The Lycan King's Outcast Omega (by Cara Anderson) novel Chapter 95

Alaric

The truth hits like a physical blow as I watch Cassius manipulate yet another situation to his advantage. His careful words, his precise timing, the way he positioned himself to be overheard that day… because that’s what he did. I realize that now.

I’m usually so careful to hide my aura, to prevent overwhelming people. But I was worried about Sage, unfocused. Of course he felt my presence.

I’m a fool.

“Finally figured that out?” my beast snarls. “Now fix it.”

But pride makes my feet heavy as I head toward the healing wing. The mate bond pulses with Sage’s hurt – no longer hidden behind cheerful smiles now that she knows I’m watching.

She doesn’t look up when I enter, though her shoulders tense slightly. “My King. Did you need something?”

The formal tone cuts deep. “Sage…”

“I’m quite busy.” She continues sorting herbs with precise movements. “If you have no official business—”

“We need to talk.”

“I believe we said everything necessary already.” Her voice could freeze flame. “Unless you’ve found more accusations to throw at me?”

Other healers pretend not to watch our interaction, but I feel their attention. Feel how they’ve closed ranks around her, protective of one of their own.

“Privately,” I grind out.

“No.” She finally meets my eyes, her violet gaze hard. “I have nothing to say to you in private or public.”

She turns away, effectively dismissing me. My beast snarls at her rejection, but we’ve earned this coldness.

“My King?” The head healer approaches carefully. “The warriors from yesterday’s attack need their bandages changed.”

For a moment, I consider ordering everyone out, forcing Sage to listen. But that would only prove her point about not trusting her, about forcing my will rather than earning her faith.

Instead, I watch her work – gentle hands tending wounds while maintaining that terrible professional distance. Other healers move around her protectively, creating barriers between us without being obvious about it.

I try again at lunch, following her to the garden where she eats with other healers. But she rises the moment I approach.

“Lady Sage-“I start.

“Excuse me,” she tells her companions. “I just remembered urgent business elsewhere.”

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Chapter 95

+25 BONUS

I try catching her after council meetings, but she’s always surrounded by others. I try sending Iris to arrange a private conversation, but my sister returns shaking her head.

“You really messed up this time,” Iris tells me bluntly. “She trusted you despite everything Cassius did to her. Do you have any idea how hard that was for her?”

The truth in her words makes my beast whine. Because Sage did trust me, didn’t she? Gave me every part of herself while I kept the mate bond secret, while I maintained public distance, while I…

“While we hurt her over and over,” Phantom snarls. “And still she trusted us.

Throughout the day, she maintains this perfect, cold distance. Professional when pack business requires interaction, completely closed off otherwise.

“Corner her“, my beast demands. “Make her listen.”

But I’ve already forced too much on her, haven’t I? Already believed the worst without giving her a chance to explain.

Finally, I catch her alone in the library – our spot, where so many private moments were shared.

“Please,” I say before she can escape. “Just listen.”

“Like you listened to me?” She doesn’t turn from the bookshelf. “Or like you listened to Cassius’s lies?”

“I was wrong.

“Yes.” Her voice catches slightly. “You were. But that’s not even the worst part.”

“What is?”

Now she does turn, and the pain in her eyes steals my breath. “The worst part is that after everything we’ve shared, everything we’ve been through… you believed him over me without a second thought. You believed I would lie about something so important.‘

“Sweetling-”

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“Don’t.” She steps back when I reach for her. “Don’t call me that. Don’t touch me. Don’t pretend you trust me now when we both know you’ll believe the next lie someone tells about me.”

“That’s not-”

“It is fair.” Her laugh holds no humor. “You’ve shown exactly how much faith you have in me. In us. And I can’t… ” She swallows hard. “I can’t keep giving you pieces of myself only to have you throw them back in my face.”

The mate bond floods with her pain, her sense of betrayal. My beast howls to make it right, to explain, to beg forgiveness.

“I believed in you,” she whispers, and somehow this hurts worse than her anger. “Even when you kept the mate bond secret. Even when you wouldn’t claim me publicly. Even when everyone questioned why you kept me close… I believed in you.”

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Chapter 95

+25 BONUS

“I believe in you too,” I try, but she cuts me off.

“No. You believe in me when it’s easy. When no one’s questioning your judgment or spreading rumors.” Her voice breaks slightly. “But the moment someone challenged that belief? You didn’t even hesitate to think the worst of me.”

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