Page 34 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

“ Y ou lied to me ,” Kassia accused the professor the next night.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did!” The two of them were walking inside a magnificently vast hallway, and with every second that passed, the urge to turn back and run away became stronger. “You said this was going to be an ordinary party!”

“It is.” Beside her, the professor was a picture of urbane sophistication in his expensive tux, and even now the sight of him made Kassia gulp. Even though she was wearing a gown that the professor had bought for her, she wasn’t sure it was enough to give her the right to stand next to him.

Sensing Kassia’s troubled gaze on him, Alessandro looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “What is—-” To his surprise, Kassia quickly squeezed her eyes shut. “What are you doing?” Did she plan on walking with her eyes closed?

Only opening her eyes when she had turned her head away from the professor, she said, “Self-defense.”

Only Kassia could leave him even more bemused with an answer. “Excuse me?”

“You think I don’t know what you’re doing, but I do.” She resolutely kept her gaze straight ahead as she spoke. “I’m on to you, Professor. You’re using your sexy look on me again, and next thing I know, you’re going to give me that devastating smile—-”

The professor was suddenly standing in front of her, his Lyccan speed leaving her defenseless, and oh God there it was!

That smoldering look!

That devastating smile!

Her knees knocked against each other. “You’re too beautiful for your own good, Professor.”

His laugh was dark and sexy. “And you are too fucking cute for my senses.”

The words destroyed what was left of her defenses against him, and she sighed. “You win. I forgive you for lying.” She paused then added militantly, “But you did lie.”

“I did not lie.” He pressed a kiss on her forehead. “You just failed to consider that we might have different perspectives about what an ordinary party is. This is ordinary for me.”

And that, Kassia thought, perfectly summed up how different they were from each other.

The professor’s idea of an ordinary party was one that took place in a palatial hall, attended by thousands of Lyccans, most of whom Kassia was shocked to recognize as numbering among the world’s rich and famous.

How could all these people lead such public lives without humans like her catching on to the fact that they weren’t, well, humans?

Upon entering the ballroom, the first thing Kassia noticed was the odd way most of the guests reacted to them.

She was well used to Alessandro being fawned over, but tonight it was the opposite.

Most of the other Lyccans gazed at him with either contempt or disgust, and she couldn’t understand it at all.

How could someone like Alessandro be contemptuous or disgusting?

The professor suddenly looked down at her, saying quietly, “Later.”

His gaze told her he knew exactly what she was feeling, and Kassia nodded. If the professor wanted her to wait for answers, she would.

He guided her all the way to the opposite side of the hall, where she saw the rest of his family was waiting.

Kassia frowned when she realized that the Moretti family appeared isolated from the other Lyccans, and she bit her lip hard.

She was angry on their behalf, but she knew she couldn’t exactly bite anyone’s head off for it.

This wasn’t her battle, even if she wanted it to be.

Beside her, the professor chuckled.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, startled.

“Everyone here can smell your anger, little chick.”

Oh.

Her cheeks flushed in mortification, but even so she lifted her chin. “Good. I think it’s not nice to be so rude.”

The professor didn’t answer, but the way he squeezed her hand spoke of his approval.

When they reached his family, the professor’s sisters surged forward in unison, showering Kassia with kisses and hugs. After, the professor introduced the two other men in the group. “This is my twin Alejandro.”

Alejandro’s smile was all wicked flirtation. “Hello, beautiful.”

Alessandro’s arm went around her waist. “ Do not flirt with her. ”

Alejandro laughed. “Relax, brother. I only wanted to see how possessive you are with her.”

The professor ignored this. “Kassia, this is our older brother, Domenico. He’s the heir apparent of our pack.”

Kassia gulped as she found herself face to face with Domenico Moretti.

During the ride to Lyccan Hall, the professor had explained to her about his older brother’s position and how he had once been the most respected warrior prince of their race.

She had thought then she would be ready to face Domenico Moretti, but seeing him in the flesh made Kassia realize that wasn’t possible at all.

