I had imagined the worst when I saw the blood in the dungeon. When I heard she’d been whipped with silver, silver, my mind broke. Addison’s wolf was unresponsive; her body was as weak as a human’s. I didn’t need details to imagine how bad it was.
I snapped.
I tore through anything and anyone in my way. Pack mbers, warriors, it didn’t matter. Shura and I beca one in that mont, feral and wild, drenched in red. My heart had cracked wide open with fear, a fear that she would die... and I hadn’t even had the chance to make things right.
But now, seeing her, standing, breathing, beautiful, I wanted to crumble. I wanted to fall to my knees and wrap my arms around her, beg for her forgiveness, and drown in her scent just to convince myself she was real.
I had so much to say. About Claire. About every mistake I made. About how deeply I regret everything.
But my mouth just opened and closed, useless. What excuse could ever make up for the pain I caused her?
Finally, I managed to breathe out one broken word.
"Addison..."
"This is... unexpected." The Alpha King’s voice cut through the silence before I could say anything else. His tone was sharp, controlled, but laced with clear disapproval. He didn’t even try to hide his disdain for . He looked at like I was dirt beneath his boots, as though I were so unworthy rogue who’d just wandered into his presence by mistake.
But beneath that cold, arrogant exterior, I caught a flicker, just a flicker, of confusion in his eyes. It vanished just as quickly as it ca, replaced with judgnt as he blatantly ignored and turned his attention to the other two.
He gave a proud nod to the man he’d chosen as Addison’s fiancé. There was satisfaction in his gaze, like he was patting himself on the back for what he thought was a wise decision. That look, so approving, so full of certainty, stabbed deeper than I expected.
It didn’t hurt my pride.
It hurt my heart.
Because I knew this was my fault.
If I hadn’t screwed everything up, if I hadn’t run from her, maybe I would’ve realized sooner that Addison was my true, fated mate. Maybe we wouldn’t be standing in this goddamn ss right now, and she wouldn’t be caught between three n and a bitter political arrangent, or so I thought.
But even then... it wasn’t like I had a real choice.
When the war broke out, I had no option but to lead my warriors to defend our border. If the vampires broke through the frontlines, my pack would be the first to burn. My Luna, Addison, and my mother... they would’ve been captured. Tortured. Desecrated. I couldn’t let that happen.
Still, no excuse could erase the truth:
My ignorance, my absence, my silence, it all led us here.
And now, even though I once fought to protect her, it feels like I failed her just the sa.
...
As soon as the three werewolves in front of Addison began growling at each other, the tension in the room thickened like a brewing storm. Their eyes burned with territorial fury, each ready to rip the others apart as if whoever survived the clash would be the one to claim her. Zion instinctively stepped in front of Addison, shielding her, his body taut and trembling with restrained aggression.
But then Addison spoke.
Just one word.
"Enough."
Addison’s voice carried command and authority, powerful enough to stop them all in their tracks. Even the growls died mid-throat as their wolves recoiled like scolded pups. Shura whined. Zion went still. Levi lowered his head, breathing heavily through his nose. They had all forgotten where they were, forgotten that they were standing in the Alpha King’s presence, in the middle of his birthday banquet.
The Alpha King stepped forward then, his expression unreadable as he addressed the room."This is... unexpected." His voice was deceptively calm. But behind his asured tone was clear disbelief.
And it truly was. Even he hadn’t seen this coming.
His daughter had spent so ti in the Midnight River Pack and never once showed any signs of a mate bond. Yet now, standing before three dominant werewolves, she had recognized them all: Zion, Levi, and the man he had personally chosen as her fiancé.
Why now?
Had Saintess Sila’s help weakened the curse bound to Addison’s soul? And left a crack just enough for her wolf, Aurora, to erge and sense the mate bonds that had long been buried? Or was it the overwhelming presence of all three mates that stirred Aurora from her slumber, rousing her through sheer force of instinct and proximity?
The Alpha King wasn’t the only one trying to make sense of it. Addison herself stood silent, her eyes flicking between the three n, her expression a careful mask of composure, but confusion churned behind her gaze.
Aurora had spoken, called them mates, and then vanished again into silence. And what disturbed Addison even more was the faint second voice she had heard, deep and unfamiliar, yet... oddly familiar at the sa ti.
She looked between Zion, Levi, and her supposed fiancé, unsure of what to say, unsure if she could trust her voice at all.
The weight of so much uncertainty threatened to collapse on her, but thankfully, her father had stepped in, diverting attention away from her and breaking the rising tension before it could boil over again.
Even Addison was caught off guard by the sheer power she held over them. One word, "Enough", and all three had imdiately backed down. She could almost picture their wolves sitting obediently, ears perked, tongues lolling like excited pups.
Well, all except Zion.
He looked utterly lost, wounded even. His wide, erald eyes shimred with disbelief and sorrow, like a kicked dog unsure of what he’d done wrong. The sight made Addison’s heart twist painfully in her chest.
’Damn this mate bond,’ she cursed inwardly.
It wasn’t fair, how just one look from him could stir sympathy in her chest, how her anger seed to blur beneath the bond’s pull. It was as if her heart wanted to hand him a clean slate, to pretend none of it had happened. But how could she forget?
Addison had almost died.
And it hadn’t just been her life on the line; she had been unknowingly pregnant back then. The mory still haunted her: the severe blood loss, the pain, the crushing exhaustion that had pushed her body to its limits. If her babies hadn’t possessed such strong life forces... if fate hadn’t intervened... her precious boys might never have taken their first breaths.
How could she just forgive and forget that?
Just because fate decided they were ant to be?
Addison didn’t know whether the Moon Goddess was playing a cruel joke on her or if this had all been written in the stars long ago. Either way, she couldn’t make sense of it. She had already rejected Zion, had severed the mate bond between them before she left the Midnight River Pack’s Territory. That should’ve been the end of it.
Shouldn’t it?
User Comments
0 comments from readers