Chapter 21
The sobbing on the other end of the line cut off like a slashed throat.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Saela’s voice transformed from pleading to venomous in an instant, sharp with disbelief, “Luc?”
Lucien closed his eyes, his voice dropping to a weary rumble. “I’ve indulged your selfishness for far too long
“You chose this path. Now walk it.”
“If it’s truly unbearable…” he paused, feeling the weight of karmic justice, “take it up with our parents.”
“I don’t have the capacity to deal with your problems right now.”
“Besides…” a bitter smile pulled at his split lip, “if I rescue you after what you did to her, Mira will never forgive me.”
Saela’s breathing turned shallow and rapid before exploding into hysterical screaming. “Oh my god, you actually fell for that pathetic bitch, didn’t you?!”
Lucien let the silence stretch between them, his wolf strangely calm as he finally admitted the truth: “Yes.”
That single syllable sliced through Saela’s final thread of sanity.
“LIAR!” Her shriek made his sensitive ears ring. “You’ve loved ME all these years! ME! Not some trashy little wolf who threw herself at you! How could you possibly want HER?!”
“You’re lying! This is some twisted test, isn’t it? To punish me?”
She launched into a frenzied tirade, desperately cataloging every moment from their childhood–when he’d carried her on his shoulders during pack runs, how he’d always sneaked her extra desserts, the way he’d look at her during family dinners when no one else was watching…
Lucien remained silent, her words washing over him like distant echoes from another life. The devotion he’d once felt for her seemed like a fever dream–a madness he’d finally broken free from.
Until a rough male voice interrupted in the background: “Who said you could use a phone? Didn’t I make the rules clear enough last night?”
There was a sound of struggle, Saela’s cries suddenly desperate again. “Luc! PLEASE! He’s going to hurt me! I’m sorry for everything–I’ll do anything-”
The call disconnected with brutal finality.
Lucien slowly lowered the phone, his knuckles white with tension.
He pressed his fingertips against his throbbing temples, a headache building behind his eyes. After a long moment of contemplation, he deliberately set the phone aside without calling back.
re–hiddon Love
8.7%
Chapter 21
Throughout his hospital stay, Lucien’s enhanced hearing picked up constant updates about Mira and Riven from the nursing staff.
“The couple in 302 are absolute relationship goals. That she–wolf hasn’t slept in three days, just watching over him…”
“Did you see how he looks at her? Like she literally hung the moon…”
“I overheard them talking about moving to his territory together. The Lunargent Pack is getting a stunning Luna…”
Each snippet of gossip drove the silver blade deeper into his heart. His wolf whined constantly beneath his skin, the animal’s grief more honest than anything his human side would allow.
The day before discharge, some masochistic impulse drew him to stand outside Room 302.
The door was slightly ajar. Through the narrow gap, he saw Mira sitting beside Riven’s bed, carefully peeling an apple in one continuous spiral–a domestic gesture she’d never once performed for Lucien during their years together.
Riven, propped against pillows, suddenly pulled her into his arms, claiming her mouth with hungry intensity.
Mira didn’t hesitate or stiffen as she always had with Lucien. Instead, she melted against Riven, arms wrapping around his neck, responding with a passionate abandon Lucien had never witnessed from her.
He stood frozen in the hallway, a ghostly witness to the happiness that should have been his–could have been his–if he hadn’t been so catastrophically blind.
On discharge day, despite his still–healing injuries, Lucien stubbornly completed his paperwork alongside Riven, refusing to leave European Territory.
For days, he’d attempted every reconciliation gesture he could imagine…
Rare silver moonflowers delivered each morning. Blood–infused chocolates imported from packs in South America. Even a custom–crafted silver pendant she’d once admired in a catalog years ago.
Mira hadn’t acknowledged any of it. The flowers wilted untouched. The chocolates were distributed among the nurses. The pendant box remained sealed.
“Lucien,” she finally snapped, her patience visibly exhausted. “How long do you plan to keep this pathetic display going?”
“Go back to your territory. Your presence here is embarrassing us both.”
His throat tightened around words that felt woefully inadequate. “Will you truly never forgive me?”
Mira’s lips curved into a smile that chilled him to the bone. “Forgiveness implies I still care enough to hold a grudge.”
“I feel nothing when I look at you. Your existence doesn’t even register in my world anymore.”
The statement cut cleaner than any silver blade, leaving his heart hemorrhaging from a wound that would never heal.
8.8%
Chapter 21
He recognized the unfamiliar finality in her voice. There was no path forward with Mira.
“I’d like a word with Riven,” he said suddenly, his Alpha presence reasserting itself.
Mira’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “That’s completely unnecessary.”
“I’ll handle this, she–wolf.” Riven squeezed her shoulder, his casual smile belying the predatory gleam in his eyes.
“Besides, our private time has been rather compromised by our unwanted shadow lately. Might as well clear the
air.”
3
