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Dominic's pov.

“Are you crazy?” Gath screamed as he slammed his fist on the table. “How could you?” He spat.

“I don't think you have the right to shout at me”. I defended. “She was the one at fault, what do you expect me to do?”

“Seriously?” He scoffed as his face flickered to disbelief and disappointment. “I can't stand you right now” he hissed as he turned to go.

“You suggest what I should do” I slammed my fists on the table, spilling the table into half as my breath became heavy. 

“That is a four thousand dollars table for goodness sake” Jake hissed as he bent to pick up the books from the floor.

“She slapped Elder Otto” I reminded him. “What would have happened if they made a big deal out of it?”

“Big deal?” He eyed. “You and I both know that if the council decides to have a petition against Kristen you could easily discard it and there is nothing the elders can do except play along”. 

“I am almost there… I am almost at that point where I need everyone's help, I can't afford to irritate or annoy the elders…” he cut me off.

“Stop using the elders as an excuse” he barked. “You are a possessive asshole that is jealous that Kristen is with another man”. He shouted.

My anger welled up as I glared at him. How dare he call me jealous?

“It is like I don't even know you anymore” he added as he turned to leave. 

“I am not jealous,” I said after him but he didn't stop he slammed the door on his way out. 

I took in deep breaths as I slumped on my chair. Jake stood up as he stared at me throwing the books on another chair. 

“Are you alright?” Jack stared at me. 

I shook my head silently. “I feel like I have lost something… I don't know how my heart feels like…” I paused as I placed my hand on my left breast. 

“Does it hurt?” 

“It hurts?” I shook my head in disagreement. “It doesn't beat, I feel like I have done something terrible to someone, but I don't want to believe it”. 

“Do you think you did the right thing to Kristen?”

“I don't know what is right at this moment but I feel… empty”. I explained as I stared at the wall. “Like I am nothing but a shadow to myself”.

“Kristen must have been shocked”. He shrugged as he sat beside me. “Everyone was shocked but at least it made Elder Otto believe that you still respect him”. 

“Elder Otto” I scoffed. “That prick must have been the one to start all this, Kristen… no me, I am the one who is suffering everything now”. 

Jake's brows furrowed in irritation. “Gath was right, you are nothing but a self-centered jerk” he eyed.

“What do you mean?” 

“You slammed a young lady into the wall, you used your Alpha strength combined with Agatha's black magic against a lady who can't even fight a cub”. He scoffed. “It is a miracle she didn't die, we should be grateful Agatha was there to help her tend to her wounds”. 

“Agatha?” My eyes widened in alarm. “Agatha can't be there, what if she does something to Kristen?” I jerked up, my tone laced with fear. 

“Says the guy who almost killed her first” Jake chuckled. 

“We can't trust Agatha”. I added as I turned to go but Jake held me back. 

“Let Agatha do her job”. He reassured me. “Agatha would not have helped Kristen especially when we did not ask her to, so she can kill her when she knows Kristen would have died if she didn't help”.

“Does it sound normal to you that Agatha helped Kristen?” I frowned.

“It doesn't but I think we should roll with that, it might be she wants more allies to help her find the person that killed her mother”. Jake explained.

“Well I can't allow that alliance” 

Jake shook his head in disagreement. “You are really possessive, rather than thinking about what it what not you want Kristen to be involved in, you should go and apologize”. 

“Why should I?”. I frowned, my voice laced with pride as I raised my shoulder. “I am an Alpha”.

“To us, yes, but to her, you are just an ex, that doesn't want to let go,” he said as he got up. “I don't understand, isn't this what you wanted?”

“I…” I stammered as my mouth fell open, my mind drew a blank as I couldn't respond to the question. “I …” I nodded my head in confusion.

“You said you can't face because you were the one who killed her father, you said you could not bear to kill her because you loved her, that was why you left her in such a cruel manner…” he paused as he walked closer. “What changed?” He frowned.

I flickered my gaze in another direction as tears brimmed my eyes. Jake's question pierced through my heart as I looked for an answer. 

“What changed?” He repeated.

“I want to protect her”. I turned to him. “I can't let her see me as the devil, age should protect herself against the time we would attack their pack, rather than thinking about why u did it or why I changed”. 

“That is not the reason, Dominic” he nodded his head in disagreement. “What changed everything?”

“Because… I still love her”. I bolted out. 

“You can't love her”. He frowned. “You are a rogue and she is a rogue hunter, both of you are different and have a terrible history together” 

“But I still love her and I agree that I am jealous” I scoffed. “How could she get over me so soon, I still don't understand whether it was because she never cherished our relationship, I wondered why I was hurting when she was finally happy” I swallowed down my tears.

“That is because you still loved her” he scoffed, his eyes flickered past me. “I told myself that I wasn't in love, I told myself it was just a phase but after I stayed long without the person by my side, without the person's touch, part of me felt like going crazy, the other part died…” he paused as he stared back at me. “We both lost a part of us but if we let that lose control of our emotions we would never achieve anything… sometimes it is better to let go of someone than to let go of the people that look up to you”. He explained.

I looked at Jake differently, I knew at a point Jake was seeing someone but that was all, he never told me who it was or where they were from and at a point that love story disappeared into thin air.

“Would you still let go, even when you know that the person you love is your entire life, your mate?” 

Jake bit his lips as tears rolled down his face. 

“Would you still let go if you knew she was with another person, happy without you? Would you still let go if you knew you would not find a replacement, can't you be selfish for once?”

“If I was the one that broke it up, no matter what happens I would be happy for her, although it would hurt she would be with a better person that would treat her better”. he replied.

“You know that is a lie” I scoffed. 

“It's the truth, I would let go unless she wants me back, I would not push myself on her till I am sure that she wants me back”. 

“How would you do that?” I asked, my brows furrowed in curiosity.

“By gaining her trust” he replied, his voice laced with sadness as his face etched with remorse.

“Is she someone I know?” 

“No” he bolted out. “The point is I knew what I wanted and that is why I don't regret any of what I did”. He explained.

“What did you want?”

“The success of our pack” he forced a smile. “If I didn't let go, I would be hurting myself and those around me, there was no way to protect them… it was like a battle between two parts of me, my pleasure and my duties”. 

“And you chose?” 

“My duties” he responded. “I chose my duties to my pack and I knew I had to let go, if I wanted to succeed, it is better he…” he paused. “She knows that or believes that I was just a bad person using her than wondering what went wrong”.

“I am torn apart” I revealed.

“If you don't make your decision now, you will be torn apart, and you will lose in all wars” he warned. “I would support your every decision but you have to decide… I am not asking you to reply now, I want you to think, Dominic, do you still want her back or do you still love her but you think it is best to let her go”.