Chapter 79
I took a step forward. I was shaking. “How could you?”
“I… I don’t know….” he looked between me and the woman. His voice was cracking. “Lisa, I swear, this isn’t what it looks like. I thought… I thought it was you.”
I stared at him. My heart cracked open, raw and bleeding. “Are you serious? That’s your excuse? That you thought she was me? Do you think I’m a fool?”
“No! Lisa, please, listen to me!” He rushed toward me. “I don’t know what is happening. I swear to you, I saw your face. I thought you were the one in bed with me. I don’t even know who she is!”
I laughed.
It wasn’t a happy laugh. It was sharp, broken and filled with pain.
“You don’t know who she is? You’re half-naked with her in our bed, and you don’t know who she is?” My voice shook. I could barely get the words out. “Rylan, you made promises to me. You told me I was your mate. That I was safe here. That you would protect me. That I was yours.”
He dropped to his knees. “Lisa, please. I don’t know how this happened. I never meant for this. You have to
believe me.”
“Believe you?” I whispered. “After what I just saw? How? How can I believe anything you say now?”
His face twisted in pain. “I would never do this willingly. Something is wrong. I swear I only had one
drink….”
“The drink…” I murmured. My mind was spinning. Alexandra. She brought the drinks. She said she had one
too.
But would she?
No, I shook the thought away. She would not do that to her brother. I couldn’t think straight. Everything
hurt too much.
Rylan reached for me again. “Lisa, please don’t leave. I’ll do anything. Anything. Just talk to me. Please.”
I stared at him. “Then tell me….what did you see? When you looked at her, what did you see?”
He hesitated. “I… I saw you.”
“That’s not possible,” I said coldly. “You would know me. You would feel me. You know very well how my
body is, Rylan. There’s no way to confuse me with a stranger.”
He looked stricken. “I don’t know what’s real anymore. I swear, my head….it’s all foggy. It’s like I was dreaming. Like I was watching from far away. Lisa, please, you have to believe me. Something is wrong.”
“Something is wrong,” I said bitterly. “And it’s you.”
His hands dropped to the floor. “No. Don’t say that. I love you. Lisa, I love you so much. Please don’t walk away.”
I looked at the woman on the bed. She was watching us like it was a show. There was no emotion on her
face. No shame.
“Do you even know her name?” I asked him.
“No! I told you….I have never seen her before.”
“Then how did she get into our room?”
He stared at me. He seemed to be completely at a loss. “I don’t know. I swear, Lisa. Please… you have to
believe me.”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
“Believe in me,” he whispered. “Believe in us.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “I did.”
He crawled forward on his knees. “Lisa, I can’t lose you. Not like this. I’ll go to the seer. I’ll take a truth spell. Anything. Just give me a chance to prove this wasn’t me.”
I stared at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, I shook my head. “You already lost me.”
I turned and walked out of the room. I didn’t look back.
Alexandra and two guards stood outside. They clearly had heard everything. Her face was pale with
shock.
“Lisa,” she whispered. “I… I didn’t know. I never thought that he would do something like this.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said while brushing past them.
“Let me come with you,” she said and stepped forward.
I stopped and turned around. My voice was cold and steady. “I need to be alone.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it and nodded.
I walked quickly down the hallway, my heels clicking against the stone. The walls blurred around me. My
chest ached. My vision stung with tears.
The night air hit me like ice when I stepped outside. But I didn’t stop. I ran.
Let me out, Sierra whispered.
Take over, I replied.
I shifted mid-run. My bones cracked and reshaped. Fur replaced skin. My vision sharpened. Sierra howled
as she took over, powerful and wild.
We sprinted into the woods.
The trees blurred past us. The wind rushed against our face. The earth trembled beneath our paws.
She ran until my legs burned. Until my lungs begged for air. Until the pain inside me started to fade into the
background.
Why does this always happen to us? I whispered.
Because they don’t deserve us, Sierra replied.
I thought that he was different. I thought that he really loved us.
He might have. But love isn’t enough if there’s no loyalty.
I let out a sound…it was half howl and half sob. We stopped near the edge of the lake. The moon reflected
in the still water.
I shifted back and dropped to my knees.
I screamed. The sound was loud, broken and full of pain.
I hit the ground with my fists. Over and over.
My tears soaked the dirt. My voice cracked.
“Why?” I whispered. “Why does everyone I love hurt me?”
Sierra stayed silent. She let me cry.
I curled into a ball. I was shaking.
And there, under the stars, by the cold water, I let my heart shatter completely for the second time in my
life.
I don’t know how long I sat there, by the lake, knees pressed to my chest and arms wrapped tightly around
myself. The stars above blurred as fresh tears welled in my eyes. My throat felt raw from screaming. My hands were sore from hitting the earth. My whole body trembled from cold and heartbreak.
Sierra didn’t speak. She stayed quiet in the back of my mind. She was giving me the silence I needed. I was grateful. Words wouldn’t have helped right now. There were no words strong enough to describe the
storm I felt inside me.
Eventually, after what felt like hours, the tears stopped. My chest still ached, but I had cried out everything
I could. My eyes felt swollen. My heart was numb.
I took a long, shaky breath and stared out at the lake. The moon was still there. It was full and silver, casting its glow across the surface. It looked calm and peaceful. I wondered how something so beautiful
could exist while I felt so broken.
