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Jess inhaled quickly, the sound soft and breathy. I could feel her gaze on me, but I held my father’s gaze without looking away.
“You have chosen a human female for bedsport?” His sneer was unmistakable.
“She is not bedsport.” My voice was as cold as his. “She is who I have chosen.”
My father stepped closer so that he could look down on me. “You would choose a female over your clan?”
I thought about all the pain my clan had brought me, all the shame, all the judgment. I had never been enough for them, but I was enough for my Blade brothers, and I was enough for Jess. “I would.”
My father locked his gaze on me for a few heavy beats of silence before snapping them away. “Then I hope you enjoy your life without the protection of me or your clan.” Then he spun away and stomped from the academy, his boots echoing as he went.
I could not breathe as I stood holding Jess. Neither of us spoke. I was not sure I believed what had just transpired. Had I truly been exiled from my clan with a few cold words?
“You made the right choice.”
I glanced up to see Admiral Zoran standing at the top of the staircase with Kax to one side and Jaxon on the other.
“I would have to agree with the admiral,” Kax said. “I would choose my human mate over my clan any day.”
Jaxon nodded firmly, touching his fist across his chest to salute me.
I swallowed the tightness in my throat, grateful for the older Drexians’ support. If they believed in my choice, it could not be so wrong. If they were behind me, I would not feel so lost.
“Mate?” Jess wiggled away from me. “Whoa. I thought we agreed that we were over. I thought you didn’t want to be together.”
I shook my head. “I agreed with you about last night because you seemed so determined, but I have changed my mind.”
She put her hands on her hips. “You changed your mind? First, you changed your mind about being with me and then you change your mind again?”
I pulled her hands to mine. “I was wrong, Jess. I was foolish and scared, and I thought that I could live without you. I cannot.”
Her jaw dropped as she gaped at me. “You’re admitting you’re wrong? And you’re admitting that you were a selfish, arrogant idiot?”
I didn’t remember saying that, but I nodded. “All of it, and I regret every moment of hurt I caused you. I only did it to protect you.”
“To protect me?” Her eyebrows went so high they almost disappeared beneath the hair flopping over her forehead. “Why the hell would breaking things off protect me?”
“Dom wanted to hurt me because of what my brother did to his, but he told me he did not want to kill me, he wanted to take from me what mattered most. I was terrified that he would discover that was you.”
“He went after me anyway.” Her voice cracked, and it was a knife through my heart.
“I know, and I am so sorry. I thought if I kept my distance from you, he would never know. But I guess I could not hide my true feelings.”
She peered up at me with glassy eyes. “It’s all your fault that Dom followed me into the woods and then took me captive?”
“It is, but that is why I came after you both times. I will always come for you, Jess. I hope you know that now.”
Her gaze went to the floor. “I trusted you, and you hurt me.”
I felt panic flutter in my chest. I was losing her. I could not lose her. I grasped her hands and lowered myself to my knees. “I regret every moment of pain I caused you, but I thought I was saving you. I thought you would be safer and better off without me. Jess, you are smart and beautiful and you deserve better than a cocky Drexian like me.” I sucked in a shaky breath. “I hope you will accept me anyway. I cannot imagine my life without you. Not now. Not ever. I do not want anyone but you, and that will never change.”
She swiped at her eyes. “You admit that everything was your fault?”
“Completely.”
“And you admit that you have been a word-class jerk?”
“I do.”
