<h4>Chapter 136: Chapter 136: I Release You</h4>


    I stared at Leo, my heart hammering against my ribcage.


    “I asked you first,” I finally said, my voice barely above a whisper.


    Leo’s lips twitched into what might have been a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He turned away from me, running a hand through his dark hair.


    “Always deflecting,” he muttered.


    “I’m not deflecting,” I insisted. “I just need to know where you stand.”


    Leo paced the small confines of the cell, his movements reminding me of a caged wolf. When he finally spoke, his voice was tight with restrained emotion.


    “Where I stand?” He let out a bitterugh. “I stand nowhere, Hazel. I’m a rogue with a faded mate mark and feelings for a woman who already has three mates.”


    I flinched at his harsh tone.


    “Is that all I am to you?” I asked softly. “Just Helena’s recement?”


    Leo’s head snapped up, his eyes shing with anger. “Is that what you think? After everything?”


    “What am I supposed to think?” My own frustration bubbled to the surface. “You admitted you wanted me because I looked like her. You tried to use the Vox Solis to manipte our bond.”


    Only ironically, there wasn’t even a need for it.


    “That was before—” He cut himself off, jaw clenching.


    “Before what?”


    He didn’t answer, instead leaning against the wall and staring at the ceiling.


    “Leo,” I pressed, standing up from my chair. “Before what?”


    The silence stretched between us, thick with unspoken words. Outside, I could hear one of the triplets—probably Levi—shifting impatiently.


    “Before I got to know you,” Leo finally said, his voice so quiet I barely heard him. “Before I realized you weren’t her.”


    Something in my chest tightened at his admission. I took a step toward him, but he held up a hand, stopping me.


    “It doesn’t matter anyway,” he continued. “Your mates would never ept me in your life.”


    “You don’t know that,” I argued, though doubt crept into my voice.


    Leo’s eyebrow arched skeptically. “Really? You think Lucas, Liam, and Levi Sullivan, Alphas of the Emberfang Pack, would be willing to share their mate with a rogue? That all three of those possessive wolves would wee a fourth?”


    Heughed coldly and shook his head.


    “I may also be a Sullivan, but I am not one of them. You know that too.”


    I thought about how protective the triplets were, how their eyes tracked Leo’s every movement when he was near me. But I also remembered their words—that they wanted my happiness above all else.


    “They told me to follow what I want,” I said. “If we’re truly fated, they believe it’s the Moon Goddess’s choice.”


    Leo’s expression softened for a brief moment before his usual sarcastic mask slipped back into ce. “How magnanimous of them.”


    “Stop it,” I said, frustration building. “Stop hiding behind sarcasm. Just talk to me.”


    Something broke in Leo’s carefully maintainedposure. He pushed off the wall, closing the distance between us in two quick strides.


    “You want me to talk? Fine. I’ll talk.” His voice was low, intense. “When I first saw you, I was drawn to you instantly. I thought it was because you looked like Helena, and yes, I thought maybe you could rece what I lost.”


    My heart sank, but he wasn’t finished.


    “But then I got to know you,” he continued. “The way you stand up for yourself even when you’re terrified. How fiercely you protect the people you care about. Your stubbornness, yourpassion even towards someone who stole you away...” He trailed off, looking away. “You may look like Helena, but you’re nothing like her.”


    He touched the faded mark on his neck, a gesture that seemed unconscious. “And that scared the hell out of me, because it meant I wasn’t just trying to rece her. I was falling for you. For Hazel.”


    My breath caught in my throat. “Leo...”


    “And that felt like betrayal,” he admitted, his voice cracking slightly. “Like I was betraying my chosen mate by feeling something real for someone else. Even if that someone else is her twin sister.”


    The vulnerability in his confession stunned me. This wasn’t the sarcastic, aloof Leo I knew. This was a manid bare, his walls temporarily down.


    “I understand that feeling,” I said softly. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s unfair to the triplets that they have to share me among the three of them.”


    Leo scoffed. “I doubt they see it that way.”


    “And now it would be even worse,” I continued, “because there’s a fourth mate to consider.”


    “A fifth wheel,” Leo remarked sarcastically. “Just what every rtionship needs.”


    I ignored hisment, steeling myself for what I needed to say next.


    “I need to know what you want, Leo. If you want to be with me, I’ll ept you. If you want to return to your life as a rogue, I’ll convince Lucas, Liam, and Levi to let you go.” I swallowed hard. “We can reject each other and end the bond between us.”


    Leo wentpletely still, his face unreadable. The silence stretched on so long that I started to doubt he’d heard me.


    “Leo?” I prompted.


    He remained silent, his eyes searching my face for something I couldn’t name. My stomach dropped as I interpreted his silence as an answer.


    “I see,” I whispered, fighting back the unexpected sting of tears. “If that’s what you want...”


    I took a deep breath, preparing to say the words that would sever our bond forever. The rejection ritual required clear intent and specific words. Once spoken, there would be no going back.


    “I, Hazel Bailey, reject the mate bond between us. I release you, Leo Sullivan, from—”


    I never got to finish the sentence. Leo moved with startling speed, closing the distance between us. One hand cupped the back of my head while the other wrapped around my waist, pulling me against him.


    “Don’t you dare,” he growled, his breath warm against my lips.


    Before I could respond, his mouth crashed down on mine, cutting off my words and my thoughts in one decisive moment.