There were no words that could prepare any human being for their first meeting with the eldest Moretti prince, especially when one knew that he wasn’t human like them.

“Hello, Kassia.”

Crap, Kassia thought nervously. It was like hearing God speak. “Happy birthday, sir highness.”

Silence.

And then Kassia realized what she had said. “Oh my God.” She turned to the professor in horror. “Please tell me you have the power to erase my memories.”

It was Domenico who answered her, his eyes gleaming with laughter as he said apologetically, “That unfortunately is not one of our, err, powers.”

Alessandro was also tempted to laugh, but then Kassia turned to him, wide-eyed and lips trembling. She obviously wanted to cry, and it made her so cute and irresistible that he couldn’t stop himself. He bent down and kissed her again.

Around him, Lyccans started to whisper, and the malice in their voices couldn’t have made their thoughts any clearer.

Alessandro Moretti, kissing a human girl in public, when in the past the only times his emotions were apparent was when he was furiously beating another Lyccan for insulting his future pack leader.

Clearly, Alessandro was following in his older brother’s footsteps.

Clearly, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

When he ended the kiss, Alessandro’s gaze met Domenico’s over Kassia’s head.

“Don’t do it,” Domenico said tightly, his voice so low only Alessandro and other Lyccans within earshot would hear him, leaving humans like Kassia unaware that he had spoken at all.

Alessandro didn’t answer.

He didn’t have to.

When he kissed Kassia again and drew her to the dance floor, it was answer enough for Domenico. Alessandro was doing this because he loved, and because Domenico loved, too, he knew that there would be no stopping his brother.

“KASSIA?”

“Mm?” She could stay like this forever , Kassia thought languorously.

It was heaven, dancing in the professor’s arms. When they were this close, her head against his chest, his heart beating against her ear, she felt like nothing else existed except the two of them.

She stopped worrying about what the other Lyccans would think of her.

She forgot about whether she was right to let herself fall harder and deeper for the professor when she wasn’t even sure she could trust him again.

When she was dancing in the professor’s arms, she only existed to love.

“Kassia, listen to me.” The professor’s voice sounded rough and uneven, penetrating her daydream and making her lift her head in bemusement.

“What is it, professor?”

“I have something to tell you.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes as he spoke. “I love you, Kassia, and I want to spend forever with you.”

Her breath caught. “Professor—-”

“But the only way we can have a future is if we’re completely honest with each other.”

She stilled, which forced the professor to stop, too.

“You’re making me nervous,” she whispered.

His chest constricted. “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t say anything, but her eyes pleaded with him. Don’t say anything that would make me stop loving you.

He took a deep breath. “Remember I told you Domenico married a human girl.”

She nodded.

“They were in love...” From a short distance away, Domenico’s sharp intake of breath reached Alessandro, Lyccan hearing making it possible for almost everyone in the ballroom to listen in to his conversation.

Alessandro knew this, but he didn’t let it stop him from doing what he had come here to do.

Looking down at Kassia, he said tautly, “I believe my brother and his wife would have stayed together if he had told her the truth first.”

Kassia bit her lip hard as she realized where this discussion was going. “A-are you telling me you lied t-to me?”

Forcing himself to meet her hurt gaze, he said harshly, “ Yes .”

Kassia started to take a step back, but he was too fast, pulling her back close to him. “ Listen. Please. Just please give me a chance to tell you everything.”

Even as she mentally beat herself up for being so weak, Kassia couldn’t help but take comfort from the strength the professor’s presence provided. Why , she thought miserably, couldn’t she stop loving him even when the professor couldn’t stop hurting her?

Her hand curling against his dress shirt, she whispered, “I don’t k-know if I want to listen to the truth, Professor.”

“But I have to tell you, sweetheart.” Tension made his voice curt and his body stiff.

“Lies have the power to tear people apart. I’ve seen it happen, and I don’t want it to happen to us, knowing I could have prevented it.

” She didn’t answer, and Alessandro knew that was all he would get from her.

