spoke volumes about what my words had done to her.

“Ivana, I said those things out of frustration. If I tell myself your traits irritate me, maybe I’ll one day believe it and stop wanting to…” I trailed off before I could finish the statement. But I’d already revealed too much.

“Wanting to what?” she asked, one haughty eyebrow inching upward as her inner goddess peeked at me through her beautiful eyes.

“It doesn’t matter what I want, love. What matters is, I said some things that day that weren’t fair. I meant, you need an Alpha who will adore your confidence and boldness and won’t mind you setting him down when it’s warranted. You deserve an Alpha who can put you first. Love you. Worship you. Exist in your goddess-like league.”

Unfortunately, that Alpha would never be me.

But I could be good to her right now. Tell her the absolute truth. And hope that she was confident enough to believe it.

“There’s nothing unsavory about you, Ivana,” I told her, my accent thickening my voice. “You’re perfect, macushla.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

IVANA

“You’re perfect, macushla.”