Shunned By An Alpha, Cherised By A Lycan

Chapter 271:

Fuck this feeling!

A painful knot twisted in my chest. I forced myself to look at her, really look at her. Behind the rage, behind the betrayal, I saw the wreckage. The girl she used to be…

Loyal, sweet, hopeful—was gone. Had I destroyed her? Had my choices, my actions, pushed her to this point?

Fuck me!

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck again!

For the first time, the burning certainty inside me flickered, doubt clawing its way through my defenses.noveldrama

The anger burning inside of me was replaced by guilt.

“I was there when you thought no one else was,” she whispered. “When you couldn’t sleep, when the nightmares came, I was the one who held you together. And still, you made me invisible.”

The words twisted the blade deeper. I could hear Ace growling inside me, restless, conflicted. I didn’t want to feel her pain, didn’t want to acknowledge it. But it was there, sharp and real, wrapping around my thoughts like barbed wire.

“Isabelle…” My voice was rough, barely audible.

“Don’t,” she snapped, her eyes wild. “Don’t say my name like it matters now.”

She took a step forward, the chains on her wrists clinking softly. “You want to know why I betrayed you? Why I wanted her gone?” Her voice wavered, the hate and hurt blending together. “Because it was the only way I could make you see me again. Because loving you… loving you turned me into something I never wanted to be.”

My chest tightened painfully. The weight of her words was suffocating. How did it get to this? How did someone who had once been my closest ally become my greatest enemy?

For a moment, the silence between us stretched, heavy and unrelenting. I couldn’t deny the truth in her pain. She had been there. She had held me together when I was nothing but shards of a man. And I had discarded her, whether I meant to or not.

Ⱡ𝗮𝗍𝙚𝕤𝖙 ς𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝗲𝖗𝗌 ɢ𝗮𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀․𝚌𝗈𝗆

But that didn’t justify what she did. It didn’t erase the choices she made, the lines she crossed.

I took a deep breath, my voice low and strained. “I can’t change what happened between us. And I can’t forgive what you did to Jasmine.”

Her eyes closed, tears slipping down her face. “I didn’t ask for your forgiveness.”

I nodded slowly. “You’re right. I’m not a saint. I’ve made my share of mistakes, and maybe… maybe I turned a blind eye to what I was doing to you.” My voice dropped.

Cold and final. “But that doesn’t excuse your betrayal. It doesn’t undo the harm you caused. And it sure as hell doesn’t make Jasmine deserve what you did to her.”

Her eyes opened, hollow and empty. “So what now? You’re going to kill me?”

I shook my head, my jaw tight. “No. Death would be too easy. You’re going to live with your choices, with the knowledge that you burned everything we ever had to the ground.”

Her breath hitched, but she didn’t respond. Whatever fight she had left flickered and died.

“Kade,” I called, not turning away from her. “Take her to the dungeons. Make sure she doesn’t escape. She doesn’t deserve mercy, but I won’t give her the satisfaction of an easy end.”

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