“My brother and I used to fight a lot. We didn’t see eye to eye on certain things and because of this, I had all this pent-up anger inside me that I could only release by fighting. ”

“I don’t understand,” Kassia whispered. She couldn’t imagine how the professor, who was always the perfect gentleman in school, could be involved in any kind of fight.

“I beat people up, Kassia.”

She stiffened. “You beat up...anyone?”

“Never without provocation but...” His lips twisted.

“Even though I know someone doesn’t stand a chance against me, I don’t let it stop me.

There were times when the rage completely took over me and I knew I could have killed any of them – and I might have, if Domenico or Alessandro wasn’t there to stop me. ”

Kassia didn’t know what to think. His words painted a horrible picture, but on the other hand, it wasn’t enough to make her hate him. “Is t-this what you lied about?”

Her heart broke when he answered, “I’m afraid not.”

She fought back tears of frustration. “Then tell me!” His chest heaved at her words, but even so, she couldn’t make herself take it back.

Alessandro closed his eyes, knowing that once he spoke his next words, there would be no turning back.

“Domenico wanted me to stop fighting because he knew it was only a matter of time I would end up dead or I’d kill someone.

He also knew, however, that reasoning with me wouldn’t do any good.

He promised me something I wanted, something that would make me stop fighting if I could find a woman I could fuck for thirty days straight. ”

The world around Kassia started spinning a little too fast for her. “Are you saying that I’m t-that woman?” Her voice shook. “Are you saying that y-you chose me because of a b-bet?”

Slowly, the professor nodded.

A cry escaped her, one filled with so much pain it had Alessandro flinching. She tried to wrench away, but he had already expected her to, and his arms tightened around her the moment she tried to escape.

“I’m telling you this because I know the truth always has a way of coming out, Kassia.

” His voice was tight and strained. “I’m telling you because I want you to know that even though I chose you for the wrong reasons, I kept wanting you to stay for the right ones.

I want you in my life because I love you.

” He paused, looked at Kassia, and the truth stared back at him from her eyes. This was the girl he would always love.

And so he took the plunge.

“That’s why I told you everything about me, Kassia. My weaknesses, my secrets, everything, even the fact that I’m not human . ”

Everyone in the ballroom went still at the words, the silence only broken by the soft gasp of horror that came from his sister, Esmeralda, followed by the sound of Domenico cursing under his breath and his twin Alejandro demanding an explanation.

And finally, there were footsteps, all coming from the other end of the ballroom – soldiers of the Lyccan Council intent on reaching Alessandro.

Any sane man would have made a run for it, but the thought didn’t even cross his mind. He only had eyes for Kassia, his heart only beating for her. “Look at me, baby.” Tightening his hold on her, he implored tautly, “See the truth in my eyes.”

Sobs clogging her throat, Kassia told herself that the professor had to be lying again. He kept blowing hot and cold, kept playing with her heart like it was a cheap toy. When would she ever learn?

Without meeting his gaze, she whispered painfully, “The only truth I know is that I’d be a fool to believe in you again, Professor.

” She closed her eyes, and tears burned the back of her eyelids, begging to be released.

“No other man might ever make me happy the way you could, but I don’t think anyone can hurt me the way you keep—-”

“Please, Kassia.” The hurt in her voice lashed at him, and Alessandro knew that no matter how long he would live, he would never be able to forget how defeated Kassia sounded now. “Believe in me one last time. Please. ”

But Kassia only shook her head. “I just feel like everything’s a game between us, Professor, and that.

..the first time I told you about my feelings, you made a bet with me, and then when I won the bet, you slept with another woman.

Now, when I think I’m almost...” Pain ripped at her as she thought about the professor’s newest lie.

“You tell me you made another bet, and that to you I was just some girl you could—-” Unable to continue speaking without breaking down, she choked out, “Please just leave me alone, Professor. Please. ”

Alessandro’s hands fell, and the moment she was free, she spun around and walked away, never looking back, leaving the professor without knowing that with every step she took, she was unknowingly pushing him closer towards the execution block.

The truth about Lyccans could only be revealed to humans who were either future mates or bound by blood oaths, and it was clear for everyone to see that Kassia was... neither.