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CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE.

ROSALIE'S POV.

The taste of his lips lingered on mine. It was deeply salty from his tears, and bitter from his pain.

I pulled closer to him to kiss him even harder, pouring every ounce of my regret, my love, my apology into that kiss. But he didn't return the kiss, and just when I thought he would respond, Jacqueline pulled back.

His lips parted from mine with a finality that left my heart beating loudly in its ribcage. He stepped away, his eyes filled with emotions which I could read into and also feel. Anger, betrayal, sorrow and a pain which I knew was deeper than the ocean.

Above all those, I could see his love for me somewhere at the deep of his heart, just by a small corner there. I felt it so little but I was glad it was something.

"Jacqueline…" I whispered, my voice trembling as I tried to reach closer to him.

He held up a hand, stopping me in my tracks, he said no word. Just his eyes on me.

His silence was louder than any yell, echoing than any accusation. And then, with a final glance and no word, he turned and stomped away, his steps firm, it was in anger, leaving nothing but the dust of his anger behind.

"Jacqueline, I'm sorry," I called after him and made to follow him, but my legs were glued to the floor, and I couldn't move an inch. It was like the most difficult task to do at that moment.

I stood there, my hands shaking, my body rooted to the spot, my legs wobbled, threatening to give up on my weight.

The air around me felt suffocating, as though his departure had sucked all the oxygen from my body. My chest ached in ultimate pain which was mostly his, and my wolf stirred.

Her voice cut through my unstable thoughts when she spoke, with her tone very strict, and for some reason, I thought she made me think of my mom.

*You've done it this time.*

I closed my eyes, trying to put an end to my raging breathing. *I… I didn't mean for it to turn out like this. I was trying to make things right by telling him about the kids. How was I supposed to know that he would feel this way?*

*Make things right?* Rose scoffed. *You've had years to make things right, Rosalie. YEARS. You could have told him about the children the moment you realized that he was misbehaving, you could have even used that to bribe him back to character, but no, you didn't.*

She continued, *Even if he didn't want them, at least he would have known. You know you couldn't have told him about them if you didn't have a misunderstanding with him.*

Her words hit me like daggers, each one piercing deeper than the last and yes, she was right. I was not ready to tell him about them in the first place, and that was mainly why I couldn't behave. I didn't know how to react.

*I was scared,* I admitted to Rose, my voice cracking. *I thought he hated me. I thought he didn't want anything to do with me. I thought if he learned about them, he would take them away from me.*

*Excuses!* Rose snapped. *You let fear dictate your decisions, and now you've hurt him more than you ever thought possible. He's angry, Rosalie. And he has every right to be. Just pray he doesn't reject us, or else you'll be my enemy forever.*

Tears streamed down my face as I nodded, acknowledging the truth in her words. Though I didn't even try to think about having Rose as an enemy. I knew it would be worse than when Jack was keeping malice with Jacqueline.

*What should I do now?*

She was silent, and I feared she was seriously going to ignore me, *Rose?*

She sighed but answered to me, *Give him some space. Give him time. He'll come around when he's ready. But for now, leave him be. Let him process. And you… you need to focus on your path. And try to think out the problem you have with him, you shouldn't be distracted. Remember, you still have some enemies around.* She told me in a tone softening slightly.

I nodded, understanding all that she said. I then took a deep, shuddering breath and wiped my tears away.

Rose was right. Bugging Jacqueline now would only make things worse. He needed time to heal, to come to terms with everything I had just dropped on him. To know if he could still be with me aside from that or not.

With heavy steps, I turned away from the place where Jacqueline had stood moments ago.

I knew that Jacqueline must have changed his mind about visiting Carl, so it was all on me to visit him myself and to know how he was feeling.

'I better just visit Carl to clear my mind.' I thought within me and changed my path again, taking the one leading to Carl's room.

Each step I took felt heavier than the last. At some time, I had to stop walking to practice inhaling and exhaling to keep my breathing checked and normal. Then, I continued on my track.

As I reached Carl's room, I paused briefly before knocking on the door. His voice came through softly, "Come in." I pushed the door open to find him sitting on his bed, his face calm, though weariness lingered in his eyes. It was obvious he lacked some sleep.

"Rosalie," He called with a small smile. "What brings you here? Do you need anything?"

I shook my head, "No, I need nothing, I only wanted to check on you," I said to him, stepping inside and closing the door behind me. "How are you feeling?"

He nodded his head and gave me a thumbs up, "Much better," Carl replied, his tone reassuring, but I wasn't reassured.

"Are you sure?" I inquired from him.

"Yes. The pain subsided, I'm healing, and I'm fine. But you…" His gaze sharpened as he looked at me from head to toe. "What's wrong with you, Rosalie? You look… troubled, or should I say horrible? You're not even the sick one." He cracked a laugh alone at his joke.

I froze. I was caught off guard by his observation. "It's nothing," I said quickly, waving a hand around the air dismissively. "Just… tired, that's all."

Carl's brow furrowed. "You're a terrible liar, do you know that?" He huffed, "Tell me now what's going on."

"Carl, it's not important," I insisted, avoiding his gaze. "I'm here to see how you're fairing, not for you to question me."

He ignored my words and called firmly, "Rosalie," His voice left no room for argument. "Talk to me. I'm not letting this go. Tell me, is it Jacqueline? Has he gone back to his cold self? Though I'm badly choked with his scent on you right now." He spoke like a joke.

I almost blushed when he said that he could scent Jacqueline on me, but my problem was stronger than the blush, so it eased before it could reflect.

"Now, tell me what I want to know."

I hesitated, my heart pounding as I tried to decide how much to reveal, and he had given no room for lies and argument. I had to spill it out to him.

But before I could muster the courage to speak, the door creaked open, and Susan stepped inside.

"Pardon my barging in, Beta Carl," She began respectfully, bowing her head. "But concerning your earlier request, the Alpha is planning a meeting with the elders and has requested your presence if you can. Though he was clear to say that you should stay back to regain your strength."

Carl glanced at her, his expression neutral. "I'm not attending, he should handle his elders himself." He said simply.

Susan blinked in surprise but quickly recovered. "As you wish, Beta. I'll inform the Alpha." She bowed again and turned to leave.

Throughout the exchange of words, I stood silently, watching the interaction with a strange look on me. I was lost.

'What were they talking about?' I wondered.

I knew Carl must have sent Susan to go to Jacqueline for questioning, but stubborn Carl was calm.

'I will tease him later. Wasn't he the one who wanted to be everywhere Jacqueline was?' I had a mental laugh.

I wanted to see Susan out the door before I began with Carl, but just when she reached the door, a piercing, slim sound echoed through the air. Causing every one of us to glue our hands to our ears.

It was like a "Ooooo" kind of sound, but It was sharp and painful, echoing through the room like a call for an emergency.

Carl's eyes snapped to mine, his expression immediately tense. "What's that?" He growled immediately after his question.

When I tried to ask him whether he was okay, I knew why he growled. When I tried to talk, it was like the pain multiplied and I almost felt my eardrums tearing apart.

I fell on the floor, and clenched my ears tighter, 'Can someone just stop this pain?'