I threw the dresser drawer open so hard it rattled against the frame. Clothes spilled over the edge, and I shoved them into my bag without care, my hands shaking too much to fold anything properly. My chest hurt, every breath sharp like glass. I couldn’t stay here another second. Not with her. Not with them. Not when the truth was so close yet locked away
behind their silence.
The sound of footsteps came before his voice.
“Please, don’t do this.” Asher’s voice was quiet from the doorway, but it vibrated with something low and raw, like a warning growl barely held back.
I didn’t look at him. If I did, I knew I’d crumble. My throat burned, my hands trembled, but I forced my voice to cut steady and cold. “I warned you, Asher. I told you if you wouldn’t tell me the truth, I couldn’t stay here.”
“It’s not that simple.” His words came rough, almost breaking at the edges.
“Then make it simple.” My hands were shaking as I shoved more clothes into the bag, each movement jerky and violent. “I’m your f*****g mate. The one person in this world you shouldn’t be lying to. The one person you’re supposed to be bound to. Me.” My voice cracked, but I pushed through it. “Tell me who she is. Tell me why the Alpha is protecting her like she’s some priceless treasure. Tell me why you look at me like you’re dying to tell me everything, but you won’t. Tell me why the entire packhouse feels like it’s laughing behind my back while I’m left blind!”
The silence hit like a slap. I finally looked at him. His jaw was locked so tight a muscle ticked in his cheek, his fists were balled so hard his knuckles whitened, and his eyes – gods, his eyes were a storm of pain and anger colliding.
—
“You think I like this?” His voice was hoarse now, trembling with fury he couldn’t disguise. ” You think I don’t hate myself every second I have to keep something from you? But if I tell you, it won’t just be me who pays for it. It’ll be you too. Don’t you understand?” He took a step forward, his breath ragged. “I’m trying to protect you.”
I laughed, bitter and broken, my chest rising and falling too fast. “Protect me? By letting Amy into this house?” I spat the name like poison. “By letting her stay under the Alpha’s wing while I feel like an intruder in my own pack? In what I thought was my family?” My eyes stung, but I didn’t blink. “You’re not protecting me, Asher. You’re protecting her.”
His face twisted like I’d struck him, and in a way I had. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.” I yanked another armful of clothes and stuffed them into the bag, my movements
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CHAPTER 67
+25 Points
wild now. “If you really wanted to protect me, you’d be honest with me. Instead, you and the Alpha keep me in the dark while Amy-” my voice cracked, venom seeping through every syllable, “-gets to sit pretty under his protection.”
“She’s not what you think.” Asher’s words were sharp, a blade cutting through the air between
- us.
“Then what is she?” I shouted, spinning around to face him fully. My fists were trembling at my sides, my breath coming hard. “Tell me!”
The words tore from my throat, raw and desperate. I needed something, anything, to make sense of this mess.
But Asher just stood there, silent. His lips parted, then pressed into a hard line. His shoulders sagged. He couldn’t. He wouldn’t.
And that was my answer.
I yanked the zipper closed on the bag and hauled it over my shoulder. My chest was tight, my pulse hammering in my ears. I couldn’t stop the words that came next, low and shaking.
“I can’t stay here, Asher. Not like this.”
He stepped into the room, his hand reaching for mine. I stepped back.
“Don’t.” I warned. My voice cracked. “If you touch me right now, I’ll break your f*****g hand.”
His hand hung in the air before falling uselessly to his side.
“It’s not safe out there.” He said, his voice urgent. “You don’t know what you’re walking into. The Alpha’s right–you need protection-”
“I don’t need his protection. And if you won’t come with me, then I don’t need yours either.”
I slung the bag down near the door, fingers trembling. Memories crowded like ghosts- warnings, lies, laughter turned knife–sharp–and for a moment I wondered if staying would kill me slower than leaving. Whatever came next, I refused to be held in place by fear or by someone else’s rules and damn it.
The words nearly killed me to say. I saw them hit him like a blow. He staggered back a step, his eyes wide and shining with hurt.
“Please.” He whispered. “Please don’t leave me.”
I swallowed hard, the bond between us tugging so hard I thought it might tear me in half.
Then come with me.”
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CHAPTER 67
“You know I can’t.” He said, broken.
I nodded once. That was it then.
“Goodbye, Asher.”
+25 Points
I walked past him, my bag heavy against my shoulder, my chest heavier still. His scent clung to me as I brushed by, warm and familiar, but I didn’t stop. If I did, I might give in.
The hallways felt colder than ever. Amy was there, of course, leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Her lips curved in that faint, smug smile, her eyes glinting like she knew she’d won.
“Leaving so soon?” She asked sweetly.
I didn’t answer. I pushed past her, refusing to give her a reaction. She wasn’t worth it. Not tonight.
The front door opened easily, the morning air rushing in to meet me. For a second, I hesitated, praying Asher would come after me, call me back, fight for me. But when I glanced back, he was still in the hallway, frozen, torn apart, but unmoving, a silent plea in his eyes that
I couldn’t answer.
I stepped outside and shut the door behind me, the click of the latch echoing like a verdict.
The walk to my old house was long, but the rhythm of my boots crunching against the dirt path helped steady me. My bag strap dug into my shoulder, my back ached, but none of it compared to the ache inside my chest, the weight of betrayal and fear pressing down.
kept expecting Asher to come after me, to appear out of the shadows and pull me back. He didn’t. Each step further away from the packhouse stretched the bond between us thinner and thinner, until it felt like a thread about to snap, trembling with tension, fragile and
unbearable.
By the time my old house came into view, I was numb. The familiar outline of the building against the morning sky should have brought comfort, but instead, unease prickled at the back of my neck.
I pushed the door open. The hinges groaned in protest, the sound echoing through the dark, empty rooms. Dust hung in the air, stirred by my entrance. I dropped the bag by the couch and sighed, rubbing my hands over my face.
Finally, silence. Finally, space to breathe.
But as the seconds stretched on, the silence changed.
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$25 Points?
< CHAPTER 67
It wasn’t peaceful. It was heavy. Watching.
The air felt colder inside than it had outside, sharp and biting against my skin. My arms prickled with goosebumps, every hair standing on end. I swallowed hard, my heartbeat quickening.
I knew this feeling. I wasn’t alone.
Slowly, I lifted my head.
From the shadows of the hallway, a whisper curled through the air, soft, mocking, and unmistakable.
“I knew you’d come back.”
My blood turned to ice.
2
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
SUMMARY (~1000 Words in English)
