Chapter 43. Mates Bond

Xander’s POV

The rhythmic tapping of my fingers on the mahogany desk was the only sound in the room. The office, bathed in the dim light of the overcast morning, felt stifling, suffocating almost. My mind, however, was far from quiet. It was a battlefield, torn between logic and emotion, between anger and something far more treacherous, doubt.

Alison’s tear-streaked face haunted me, the crack in her voice as she pleaded for me to reject her echoing in my ears. But every time I thought of softening, the memory of that night came roaring back, like a slap to my face. Her tangled in the sheets with that... Damon the mailman. The image was seared into my mind, a brand that refused to fade no matter how hard I tried to erase it.

The scent of her tears, the way her voice trembled as she accused me of giving up on her... it pulled at me, a gravitational force I couldn’t resist. But the betrayal lingered. Was it real? Or was I just a fool too blinded by my own pain