The Lycan King's Outcast Omega (by Cara Anderson) novel Chapter 107

Alaric

For a moment, I can only stare up at her in stunned disbelief. No one has dared use power against me since I became king. Even my father… My chest tightens at the thought, but Sage’s foot pressing firmly against my sternum demands my attention.

“Did you just-“I start, rage building.

“Knock you on your ass? Yes.” She looks down at me, violet eyes blazing. “Going to do something about it?”

My beast rises at the challenge, but before I can act, she removes her foot and drops gracefully to straddle my thighs. The intimate position steals my anger, replacing it with awareness I’ve been trying to suppress for days.

“Look at me,” she demands softly, framing my face with her hands. “Really look at me.”

I try to turn away but she holds firm. “Sage-”

“No more running.” Her thumbs stroke my cheeks, the gentle touch at odds with the power still crackling around her. “No more pushing me away. No more drowning alone in guilt that isn’t yours to carry.”

“You don’t understand-”

“I understand better than you think.” She presses her forehead to mine, and suddenly the mate bond floods with everything she’s feeling – her own grief for Perseus, her pain at watching me suffer, her fierce determination to break through my walls. “Iris told me about your childhood. About how he raised you.

Ice slides down my spine. “That’s not—”

“Relevant?” Her voice softens but her grip stays firm. “It’s everything, Alaric. He taught you that emotions were weakness. That pain should be buried. That kings can’t afford to feel.”

“Because it’s true.” But my voice cracks on the words. “Look what feeling cost him. If I’d been stronger-

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“Do you know what I saw at the memorial today?” She cuts me off. “I saw your mother trying so hard to be strong while her mate and her son were both missing. I saw your sister fighting back tears because she couldn’t grieve properly without her brother there. I saw a pack watching their king abandon them when they needed him most.”

The words hit like physical blows. “I couldn’t-”

“Couldn’t what? Face your grief? Show your pack that even kings feel pain? Show them that real strength is getting up and leading even when you’re hurting?” Her hands slide to my shoulders. “Your father taught you that feelings make you weak. But what if he was wrong?”

“He was never wrong.” But the protest sounds hollow even to my ears.

“He was wrong about me.” She says it softly, but with conviction. “Wrong about what I could mean to this pack. To you. What if he was wrong about other things too?”

Through our bond, I feel her certainty – not just in her words, but in us. In what we could be together.

Chapter 107

+25 BONUS

“The pack saw me cry today,” she continues. “Saw me grieve openly for the father–in–law I’ll never truly know. Did it make me weaker in their eyes? Or did it show them that strength comes in many forms?”

“You’ve always been stronger than me.” I admit, my hands tracing patterns on her hips.

“No.” She kisses me gently. “I just never had anyone tell me I couldn’t feel. They told me a lot of messed up things but never that I couldn’t feel. And somehow, I found my strength despite all the pain, all the heartache, all the grief.

“So let’s revisit that thought. If you’d been stronger what? Strong enough not to have a father who loved you? Strong enough not to mourn him?” She shifts closer, and I can’t help my hands settling on her hips. “He died protecting you because that’s what parents do. Because he loved you more than his own life.”

“Then he was a fool.” The words taste like ash.

“No.” She kisses my forehead, my cheeks, the corner of my mouth. “He was a father who finally showed his love the only way he knew how. By making sure his son lived.”

Something breaks in my chest – a dam I’ve been holding since that night. “I couldn’t save him.” The words come out raw, ragged. “I couldn’t… I should have…”

“Shh.” She pulls me closer as the first tears fall. “Let it out. Let me help carry this.”

“Kings don’t-”

“Cry? Feel? Love?” Her lips brush mine. “Then maybe it’s time for a different kind of king. One who leads with his heart as well as his strength.”

My beast whines at her words, at the truth in them. Through our bond, I feel her love wrapping around me like a blanket, offering comfort I don’t deserve but desperately need.

“I don’t know how,” I admit against her throat. “I don’t know how to be that king.”

“Then let me help you learn.” She pulls back enough to meet my eyes. “That’s what mates do – they make each other stronger. Better.”

“I’ve been horrible to you.” My hands tighten on her hips. “These past days—”

“You’ve been drowning in grief and guilt.” She kisses me softly. “But you’re not alone anymore. You don’t have to be strong all the time. Not with me.”

Something shifts in my chest – not healing exactly, but the beginning of it. Like the first crack in a frozen river.

“I can’t promise I’ll be good at this,” I warn her. “Feeling. Letting others in.”

“I don’t need promises.” Her smile warms something cold inside me. “I just need you to try. To let me in when it gets too heavy. To remember that kings who lead with both strength and heart make the greatest rulers.”

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