Chapter 159: I Reject You, Connor

Connor’s POV

Her words hung in the air, raw and trembling, as if each syllable had to claw its way out of her throat. Her voice was hoarse, fragile, almost alien to my ears after months of not hearing her voice. Each word cracked and broke, like glass under pressure, but it carried the weight of truth and release.

“I… Aria Carrington, re…reject you… Connor Hendrix as my mate…”

She repeated it again, slower this time, voice gathering strength, trembling less with each repetition:

“I… Aria Carrington, re…reject you… Connor Hendrix as my mate…”

Something inside me snapped. The months of guilt, the endless suppression of desire and regret, the fear that I won’t ever get to hear her voice one more time, all of it erupted. I threw myself to my feet, heart pounding, fists clenched, and screamed, not out of anger, but sheer release:

“YES! YES, ARIA!”

The sound reverberated through the house, echoing off the walls. It was raw, feral, desperate, and in that moment, I didn’t care who heard it. Every muscle in my body shook as the tension that had bound me for weeks finally shattered.

Footsteps pounded down the stairs almost immediately. Richard’s and Marcus’s faces appeared, wide-eyed, panicked.

“Connor? What’s going on?!” Marcus yelled, skidding to a stop in the living room.

Richard’s eyes narrowed, heart hammering in his chest. “Ivy? Are you…what’s—”

But all I could do was stare at her, golden eyes flicking to mine, fierce yet tentative, her wolf-light dancing in her irises. She had spoken… she had reclaimed her voice… and with it, her choice. My choice to step back, to finally release her.

My wolf and I should have felt pain from the rejection. But we didn’t. Instead, he was howling inside me with joy.

We did something for her! Even though it’s little and doesn’t mean much, we did something for her.

Her lips quivered as she tried again, repeating the words with more clarity, the sound stronger, surer:

“I… Aria Carrington… reject you… Connor Hendrix… as my mate!”

I stumbled toward her, tears streaming freely now, shaking, trembling, and yet laughing through the emotion, overwhelmed by relief and happiness for the girl who had survived so much.

My wolf inside roared in triumphant acknowledgment, but even he remained quiet enough to let this moment belong entirely to her.

Richard and Marcus froze, unsure how to react, caught between the awe of witnessing Ivy’s voice return and the chaos of my own outburst. Richard’s lips parted, muttering something incoherent, while Marcus’s eyes darted between us like he was trying to read the air itself.

I reached for her, gently gripping her shoulders, letting her see that this scream, this release, was as much for her as it was for me. And even though my wolf stirred, urging me forward, I didn’t hug her. That phase is finally over. Instead, I held her at arms length. This was her moment. Her freedom. Her choice.

Her voice, rough and unpolished but determined, echoed again:

“I… Aria Carrington… reject you… Connor Hendrix… as my mate!”

And in that final repetition, in the sheer struggle of forming words she hadn’t spoken in months, I felt it…the unshakable truth of closure, forgiveness, and the first fragile thread of peace between us.

The room was still, the echoes of her voice lingering like smoke. My chest heaved, heart still pounding from the release, but now a weight shifted…lighter, somehow. My wolf, once coiled and restless, finally sank back, growling softly in satisfaction, a silent acknowledgment that the bond had been severed… or at least, that the claim had been relinquished.

I sank slowly to my knees again, trembling, letting the adrenaline drain from my body. Ivy stood there, tablet clutched to her chest, hoodie slipping off one shoulder, brown eyes wide and uncertain, as if the act of speaking had exposed her completely.

Richard stepped forward first, his expression a mixture of relief, awe, and fatherly pride. “Connor… she… she spoke. After all this time.” His voice was quiet, almost reverent. “Although her first words were Dada, she made a full sentence on repeat now!”

Ivy shot him a playful glare and he laughed, pulling her into a warm hug.

Marcus stayed frozen for a moment longer, eyes flicking between us. “I… I don’t even know what to say,” he muttered, voice tight. “Just a few minutes of being here and you got her to do what we’ve been trying for weeks to do?”

I nodded, swallowing hard, blinking away tears that refused to be contained. “It’s all her. She just needed a little push.” My voice was hoarse, raw, as if every ounce of restraint had left me. “She’s… free to be herself now. To choose. And I… I finally let go.”

They looked at me in confusion but I knew what I was saying.

Ivy’s lips twitched in a faint, unsure smile, the first flicker of happy expression I’d seen since I got here. She typed slowly, carefully:

“I… I’m with my family because you… didn’t give up. You made sure that you brought me home. Thank you, Mr Connor. And I forgive you, truly,”

I exhaled, a shuddering laugh escaping me. “I owe you much more,” I said, voice soft. “I’m glad you found this family… they kept you safe. They gave you the life we failed to give.”

She smiled in contentment, giving me a nod of appreciation.

Richard placed a hand on my shoulder. “Connor, thank you…very much.”

I nodded, the corners of my vision blurring. “And now… I step away. It’s time for her to live without us in her shadows.”

My gaze returned to her, brown eyes meeting mine, fierce and tender all at once. “Ivy… whoever you choose to be with from here forward, it’s your call to make. I’ll not interfere. I… reject you, as your mate, because you deserve happiness… without me.”

She didn’t speak, but the golden glow in her eyes softened. Her wolf approved.

Marcus muttered under his breath, “That… that was something else. Daniel would have loved to see this.”

I rose slowly, shoulders heavy but unburdened, heart still pounding with a strange combination of sorrow and relief. I took one last look at her…at Ivy, Aria, the girl who had survived everything…and whispered so only her could hear:

“Be happy. Live. And know that you’re free… from me, from the past, from everything I couldn’t fix.”

She didn’t respond. She didn’t need to. And for the first time since that day in the pack house when I openly humiliated her, I breathed easily.