Hugo’s POV
That afternoon, Camilla remained by my side in the dense woodland, never once leaving alone with my tornt.
Even when my body began the violent shift and she witnessed my wolf erge in all its terrifying glory, larger and more brutal than any normal shifter, she held her ground without a tremor of fear.
Rather than flee, she shifted alongside , her smaller wolf keeping pace as we tore through the underbrush together.
It struck as bizarre. All this ti, I had painted her as the villain in my mind.
Everything I believed about Camilla ca filtered through Bella’s bitter words and twisted perceptions.
After we both shifted back to human form, I pulled on the spare jeans and black t-shirt I kept stashed, then collapsed onto the cracked asphalt of the forgotten road that bordered the forest.
This stretch of highway had been abandoned for years. Traffic was virtually nonexistent here.
"Alright, I raided the ergency stash in my car, and I apologize if these belonged to soone else, but I figured you could use them right now," she announced, approaching with her arms full.
She settled cross-legged in front of , arranging chocolate bars, fruit juice boxes, and energy drinks in a neat semicircle.
"Please eat sothing," she insisted, her voice carrying genuine concern.
I reached for a chocolate bar, knowing my body desperately craved the sugar rush after such an intense transformation.
Yet every attempt to push past the anguish brought fresh waves of Bella’s cruel laughter echoing in my mory, her mocking words slicing through like silver blades.
The emotional devastation made swallowing nearly impossible.
I noticed Camilla had helped herself to the chocolates as well.
"I hope you don’t mind the company," she said with a tentative smile. "Your wolf, though—"
She hesitated, and I gave her an encouraging nod.
"It’s a monster," I stated flatly.
But she imdiately shook her head with surprising vehence.
"Absolutely not. It’s magnificent. I’ve never witnessed a wolf with such raw power and presence. God, you must feel incredible when you shift."
Her genuine admiration for sothing I considered my greatest curse left completely speechless.
She seed to find nothing disturbing or wrong with my wolf form. If anything, she appeared srized by what others found terrifying.
Multiple tis throughout that evening, I considered making excuses to escape her presence.
Sothing about being near her felt like a betrayal to Bella, despite everything that had happened, but then the mory of Bella’s devastating words would crash over again.
The realization that Bella had shared intimate details about my darkest secrets with others ant she had already put in serious danger.
I wasn’t prepared to discuss any of it. Her betrayal had shattered sothing fundantal inside .
If anyone else had approached claiming Bella spoke about that way, I would have dismissed them as liars without hesitation.
But I had witnessed it myself. I had seen her animated face as she entertained others with stories of my humiliation.
Continuing to defend her now would make look like a complete fool.
Once Camilla had successfully helped regain so asure of composure, she absolutely refused to let walk back to pack territory alone.
She offered no complaints about the long drive, and I was too emotionally drained to ask how she planned to get ho afterward.
Only after she had dropped off and disappeared into the night did it occur to that I should have inquired about her return journey. Would she have to take public transportation?
How dangerous would that be for a young woman traveling alone at night?
Unfortunately, she had already vanished, and I realized I didn’t even possess her phone number.
Over the following days, she continued to astound with her persistence.
Sohow, she managed to track down repeatedly, always arriving with bags of food whenever I retreated to the woods.
I must have ntioned during one of our conversations that stress drove to seek solitude in the forest, because that’s where she consistently located .
She would travel all the way from her own territory just to ensure I was eating properly and taking care of myself.
Her dedication forced to acknowledge how foolish I had been to base all my judgnts solely on Bella’s biased opinions.
After all, if Bella had judged so harshly and unfairly, how could I trust her assessnt of anyone else?
As weeks passed, my friendship with Camilla deepened considerably.
Then ca the day Bella appeared before the alpha council to discuss her supposed pregnancy, and every rational thought I’d gained instantly evaporated.
Watching the other alphas’ panic-stricken reactions sparked a desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, if I stepped up as her protector now, she might reconsider her feelings toward .
My brain concocted what seed like a brilliant strategy. I told her, ’I know soone who can help you terminate the pregnancy.’
The truth was far more complicated. I planned to et her privately the following day.
I would convince her to co with under the pretense of seeking abortion assistance, but once we were alone together, I intended to propose marriage.
I would declare my love and beg her to keep the baby, promising to accept full responsibility regardless of the biological father.
I simply couldn’t bear to make such declarations in front of the others, because every previous attempt had resulted in hostile competition and aggressive territorial disputes.
This ti, I convinced myself I was being strategic.
I wasn’t repeating past errors by announcing my intentions and allowing others to sabotage them.
However, when I sent her that ssage the next day, her response felt like a physical assault.
After she announced her period had arrived and walked away from us, instinct told she was creating deliberate distance between herself and all of us.
Sothing deep in my gut scread that I needed to confess my feelings imdiately, before it was too late.
Once she left the eting, I maintained my composure briefly, then grabbed my phone with trembling fingers.
: Just so you know, if you were actually pregnant, I would take complete responsibility.
I sent the ssage and sat in my bedroom, leg bouncing frantically, staring at the screen with desperate anticipation.
I knew how pathetic this made appear, especially after her devastating betrayal, but love makes fools of us all.
Then I typed another ssage.
: Even if the child belonged to one of the others, I would still take responsibility.
I hit send again, completely losing control as I bombarded her with ssages, detailing everything I would sacrifice for her, every way I would accept and cherish her.
I offered her my entire world on a silver platter.
But then her reply arrived like a dagger to my heart.
Bella: If it was your baby, trust , I would have already gotten rid of it. But thankfully, there is no baby. And since the others have rejected , I want nothing from anyone, especially not you.
I forced down the tears threatening to spill and set my phone aside with shaking hands.
Finally, her complete rejection had penetrated my thick skull.
She clearly felt nothing for , and I was pathetically chasing soone who found repulsive.
The fact that she had written re sentences about having feelings for while composing novels about the others should have been my first clue about where I truly ranked.
After that crushing exchange, I never contacted her again, and weeks later discovered she had fled entirely.
But by then, Camilla had beco my anchor, and our bond had grown into sothing genuinely aningful.
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