Chapter 13
I didn’t even realize 1 had fallen asleep.
It’s been weeks since I dared to close my eyes without fear clawing at me from the inside.
Most nights, I just lay in bed and stared at the ceiling until exhaustion dragged me under.
But somehow, this time, I’d slipped into sleep so quietly that even the pain hadn’t warned me.
And then it came….
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“Go away!! Don’t go near me!!”
Ruben’s voice, sharp and cold, echoed in the memory like a dagger carving through my ribs.
I saw myself again–naive, hopeful, just barely brave enough to confront the truth.
The night I realized he had known all along. That I was his fated mate. That he simply… didn’t want me.
“You knew and did nothing?” I had whispered that night, hoping–begging–for a reason, an excuse, something that would make the pain a little easier.
He rolled his eyes, annoyed. Like I was some pest, not the one the Moon Goddess herself had tied him to.
“What do you expect? That I’m going to madly fall in love with you when I have a perfect girl like Kaithlin? She can give me everything.”
I could still hear those words as if he had just spoken them. The coldness in his tone. The disgust in his eyes. It was a rejection beyond the sacred bond, a
brutal denial of who I was.
“I reject you, Ellaine Aurora Rollin, as my fated mate. Now… you better not say anything to anyone. Or else…”
My breath caught.
I jerked upright, gasping, my heart pounding so loud I couldn’t hear anything else.
The nightmare had torn open a wound I thought I’d managed to bandage. But the truth was, it never really healed. It just festered beneath the surface, waiting.
Damn it!
“What’s wrong, El?” Audrey’s voice cut through the haze, calm but alert.
She had noticed me stir. I could feel her watching even if I couldn’t meet her eyes. I grabbed the water bottle by my side and chugged it, trying to cool the burn in my throat and blink away the tears that threatened to fall.
“Nightmare,” I whispered, ashamed at how broken my voice sounded.
She said nothing for a moment. Just watched me, silently assessing.
Then, as if sensing what I needed, she said, “There’s a gas station up ahead. We can stop for a bit.”
The second she pulled over, I practically bolted out of the car to go to the bathroom.
Inside the bathroom, I collapsed against the wall, the cold tile grounding me for a moment before the floodgates broke. I hunched over the sink and
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Chapter 13
threw up what little was in my stomach. My tears followed quickly, silent and relentless.
Why now? Why that memory?
Of all the terrible nights I could relive, why did my subconscious choose that one?
Hadn’t I suffered enough?
I sobbed into my hands until my breathing evened out.
Splashing cold water on my face, I stared at my reflection.
You’re okay, El. Just breathe. Breathe…
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When I finally walked back outside, I tried to put on a neutral face, but Audrey noticed right away. She didn’t push though–never did. That was something I appreciated about her. She gave space without withdrawing completely. Like she knew just how much distance I needed without making me feel alone.
But then her head tilted slightly.
Her eyes glazed over just a second–she was mind–linking someone.
That small detail should’ve been nothing. Except… her shoulders stiffened. Her lips parted ever so slightly in surprise, and then she quickly masked it
with calm.
Something just happened.
I squinted at her. “Is something wrong?”
She shook her head too quickly. “No. Nothing important.”
That was a lie…
Before I could press further, the sound of engines pulling into the gas station made me turn my head.
Two dark SUVs pulled up beside us.
Audrey tensed beside me.
“What…?” I asked, eyes narrowing as I watched several figures step out, all dressed in the black–on–black combat gear of high–ranking warriors.
“The Alpha’s warriors,” Audrey answered shortly, confirming what I already suspected.
I blinked. “They’re here for us?”
“They’ll be riding with us from here.”
That was all she said.
I stared at her, trying to understand. “Why? Did something happen? Why send a whole team just to-”
But she was already helping the warriors load our bags into one of the SUVs, keeping her expression unreadable.
Confused and overwhelmed, I slid into the back seat of the second SUV with her beside me while they prepare the car.
But I couldn’t focus.
Why now? Why sends warriors?
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Chapter 13.
Was something happening back home? Was Monica safe?
Did it have something to do with the Alpha meeting?
Or…
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No… Surely not.
Was it him?
Was Alpha Francesco somehow involved?
No, that didn’t make sense. Why would he care?
But the question settled heavily in my chest, refusing to go away.
I tried to keep still, tried not to overthink it. But my thoughts were racing faster than the wheels on the road beneath us. And Audrey still wasn’t talking. That told me everything I needed to know.
They weren’t just here by chance.
Someone sent them…
But why?
Back at the pack, when they informed the news, a storm had erupted in the Alpha’s office.
He had heard the conversation himself–his Lycan hearing sharper than most–and had been furious.
The warriors said it was the first time in years they’d heard the Alpha raise his voice like that.
An order had come directly from him: “Find her. Protect her.”
Five of his best warriors were deployed within five minutes.
And when Beta Alfonso saw the small, almost imperceptible smile forming on his Alpha’s face after giving the order… he knew.
Hope. That’s what this was.
They had all seen it coming, even if I hadn’t.
Even if I didn’t understand it yet.
Alpha Francesco Totti, the cold and distant ruler of the territory, the man whose Lycan form had once saved me, the man whose late mate’s portrait I had redrawn with my trembling hands–he was starting to care.
And I had no idea what that meant.
All I knew was that the shadows of my past were catching up to me.
But maybe just maybe–I wasn’t alone anymore.
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