Too Late To Regret, My Alphas

Rosalie:

Zaiden didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he simply looked at me. Not for a few seconds, but for what felt like an entire minute.

His gray eyes searched mine with the same patience he always carried, as though he wasn’t merely listening to my question but trying to understand every thought hidden behind it. His hands remained comfortably around my waist while I continued sitting across his lap, neither of us making the slightest move to pull away.

Finally, he let out a slow breath before asking quietly, "Rosalie... do you think we only like you because of the mate bond?"

The question struck me harder than I expected. I opened my mouth, then closed it without saying anything. Because... wasn’t that exactly what I had believed from the very beginning? Though not completely, at least not anymore. But enough for it to constantly linger somewhere in the back of my mind.

Ever since learning they were my fated mates, I had always connected their kindness, their patience, their protectiveness... all of it... to the mate bond. Even after spending these past months with them, a small, insecure part of me still whispered that perhaps fate had simply pushed them toward me, leaving them with little choice. I wanted to deny it. Goddess, I truly wanted to. But lying to them now would only make everything we had shared tonight meaningless.

I was still struggling to find words that wouldn’t dismiss their feelings when I felt something lightly tap the tip of my nose. Blinking in surprise, I looked toward Eiden.

He smiled softly as he spoke gently, clearly noticing how lost inside my own thoughts I had become. "There you are. Now answer me something instead." He tilted his head slightly before asking, "Do you know what a mate bond actually does?"

I nodded slowly. "It makes mates..." I hesitated before continuing, "...feel attracted to each other."

"And?"

"It... strengthens the connection between them."

He smiled again as he asked, "And does it force two people to love each other?"

I immediately shook my head.

"No."

The answer came without hesitation because I already knew it. Every werewolf knew it. The mate bond could spark attraction. It could make two wolves instinctively recognize each other. It could strengthen emotions that already existed. But it couldn’t manufacture love where there was none. Otherwise, rejected mate bonds would never exist. Otherwise, people would never walk away from their destined partners.

Eiden seemed satisfied by my answer.

"Good," he said quietly before reaching up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His fingertips lingered against my cheek for just a brief moment before his hand rested lightly against the side of my face. "Then you shouldn’t question whether our love is real."

I felt my heart skip.

"When we first recognized the bond," he continued, "Zaiden and I accepted fate almost immediately."

Zaiden gave a single nod beside him.

"We trusted the Moon Goddess’ choice," Eiden added. "Not because we already loved you... but because we believed our mate deserved to be accepted rather than rejected."

I listened without interrupting.

"But..." His blue eyes softened in a way that made my chest ache. "What I feel for you now has very little to do with the bond. It has everything to do with you."

My breathing slowed as something inside me cracked. Not painfully, but gently. Like a wall I had spent years building was finally beginning to fall apart.

Eiden smiled at me with the same warmth that had comforted me since the day we first met. "You are far stronger than you give yourself credit for," he said. "Not because of your wolf." His hand shifted from my cheek to rest lightly over my heart. "Because of this."

My eyes immediately began to sting.

"You lost everything that mattered to you," he continued softly. "Your family. Your home. The people you trusted most." His voice never wavered. "And yet..." He smiled with quiet admiration. "You still choose kindness."

I lowered my eyes.

"You still care about strangers. You still thank people for helping you. You still worry about making others uncomfortable before thinking about yourself. You work harder than anyone I’ve met."

A tear escaped before I could stop it. Then another.

"You are thoughtful and so incredibly sweet. You notice the smallest details. You learn quickly. You never stop trying. And despite everything life has done to you..." His thumb brushed away one of my tears. "You still believe people can be good."

I couldn’t stop crying anymore.

Eiden chuckled softly. "I’ve watched all of those things myself."

Zaiden finally spoke, "And so have I."

I turned toward him. His expression remained composed as always, but his eyes held a tenderness that seemed to reach straight into my heart.

"I have watched you build an entirely new life with your own hands," he said quietly. "You refused to depend on anyone." His hand squeezed my waist gently. "You asked for help only when you truly needed it and didn’t pretend to be strong. You turned a dying bookstore into a place filled with life. You continued writing.You trained every morning despite wanting to collapse. You make people around you happier without realizing it."

A faint smile appeared on his face and his voice grew even softer. "And every day, I found another reason to fall in love with you."

Silence settled around us.

Neither of them looked embarrassed. Neither looked as though they had exaggerated anything. They simply... believed every word they had spoken.

Eiden let out a quiet laugh before adding, "Sometimes I look at you and wonder whether the Moon Goddess made a mistake."

I frowned.

He smiled as he confessed, "Because someone like you feels too perfect."

Zaiden nodded in complete agreement. "There are days," he admitted calmly, "when I genuinely question whether we deserve you."

That was it. The final thread holding me together snapped. Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks before I could wipe them away.

For years, I had spent my life wondering what was wrong with me. Wondering why I wasn’t enough. Wondering why loving people with everything I had still wasn’t enough to make them choose me. And now, these two men were sitting in front of me telling me they questioned whether they deserved me.

Before another thought could enter my head, I moved. My one arm was already resting around Zaiden’s shoulder. I lifted the other and wrapped it around Eiden as well, pulling both of them toward me with every bit of strength I had.

"Thank you..." I whispered, my voice trembling against the tears.

Neither of them resisted. Instead, both immediately leaned into the embrace, surrounding me with steady warmth.

"Thank you..." I repeated, hugging them even tighter. "For seeing me in a way..." My throat tightened so much I almost couldn’t finish. "...that no one ever has."

I closed my eyes.

"...Not even me."

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