I have to move, I whispered.
Yes, Sierra said. You can’t stay out here all night.
I nodded. I needed to think clearly. I needed to figure out what to do next. I couldn’t let myself be ruled by
emotions anymore. I had to be smart.
After what Rylan did… I couldn’t stay here. I couldn’t look at him again. I couldn’t sleep under the same
roof. Not after seeing him in bed with someone else.
I stood slowly. My legs were stiff and sore. I shifted back into my human form and reached for the clothes I had tied to a tree earlier. My fingers moved numbly as I dressed.
Where would I go? I couldn’t return to Nightshade Pack. They never wanted me. And now… I couldn’t stay
at Frostbane.
I don’t belong anywhere, I thought bitterly.
You will, Sierra said softly. We’ll find our place. But first… we need to get away from here.
I nodded again. I was determined. Whatever happened next, it would not happen here. I would leave.
I walked slowly back toward the mansion, dreading every step. The lights glowed in the windows. They were warm and soft. They felt wrong to me now. This place that once felt safe… now felt like a prison.
As I reached the steps, I saw someone pacing near the front door.
Jared.
He looked up as I approached, and the relief on his face was immediate.
“Lisa,” he said, rushing toward me. “Thank the Moon Goddess, you’re back. I was so worried. Where did
you go?”
“I needed air,” I said simply. My voice was hollow.
He paused. His eyes scanned my face. “Are you okay?”
“No.”
Claim
He looked like he wanted to hug me but didn’t. “Lisa, I’m so sorry for what happened. I… I can’t believe it. I’ve known Alpha Rylan since we were pups. This… this isn’t him.”
I crossed my arms tightly. “Maybe you don’t know him as well as you thought.”
He flinched at that. “Lisa, I get it. You’re hurt. I’d be furious too. But Rylan… he’s not the kind of man to cheat. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’s crazy about you.”
“Then explain what I saw,” I snapped. My voice was shaking. “Explain how I walked in and found him in our bed with another woman. Naked. Holding her. Kissing her.”
Jared looked torn. “I don’t have an explanation. But I know him. He’s a one-woman man, Lisa. He’s always been. He doesn’t even look at other women. He tells me everything.”
“Maybe not everything,” I said bitterly. “Maybe he’s in love with that woman, Anna. Maybe I’m the other
woman.”
“No!” Jared said firmly. “No, Lisa. If he was in love with someone else, I would know. He tells me
everything. He talks about you all the time. He is obsessed.”
“People lie,” I said quietly. “Even to their best friends.”
He looked pained. “Please, at least give him a chance to explain. He’s not even awake right now. He’s still
out cold from the drink. Something is wrong, Lisa. I can feel it. That wasn’t him tonight.”
“I don’t care what he says tomorrow,” I said, my voice rising. “Nothing he says will make this better. He
broke me. He betrayed me in the worst way.”
“Then let’s talk to the woman,” Jared said. He sounded desperate now. “Maybe someone paid her to do
this. To make it look like he cheated. We should ask her.”
“No,” I said sharply. “I saw their messages, Jared. I saw the love notes. The kisses. The I-love-yous. Don’t
you see? This wasn’t random. This has been going on for a while.”
Jared opened his mouth, then closed it again. His shoulders slumped.
I stepped away. “I’m leaving.”
“What?”
“I can’t stay here. Not after this.”
“Where will you go?”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But I can’t stay here. Every corner of this place will remind me of him. Of
what he did.”
He looked stricken. “Lisa… please reconsider. At least sleep on it. Talk to him tomorrow.”
“No.”
I walked inside, not looking back.
The house was quiet. My footsteps echoed through the halls as I climbed the stairs. I walked straight to
the bedroom and opened the door.
Rylan was lying on the bed. He was unconscious. Alexandra sat in a chair beside him. Her eyes were puffy
and her face was pale.
She stood as soon as she saw me. “Lisa…”
“Don’t,” I said.
She flinched. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know how this happened. I never imagined…”
I walked past her, opened the closet, and pulled out a suitcase.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing. I’m leaving.”
“Lisa, please. Don’t make this decision right now. Talk to him. Give him a chance.”
“There’s nothing he can say that will change what I saw. I trusted him. And he betrayed me.”
She looked like she was going to argue. Then she stopped.
She nodded slowly. “As a woman… I understand. I’ll help you pack.”
Tears stung my eyes again. I swallowed them down. “Thank you.”
She moved to her own room and came back with clothes. “These are new. Take them. And some supplies.
I packed you some things I thought you might need.”
“I appreciate it.”
She paused. “Where will you go?”
“I don’t know.”
She bit her lip. “I have a friend. She is part of the Shadowrune Pack. The Alpha there is kind. If I ask him, he’ll take you in. He is good at keeping secrets. Rylan won’t know.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said. “And I’ll take you myself. No guards. That way, no one will report back. Just the two of us.”
My eyes filled again. “You would do that for me?”
She smiled sadly. “You’re like a sister to me. This is the least I can do.”
I hugged her tightly. “Thank you.”
We continued packing together. Quietly. The way people do when the world is ending.
And maybe, in a way, mine was.
But at least I had the strength now to walk away from the ruins.
