Enzo’s POV
It had been two days since what happened between me and Rebecca.
Right after that day, I ordered the head maid to never let her work on my side of the residential wing again.
I wanted to avoid her.
I had to avoid her.
I had been controlling my feelings for years, holding back every single urge, and I couldn’t back out now when I only had five years left.
Just five years, and all this would be over.
I stood out on the training ground, my arms crossed tightly over my chest as I watched the warriors practice their combat.
”You’re pushing them hard today, Alpha.”
I turned my head to see Sir Morriston walking up.
Rebecca’s and Clara’s father, the former Alpha of this pack, moved slowly, holding a heavy wooden walking stick to support his weight.
”Father Morriston,” I said, my voice softening out of respect.
“You shouldn’t have walked all the way out here.
You could have sent a messenger or used the mind link, and I would have come straight to your study.”
He gave a small, tired wave of his hand, standing right beside me as we both watched two warriors trade heavy blows in the dirt.
“No, no.
I needed some fresh air.
Those mansion walls feel tighter every single day.”
Sir Morriston was like a real father to me.
When I was only seventeen years old, my own father died.
Morriston had been his best friend, and without hesitation, he took me into his home and adopted me as his own son.
He taught me everything I knew about leading this pack.
He looked out at the young men fighting, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
“I wish things had turned out differently for both of us, Enzo.”
I swallowed the sudden tightness in my throat and looked away, nodding silently.
I knew exactly what he meant.
The pack healers had already given us the terrible news—Morriston had less than a year left before his internal organs would completely begin to shut down.
And as for me?
I sucked in a deep, sharp breath, the weight of my own plight suffocating me.
”Enzo,” Morriston spoke up again, his voice dropping lower so the warriors wouldn’t hear us.
“You know you have to work on getting an heir.
Whether it’s with Rebecca or Clara, you need an heir to carry on the bloodline.
There is simply not much time left.”
I swallowed hard.
I knew he was right.
Time was a luxury neither of us had.
”So?” Morriston turned his gray eyes to look at me.
“Are you going to go through with Clara, like we originally planned?”
My chest ached, a terrible, tearing pain ripping through my heart.
Inside my mind, my wolf let out a miserable, angry howl, scratching at his cage.
I hated this.
I hated every single second of it.
How I wished I could choose Rebecca.
How I wished to see a mini version of us running around the pack house.
I wanted a family with her more than I wanted my next breath.
But I couldn’t.
”Yes,” I forced the word out, my jaw clenching tightly as I gave him a stiff nod.
“I will go with Clara.”
Morriston stared at me for a long moment.
“And what about Rebecca?
She is your wife, you know.
Traditionally, you both are married.”
”Only in name, sir,” I replied, keeping my face completely blank, masking the agony inside.
He sighed, shaking his head.
“I know you love her, Enzo.
I am your father.
I have eyes.”
”No,” I lied instantly, the word tasting like poison on my tongue.
I kept my eyes fixed on the combat arena, refusing to look at him.
“I don’t love her.
She is just a child to me.”
”I am not a fool, boy,” Morriston scoffed softly, leaning heavily on his walking stick.
“There is absolutely no need to deny it to me.
I’ve watched the way you look at her since she was a girl.
I know the truth.”
I sucked in another deep breath, my hands balling into fists inside my pockets.
”Why don’t you just tell her the truth, Enzo?” Morriston asked, his voice full of pity.
“Why don’t you tell her exactly why you can’t be with her?
Why don’t you tell her it isn’t actually the ten-year age difference that is stopping you, but something much worse?”
I shook my head immediately, my face hardening into a stubborn frown.
“No.
I won’t tell her.
I will never tell her.”
”It will hurt her so much more when she finally realizes the truth, Enzo,” Father Morriston said, his old voice cracking with a heavy sadness.
“You are breaking her spirit right now, but the reality will break her completely.”
”No,” I replied, my voice dead and cold, though my heart felt like it was being shredded into pieces.
“That is exactly why she needs to find someone else.
She needs to find another man and love him.”
Morriston frowned, his thick eyebrows pulling together as he leaned harder on his walking stick.
“What do you mean by that?
What are you planning, boy?”
I let out a long, ragged sigh, looking away from the warriors and staring blankly at the dirt.
The secret was a heavy anchor in my chest, but I had to carry it.
”I have already talked to Ryan,” I confessed, the words burning my throat.
“I want him to pursue Rebecca.
I told him to go after her.”
Morriston’s eyes went wide in pure shock.
“Ryan?
Your Beta?
Your best friend?”
”Yes,” I choked out, clenching my jaw.
“Ryan is a good man.
He is strong, he is loyal, and he has always looked at her with admiration.
If she falls for him, then when the time comes—when the five years are finally over and I can no longer stay by her side—she won’t feel that much pain.
It will be easier for her to move on if she is already in another man’s arms instead of being bonded to me.”
Morriston slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with a mixture of disbelief and deep pity.
“Is that why you are acting so cold to her?
Is that why you treat her like trash?
So that she hates you?”
”Yes,” I whispered, the admission tearing a piece of my soul away.
“Actually… I haven’t even begun yet.
Rebecca has to hate me, Father.
She has to despise the very ground I walk on.
That way, when the end comes, it will make things so much easier for her.
She will celebrate my absence instead of mourning it.”