Chapter 197
Elowen's POV
The fluorescent lights of the hallway buzzed overhead, casting harsh shadows across the linoleum floor. My heart was still hammering from the confrontation with Sarah, her venomous words echoing in my mind like poison. Through the bond, I felt Casper's simmering anger and Cassian's cold fury—both directed at the woman who'd just tried to humiliate me in public.
But then, movement caught my eye.
A figure emerged from the shadows behind Cassian, stepping into the light with that effortless grace that seemed to defy gravity. Ronan. His emerald green eyes gleamed with something dangerous, something predatory, as a slow smile curved across his lips—the kind of smile that promised violence wrapped in charm.
"I'll handle this trouble," he said, his voice carrying that distinctive rough edge that made every word sound like a threat and a promise rolled into one.
The hallway lights caught his bronze skin, making it glow with an almost otherworldly quality. His deep brown hair was slightly disheveled, falling across his forehead in a way that only added to his dangerous appeal. There was something about Ronan—something wild and untamed—that made even Cassian's calculated coldness seem tame by comparison.
Through the mental link, I felt Casper's and Cassian's confusion spike simultaneously, their emotions mixing with mine in that complex web that bound the three of us together.
I turned to face Ronan fully, my brow furrowing. "Shouldn't you be with Kade and Alaric?" My voice came out softer than I intended, betraying the vulnerability I was trying so hard to hide.
Ronan moved closer, each step deliberate and measured. Up close, I could see the details I'd missed before—the way his emerald eyes held flecks of gold, the sharp line of his jaw, the barely contained energy that seemed to radiate from his very being. He shrugged, the movement casual despite the tension crackling in the air.
"They're alive. That's enough," he said, and the grin that spread across his face was brilliant—blinding, even—but there was an edge to it. A sharpness that spoke of teeth hidden behind the smile.
This man... Juno's voice whispered through my consciousness, low and thoughtful. He chose you.
The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing my breath. Chose me. When had anyone ever chosen me? Not Jessica, who'd sold me like cattle. Not Drake, who'd only wanted to possess me. Not even the pack, who'd watched me suffer in silence for years.
But Ronan... Ronan had known me for what, a day? Two? And yet here he was, stepping between me and danger like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Through the bond, I sensed Casper's amber eyes fixed on Ronan, analyzing, calculating. His emotions bled through our connection—wariness mixed with a grudging respect. He's serious, Casper's thought whispered across the link.
Cassian's presence pressed against my consciousness too, his ice-blue gaze never leaving Ronan's face. Through our connection, I felt his wolf Zero stirring, assessing this new player in our complicated game. This is a challenge, Cassian's thought came through, cold and analytical. And a promise.
But it was what came next that truly shattered me.
Ronan turned, facing both Casper and Cassian directly. The playful edge in his expression vanished, replaced by something harder, more primal. His voice dropped low, resonating with a power that made the air around us vibrate.
"I've spent years with them," he said, and there was no mistaking the steel beneath his words. "I've missed too much of my little sister's life already." His emerald eyes blazed with fierce determination. "I won't miss any more."
The hallway seemed to tilt beneath my feet.
Little sister.
The word echoed through my mind, bouncing off the walls of my consciousness like a bell that wouldn't stop ringing. Through the bond, I felt Casper's surprise—sharp and immediate—followed by Cassian's deeper understanding. They remembered. The revelation about Ronan being my half-brother, about us sharing the same father—the Lycan King who'd been murdered along with my mother.
But this... this was different.
This wasn't just acknowledging a blood connection. This was Ronan, an Alpha in his own right, publicly declaring that I—me, the girl who'd been nobody, nothing, for so long—took priority over his longtime Alpha brothers.
My throat constricted. Heat prickled behind my eyes, and I blinked rapidly, trying to force back the tears that threatened to spill over. Don't cry. Don't you dare cry. Not here, not now, not in front of Sarah's satisfied smirk.
But Juno's voice came again, softer this time, almost tender. Zero, she whispered. That's how many times someone has fought for you. How many times someone has put you first. How many times someone has demanded to be by your side.
Zero.
The word crashed through me like a tidal wave, dragging up every painful memory I'd tried so hard to bury.
Jessica's cold dismissal when I'd begged her to believe me about Drake.
Austin's convenient blindness to my suffering.
The pack's collective indifference as I was systematically broken down, piece by piece.
Even Casper and Cassian, as much as they loved me now, had spent years as the popular Alpha sons while I'd been invisible, unworthy of notice except as their sister's pitiful friend.
Zero times.
Until now.
Through the bond, Casper's hand found mine, squeezing gently. His warmth flooded through our connection, and I heard his voice—soft, concerned, achingly tender. It's okay, cutie. We've got you.
Cassian shifted closer to my other side, his larger frame a solid wall of protection. We accept his decision, he said simply, and through the link, I felt the truth of it. There was no jealousy in Cassian's acceptance, no petty territorial bullshit. Just... respect. Understanding. And beneath it all, a bone-deep satisfaction that I was finally being given what I deserved.
"I'm not asking for permission," Ronan continued, and there was something almost gentle in his tone now, despite the steel underneath. "I'm telling you how it is, little sister."
My breath hitched. The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over, hot tracks down my cheeks that I couldn't stop even if I wanted to. My chest felt too tight, too full, like something inside me was expanding and breaking all at once.
Memories flashed through my mind in rapid succession—
Jessica's hand shoving me away when I'd reached for comfort as a child.
Drake's fingers digging into my arm as he dragged me through the pack house, everyone looking away.
The birthday parties I wasn't invited to. The pack runs I was "forgotten" for. The casual cruelties delivered with smiles, the deliberate exclusions disguised as oversights.
Always on the outside. Always looking in. Always, always alone.
Until Casper had pulled me from that lake when we were kids. Until Cassian had finally seen me, really seen me, and decided I was worth claiming. Until these two men had crashed into my life and refused to let go, even when I tried to push them away for their own good.
But even they... even they had come to me through fate, through the mate bond, through supernatural forces beyond anyone's control.
Ronan was different.
Ronan chose this. Chose me. Not because the moon goddess decreed it, not because of some mystical connection, but because he looked at me—broken, scared, unworthy me—and decided I was worth it.
Worth protecting. Worth prioritizing. Worth being chosen.
Zero times, Juno repeated, and now her voice was thick with emotion too. Until now, Elowen. Until right now.
I bit down hard on my lower lip, trying to regain some semblance of control. Through the bond, I felt Casper's concern spike, felt him start to move toward me. I'm okay, I sent back hastily, forcing the words through the lump in my throat. I'm... I'm fine.
It was a lie, and we all knew it. But sometimes lies were necessary, especially when the truth was too raw, too overwhelming to put into words.
Ronan's expression softened as he looked at me, and for a moment, I saw past the dangerous Alpha exterior to something more vulnerable underneath. "Hey," he said quietly, and somehow his voice carried perfectly despite the low volume. "No tears for me, yeah? I'm just stating facts."
But that only made it worse. Made the ache in my chest grow until I thought I might shatter from the pressure of it.
Sarah's voice cut through the moment like nails on a chalkboard, shrill and ugly. "How touching. The bastard and the reject, playing house."