Chapter 21
Astor’s Pov
I was trying, I truly was. Every day, I tried But it felt like nothing I did was good enough for Faith anymore. Still the hope deep inside me wouldn’t let me give up. I kept pushing, kept reaching out, even when she only gave me a
cold shoulder.
At least Alice had left quickly when I asked her to go. Having her around, after everything, would have made the situation even worse. I was grateful for that. But it seemed luck wasn’t entirely on my side.
Rogues were showing up again near our pack lands. We’d seen them more and more often these past few weeks, like a shadow getting closer every
day.
This meant I had to go, and go fast, to the Eclipse Pack. I needed to talk to Alpha Connor, my best ally, to make our defenses stronger and figure out what this threat was and how in danger we are.
But I couldn’t leave Faith alone, now more than ever, Faith felt wild and unpredictable. She was like a storm waiting to burst. I knew deep down that she desperately wanted to leave this place. To leave this pack. To leave me. And I was scared. So scared that if I left her here, with all her quiet anger and strong desire to escape, I might come back to find she was gone.
I couldn’t let that happen.
Not ever again.
“We’re going to the Eclipse Pack tomorrow.” I said finally. The words felt heavy and empty between us.
We were eating dinner, and the quiet moments felt long and hard. She didn’t even look up from her plate. Her fork scraped the dish, making a sound that
Chapter 21
annoyed me. She just kept eating, acting like I was just noise, like a
bothersome fly.
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It was incredibly hard now that things had changed. I used to be the one ignoring her. I was the one whose attention she desperately wanted but rarely got.
Looking back, I regret it more than anything, and to see her do the same to me, to feel her not caring, was a harsh and painful twist of fate.
“Should I care?” Her voice was flat, without any feeling. It showed clearly the new person she had become, someone who just didn’t care.
“Yes, because you’re coming with me,” I told her. My voice was firm, though I had to force the strength into it, even though I didn’t want to.
She stopped, frozen for a few seconds, and she slowly looked up, and her eyes met mine and stared with a fierce, wild anger.
“I’m not,” she argued, her voice getting louder.
But I wasn’t going to back down on this. I couldn’t. I knew she was very angry with me, but I needed this. I was certain that someday, she would forgive me. She would finally understand that everything I did was because I loved her. That even if it seemed wrong to her now it all came from that love.
“You are,” I repeated, staring steadily, making it clear there was nothing to
discuss.
This wasn’t a request; it was an order.
“I wish I could say you should be ashamed of dragging me along to see your girlfriend.” She sneered. She pushed her chair back, and it screeched loudly in the dining room. “But you don’t have any shame at all.”
She stood, her eyes still fixed on mine, with a bitter look. Then she turned and left me alone, with our half–eaten dinner and my own broken feelings.
Chapter 21
To be honest, I was ashamed. More than she could ever know. I truly wish I could fix this, go back in time, and erase the memory of that night she mentioned. But there was no going back, no changing what happened, or what I was accused of. No matter how hard I tried to remember, to put together the pieces of exactly what happened, that night stayed a frustrating. painful blank in my mind.
I didn’t want to call Alice a liar. Up until now, she had never given me any reason to doubt her honesty. But I also couldn’t imagine myself doing something like that, not to Faith. I couldn’t have betrayed Faith in such a way It wasn’t who I was. My whole body rejected the idea. Yet, somehow it happened. And I need to know how.
I hate not being in control, and right now, I wasn’t even in control of my own thoughts or memories. The not knowing was torture.
Morning came bright and early, but the mood between us still didn’t change. The air in the car was thick with silence, like a heavy blanket pressing down
on us.
She wouldn’t look at me. Her eyes were fixed steadily on the passing view outside the window, her jaw tight. Every mile we traveled felt like we were moving further and further away from each other.
The tension around us was even thicker because Chase was coming with us, and after their last encounter, I don’t think either of them wants to be close to each other, but he is my gamma, and I had to take him with me.
I don’t know what made her slap him and I’m not sure I want to know for his sake, because I will never tolerate any disrespect from anybody in my pack
to her.
When we finally arrived at the lands of the Eclipse Pack, the tension, if anything, grew stronger.
Alpha Connor and his Luna were standing outside to welcome us, and they
Chapter 21
gave us forced smiles that didn’t quite reach their eyes.
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What really surprised me, though, was how Faith acted, or didn’t act. Her birth parents were standing right there, but she only gave them a quick, polite nod. There was no hug, no warmth, not even a casual chat. Just a cold, distant greeting, as if they were just people she knew, not the ones who gave
her life.
A quick hint of pain crossed Ovelia’s face, barely noticeable and quickly hidden, but I saw it. It was very different from the warm, loving bond I knew many children shared with their parents. Their relationship, or lack of one, was a painful sight I hadn’t expected to see so clearly.
Alpha Connor took me and Chase into his study. His face, usually calm,
showed a slight worry.
After we talked for a bit about the rogues, he leaned back, his eyes looking a
little narrower.
“Astor,” he started, his voice quiet, “Alice came back to us a few days ago.”
My stomach clenched. “So I heard.”
“She told us… a rather upsetting story.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “She said you told her leave.”
I stiffened. “I simply asked her to go, and she did. It was a personal issue.”
I don’t know how much she told them about the reason why I asked her to
- go.
I know Chase knows what happened I mean everybody in my pack does because she announced it like it was Sunday news but I still don’t for comfortable having this conversation.
Alpha Connor’s look grew sharper. “You’ve always been welcome in our pack. And as allies, Astor, you know my daughter should always be welcome
Els $1
in your pack”
“And she was, Alpha Connor” I replied, my voice firm. “Until things changed. Whatever is going on between Faith and me is our own business. Others don’t need to get involved, especially if it causes more trouble.”
I looked him straight in the eye. “If you truly want to know what happened, Alpha Connor, I suggest you ask Alice”
The air felt tense between us, a quiet challenge. Alpha Connor looked at me for a long time, then slowly nodded. He accepted my way of avoiding the question, even if he didn’t fully believe me.
The meeting went on, but a new, unspoken tension hung between us.
Suddenly, loud noises came from inside the packhouse, then shouts. My head shot up, my senses suddenly wide awake. Alpha Connor stood up at once, his Alpha instincts kicking in as well.
We looked at each other, both knowing trouble was starting.
Without a word, we all rushed out of the study, following the growing noise. We burst into one of the main common rooms, and what we saw there made me freeze with fear.
Faith and Alice stood face to face, caught in a heated fight. Alice’s face was twisted in anger, her hand still stinging from a fresh red mark on her cheek that looked like a slap.
Faith, her eyes burning, was staring angrily at Alice, her chest rising and falling fast with barely held–back rage. A raw, dangerous energy came off her.
“You lying b***h!” Faith hissed, her voice shaking with anger, her fist clenched, ready to hit again.
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