Chapter 125 Chapter 125
The door closed behind her with a quiet click. I had seen the hurt in her eyes but I couldn’t do anything.
The sound echoed in my office louder than any slam ever could. Silence swallowed the room.
I didn’t move, I held my breath because I didn’t trust myself. Because if I moved, I might chase her.
If I breathed, I might break. If I spoke, I might say something unforgivable. So I stood there, frozen between anger and longing, jealousy and guilt, love and betrayal. My wolf paced inside me like a caged predator. He was restless and hurt.
I dragged a hand over my face and turned toward the desk. The same desk where I had signed everything, sentenced traitors and planned wars and now it felt like the battlefield of my own heart.
I leaned against it, gripping the wood. Lorcan’s face flashed in my mind. The way his eyes lingered on Ailsa. The hunger and familiarity in his eyes. The look of desire and hunger as his gaze raked her body.
It had taken everything in me not to lunge across the room and crush his throat.
Not because he didn’t deserve it but because of her. Because Ailsa had looked at me with quiet pleading in her eyes. Not fear but with restraint. She didn’t want bloodshed ans I would burn kingdoms before I frightened her.
So I held back but it didn’t mean the fury had left. It simmered beneath my skin, hot and vicious. My wolf growled.
Mine
The possessive instinct roared louder inside me. I was angry, hurt and most of all, jealous.
I closed my eyes and memory dragged me backward.
To the day everything changed. To the day I learned the truth she never told me.
It had been that afternoon. The day Chase had arrived here to this pack. The day when he had called her name. When he denied it, saying he had mistaken her. I knew something was up. Ailsa was a rare name.
Ailsa was also nervous after Chase had gone. It wouldn’t leave my head even as I went back to my office. Something about Chase presence had unsettled me. Like he carried secrets in his shadow. I didn’t trust him at first even when he brought me information about Lorcan.
We spoke at length with the information he had. Even now, I wondered if he had lied to me and only wanted to come to my pack to spy.
But all that didn’t matter when he had called Ailsa’s name. I just wanted to know where he knew her from and that’s when I became suspicious. So I did something I rarely do. I waited.
Not because I didn’t trust Ailsa but because I wanted to understand before confronting her. I wanted her to tell me freely and honestly without pressure. Because trust isn’t demanded, It’s offered. And I wanted hers more than anything.
Days later, the truth came out. I wasn’t even expecting it to happen. Chase had returned but not to see me. To see Ailsa. I hadn’t intended to overhear that day but fate doesn’t care about intentions.
I was going to see Ailsa on that faithful day when u heard voices. Ailsa’s voice came first, it was soft and tense. I remembered wanting to push the door open to see talk to her but I had heard another voice.
At first, the voice seemed unfamiliar until I had listens closely because the conversation was in hushed tone. And when I had heard her call him Chase, I became at alert.
Then, he spoke of Lorcan, of regrets, choices and bonds. Then came the words that fractured something inside me.
You need to come back. He needs you. He is your mate
Silence followed after that. It was heavy and I listened to hear Ailsa’s response, to see if she would accept to leave. I stood there outside the door, unable to move. Even then, I was tempted to make my presence known and ask Chase to leave my pack and never return.
That was also one of the reason I never bothered to contact Chase again.
Mate.
The word had rang in my head repeatedly. Because in our world, a mate is sacred and irreplaceable. It hurt that she had belonged to another and loved another. She had been chosen another and was rejected.
The realization wasn’t anger at first. It was grief. A quiet, aching grief I didn’t understand. Grief for moments I didn’t have with her. For memories that weren’t mine and touches that belonged to someone else.
My wolf howled in rage and in confusion.
I left when the conversation was coming to an end. When he had asked her to send a message id she ever needed anything. I didn’t want her or him to see me or to know I heard.
I had gone back quietly to my office. I didn’t want to confront her in anger or want to force her into confession.
I wanted her truth willingly but days passed. Then weeks and she never told me. I had asked Aiden to look into it and he confirmed it later.
He had investigated and brought a report back. He told me plainly that Lorcan had been her mate but the bond had shattered and she had left. She was broken and alone and that was how we had found her and assumed she was a rogue.
Something unexpected has stirred inside me that day. Relief that nothing held them together anymore and in a way I was grateful because if she hadn’t left….She wouldn’t be here neither would she be mine.
I wouldn’t have met the woman who changed everything for me.
The thought had felt selfish and cruel but it had been real. Lorcan’s loss had been my gain and I couldn’t be anymore happier that she was mine.
My memories faded but the question I had asked myself all this while still remained.
Why hadn’t she told me?
That question gnawed at me every night. Everyday I thought, would finally be the day she told me but nothing happened. Sometimes I had even forgotten I knew her secrets.
She said she was scared but why did I think she didn’t trust me enough to tell me. Did she think I would judge her? Reject her? Love her less?
The thought hurt more than any truth. Because I would never. It wasn’t her fault she had been giving to an idiot first.
‘Are you angry at her or him?’ My wolf’s voice cut through my thoughts. I exhaled slowly.
The question lingered in my head.
Was I angry she didn’t tell me? Or angry that Lorcan had her first?
The answer should have been simple but it wasn’t. Because jealousy is ugly. I hated that another man knew her before me, touched her, held her and loved her. And to make matters worse, it was my enemy that had her and he even had to remind me.
I hated even more that she felt she couldn’t tell me. And she would have lied to me again when I asked her. I wondered if she would have told the truth, if I didn’t tell her I already knew.
A knock shattered the silence. It was urgent and sharp. I straightened immediately.
“Come in”
The door opened and Aiden entered. The look on his face told me this wasn’t normal news. Tension radiated from him.
“What happened?” I asked. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he handed me a document. My stomach tightened.
Because reports like this were always trouble and not something good.
I scanned the paper and my grip tightened. My blood ran cold. Disbelief turned into cold dread. I looked up at Aiden.
“This is real?” His nodded.
“Yes”
Silence stretched between us.
“This has everything we wanted to know. This proves how dangerous she is” Aiden said quietly but I barely heard him.
Because only one thought echoed in my mind.
Ailsa.
Fear clawed up my spine. It was sharp and primal. Because if this report was true…She was in danger. After what happened last night, rejecting Elara. I hadn’t thought of how to deal with her until this reports came in.
Letting her stay any longer was dangerous and I knew who she would try to hurt or pour her anger on. I pushed away from the desk instantly.
“I need to go to Ailsa”
My wolf surged forward in agreement. It was protective and fierce.
Right now, it didn’t matter whatever secrets existed or truths that remained unspoken. None of it mattered more than her safety.
Nothing.
And as I moved toward the door, one realization settled deep in my chest. I wasn’t afraid of her past.
I was afraid of losing her and that fear was stronger than pride and anger.
“Then we need to go to her quickly before Elara does something” Aiden said.
“I’ll kill her if she tries anything”