Chapter 120 GHOSTS DO RETURN
RAGNAR’S POV
I should have known he wouldn’t stay silent for long, he's radio silent for most things except for Sebastian.
“He had a chance to say it right there!” I snap under my breath.
Didn’t he?
“He had confusion and nothing from you,” Yurik counters smoothly.
I exhale sharply, dragging a hand through my damp hair.
“He knows the bond,” I argue. “He felt it.”
“And what does that mean to him?” Yurik presses.
I open my mouth and pause as nothing comes out of it.
What does it mean to him?
Silence stretches for a moment.
“You never explained it or even acknowledged it. ” Yurik continues.
I scowl.
“I didn’t need to.”
A dry, unimpressed huff echoes in my mind.
“You avoided it,” he corrects. “From the very beginning.”
My jaw tightens.
That’s not–
“You met him,” Yurik goes on, relentlessly now. “You felt the bond. And instead of talking about what that means for you both, you ignored it.”
I look away, my gaze landing on nothing in particular.
“I was… considering it.”
“Considering? It's been a month ” Yurik repeats. “You dismissed it.”
Because I did.
Because the idea of a mate, a young mate especially didn't sound appealing especially with all what the pack is going through.
An Omega too.
It didn't sit well with me at first.
It had felt inconvenient and looked like it would come with a whole lot of complications.
“You treated him like a temporary distraction,” Yurik says.
“I did not.”
“You used him during your rut,” he continues, ignoring me completely. “Without ever telling him what he is to you, what he means to you.”
My chest tightens again.
That’s,
That’s not–
The truth sits there anyway in my mind.
Uncomfortable and unavoidable.
“I was going to tell him,” I mutter.
“Oh, when?” Yurik asks simply.
I don’t answer, because I don’t have one to tell him..
“You cannot expect him to defend a bond he doesn’t fully understand or know where you stand, especially with him being an ancient wolf,” Yurik adds, a bit quieter now.
My hands clench at my sides.
“So he lets another Alpha claim him?” I bite out.
“Or,” Yurik counters, “he protects something he thinks you don’t want.”
The words hit harder than they should and I go still.
No.
No, that doesn’t make sense.
Does it?
My mind flashes back to the square.
To Sebastian and to the way he looked.
He didn't look smug or anything, he looked confused and overwhelmed.
My chest tightens painfully.
“…He didn’t say it,” I say slowly.
“No, but you also didn't” Yurik agrees.
I swallow.
“He didn’t say who his mate was.”
“No.”
The realization settles in, heavy and sharp.
He didn’t expose me, even when he could have and it would have saved him.
My breath leaves me in a slow, unsteady exhale.
And for the first time since I stepped into that square, the anger shifted into something else.
It's not gone, I'm still furious at Dax.
But… it's different.
It's now complicated and layered with something else.
“…mine,” I murmur under my breath.
Yurik hums softly in agreement.
“Of course, but he doesn't know that.”
The decision comes suddenly and final, I don't even allow myself to think too long about it this time.
Because thinking about it all and delaying things is what led me here in the first place.
All the things I told myself were necessary, were reasonable and right were all wrong.
And now look at where it’s gotten me.
My jaw tightens as I stride toward the door.
Enough. I’m done standing and watching still while everything unravels around me.
If there’s confusion with Sebastian, I’ll end it.
If there’s any doubt, I’ll crush it.
And if there’s anyone standing between me and what is mine…
My hand closes around the handle.
…then I'll simply remove them.
I pull the door open and the world shifts and everything in my body goes still.
He’s standing right there.
He's leaning casually against the frame like he’s been waiting for me and like he's meant to be here.
What is he doing here?
Lance.
His hair is longer than I remember, now that I see him in the light.
His eyes are the same though, still sharp and always watching me a little too closely.
Always seeing more than he should.
And that smile, that goddamn smile of his, is sitting smugly on his face.
“Hello, lover.”
The words slide out of his mouth like something familiar that used to mean something to me.
A long time ago.
My body reacts before my mind fully catches up as my instincts start blaring at his appearance.
My eyes narrow slightly as I take him in.
“How does it feel,” Lance continues, pushing off the frame just enough to stand properly now, “to watch your lover walk away from you?”
His voice is light and sounding amused but underneath it all, there's something twisted and bitter in it.
Something that hasn’t faded with time.
My jaw clenches but I don’t answer.
I don’t need to, he already has the answers.
He takes a step closer.
“Tell me,” he adds softly, tilting his head as his gaze locks onto mine, “does it hurt the same way for you like it did for me?”
Something in my chest shifts into annoyance and irritation.
But I don't say anything or give him away, because that’s what he expects.
A reaction from me.
“And here I thought,” Lance goes on, his smile widening just slightly, “you would have learned your lesson by now.”
My fingers twitch at my side but I ignore it.
“You find them,” he continues, almost conversationally now. “You get attached in that quiet, stubborn way of yours… and then–”
He makes this small, careless gesture with his hand.
“–they’re gone, leaving you for their ‘true mates’.”
My gaze darkens as I see his expression turns bitter at the last part
“And this one?” he adds with his eyes gleaming faintly with something far too close to interest. “Sebastian, is it?”
The way he says the name makes something in me bristle instantly, Lance cannot have an interest in Sebastian.
“And now he’s found his mate,” Lance finishes, almost thoughtfully. “Walked away with another Alpha like you and him were nothing.”
A pause.
“How does it feel to be left behind, Ragnar?”