Chapter 28

Chapter 28
Alec walked me all the way to my bedroom door, filling the quiet hallway with fascinating stories about things I never knew.

I looked up at him, listening intently and smiling, feeling as though this quiet walk was one of the happiest moments of my day.

Even right outside my doorway, we lingered, still laughing softly at his stories.

"Well, I'm going to head inside my room now, Alec. Thank you for taking the time to accompany me and keep me company," I said with a smile, my hand resting on the doorknob.

I was just about to push the door open when he stopped me, his hand gently wrapping around my arm. "Wait, Ken."

I turned back to look at him, freezing in place.

"Hmm? Why? Is there a problem?" I asked, noticing the hesitation in his eyes—as if he was desperate to say something, but the words were trapped in his throat.

I let go of the doorknob and turned to face him fully. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
I held his gaze, completely unable to read the emotions swirling in his eyes.

At the same time, a part of me desperately wanted to keep talking to him, to prolong our time together.

Perhaps I was just inventing excuses to stay, clinging to anything that made me feel this happy.

"There's just something I need to tell you."
With that, he looked straight into my eyes. My hands instinctively clenched, suddenly damp with a nervous sweat tightening across my chest.

"I just wanted to tell you about Allison."
The mere mention of Allison's name sent an instant wave of dread through my body.

Why did I have to feel this way? What should I do? Should I just tell him right now that I didn't care about Allison, nor whatever he had to say about her? That I had zero interest in knowing anything about that woman?

In the first place, I didn't even know her. And I certainly had no intention of getting to know her.

Yet, why did my internal reaction sound so uncomfortably possessive?

Just entertaining these thoughts made me sound like someone terrified of losing something—or someone—even though Alec and I didn't even have a defined relationship to begin with.

I wasn't usually like this. But Alec had a way of turning my thoughts completely upside down.

Should I ask Shiena for help? Would she be able to help me make sense of this chaos spinning inside my head?

"What about her?" I finally managed to ask.
"She's my ex-girlfriend."

Ex-girlfriend? Someone he once loved. Someone he once protected. Someone he had once given his heart and soul to.

Was this what he wanted to tell me? How happy they used to be together? How much he missed Allison? How desperately he wanted to return to the woman he loved in the past?

A bitter, humorless laugh wanted to escape my lips. I wanted to demand right then and there what Allison truly meant to him, just to clear the suffocating fog of confusion clouding my mind and heart.

"Oh, your ex-girlfriend," I replied evenly, staring straight into his eyes.

Was this the exact reason Shiena dodged my question earlier? Because she already knew the truth and refused to let it slip from her lips?

But wait—what about before? Didn't he tell me she wasn't his ex-girlfriend? Should I call him
out right now? Should I tell him that he lied to me? That he explicitly claimed she wasn't his ex, yet here he was, confessing the exact opposite?

What on earth was their true connection?

"Ken, let me explain—"

"Sorry, Alec. I really need to get some rest. Can we please continue this tomorrow?" I asked softly.

I couldn't handle any more words. I had no right to throw all these turbulent thoughts at him anyway.

In the end, he could only offer a silent nod, stepping back to let me retreat into the safety of my room.

The moment the door clicked shut, I leaned back against it, releasing a long, shuddering breath as I tried to force away the crushing pain constricting my chest.

Why did I have to feel like this? Why did a simple revelation have to physically ache in my heart?

\--

The next morning, I made my way to Shiena's clinic. Alec and I hadn't crossed paths yet, and honestly, I preferred it that way—I needed space while the conversation from last night was still raw in my mind.

When I arrived, several she-wolves were busy moving around the clinic. One of them pointed me toward Shiena's private office. I offered a quick, polite smile, thanked her, and walked down the hall.

As my hand wrapped around the doorknob and pushed it open just a crack, I froze. A familiar voice drifted out from inside.

"Do you think Ken is mad at me?" It was Alec. Why he was here?

Mad at him? Why would I be?

"How the heck would I know?" Shiena replied, her tone sharp and exasperated. "Besides, you said you talked to him last night, right? What on earth did you say to Ken to make you come running to me with questions like that? Don't start with me this early in the morning, Alec."

I swallowed hard. I couldn't bring myself to push the door open. Instead, I stood frozen, pressing my back flat against the wall beside the frame just to listen.

"It's just... I've been thinking about it for days," Alec murmured, unmistakable sorrow heavy in his voice. "I lied to him, Shiena. I told him before that Allison wasn't my ex-girlfriend."

My hands curled into tight fists. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs, driven by a sudden, inexplicable panic.

"What the fck did you say?!" Shiena shrieked, a low, furious growl rumbling in her throat. "You actually lied and claimed that witch wasn't your ex? And now what? You finally grew a spine and confessed who she really is?"

Silence stretched from Alec's end, but I didn't need a verbal answer. Shiena’s explosive reaction said it all.

"You know what?" Shiena hissed. "If you weren't my friend and the Alpha of the Dark Moon Pack, I'd call you a complete, absolute idiot."

"You just did," Alec muttered.

"Oh, my god, Alec! Yes, you are an idiot! If you wanted to tell Ken the truth, you should have done it from the very beginning! And now what? You came crawling to me asking for advice after messing it all up with your own stupidity?"

I couldn't help the dry, humorless grimace that crossed my face. Shiena never pulled her punches. If you were being a fool, she made sure you knew it.

"That's not—"

"What do you mean, that's not? That is literally your entire agenda for showing up in my office! You're so frustrating, you know that? Just do whatever solution you have. I'm sure Ken will understand why you—Wait. Why the hell did you even lie in the first place?"

Even I caught my breath, suddenly desperate to hear Alec's reasoning. But before he could answer, a shadow crossed my path.

Another female figure stopped abruptly in the hallway, freezing when she saw me standing rigidly against the wall.

I didn't even know how to react. But she simply offered a polite, knowing smile, slipped past me, opened the adjacent door, and stepped inside.

Panic flared. Without thinking, I turned on my heel and practically fled down the corridor.
I couldn't let Alec catch me eavesdropping on his private conversation with Shiena.

He would think I was just a meddling, insecure boy.

Yet, deep down, a storm of questions raged on. Why did he lie to me in the first place? Was it to keep me from worrying?

Was it to ensure I wouldn't feel threatened if a ghost from his deep past suddenly reappeared?

I dragged a hand through my hair in sheer frustration. Why did I have so many questions running through my head?

We're just friends, after all! Nothing more, nothing less!