<h4>Chapter 619: 619-Without Me</h4>


    <strong>Norman:</strong>


    Watching her in pain made me feel guilty. I had asked her many times if she was okay, but she lied. She told me there was nothing wrong. It made me realize she really is a ride or die.


    She would rather die than tell me she was in pain because she couldn’t be with her mates. So when I walked out of that room, I couldn’t even look at her. I didn’t want to share her. I couldn’t bear seeing her with anyone else. But sometimes, great sacrifices are made when there’s no other option.


    I walked over to Kaye’s room and heard him grunting in pain inside. He must have been suffering from the same kind of pain Hnie was going through because of my stubbornness.


    I knocked on the door and noticed that Kaye had gone silent. He slowly opened the door, just halfway, so I couldn’t peek inside.


    "Are you okay?" I asked, concern growing in me as I looked at his face. He looked like he was going through hell. Not just Hnie, but my brothers were suffering too, because of me.


    "How’s Hnie?" Kaye asked, and his eyes twitched. He looked down and shook his head slightly, as if trying to focus on his question instead of me.


    "She’s not well," I replied, and my brother lifted his head instantly. He looked so concerned. That’s when Maximus came from downstairs, panting and disheveled. It seemed like he had gone out for a run to help himself deal with the torment, but I could tell it hadn’t worked.


    "Do you want to try some wolfsbane on her?" Kaye suggested, drawing my attention back to him.


    "It’ll burn her from the inside. It’s no pic," I sighed. Just the thought of her being in even a little pain was too much for me.


    "Don’t act like you don’t know what the real cure is," Maximus chimed in, leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest.


    I didn’t say anything, but I could tell Kaye was giving him a look, silently begging him not to say it in front of me.


    "Don’t look at me like that. You’re in pain too," Maximus said sharply, stepping forward and pushing the door open, revealing Kaye’s room.


    "What the heck is all this?" I stepped inside, scanning the room, then noticed the stab wounds all over his body.


    "He’s hurting himself to distract himself from the other pain," Maximus exined, his eyes scanning Kaye’s bloodied shirt with concern. His entire white shirt was now red. That’s why he had only peeked his head out earlier.


    "Kaye, you know I can’t stand to see you in pain. Why would you do that?" I looked away, clenching my jaw.


    "Honestly? To some extent, it works," Kaye replied.


    "That’s why I came back too. The run didn’t help much," Maximus added as I stood beside them, grinding my teeth.


    "There’s a better way. The one the Moon Goddess created," I said, and my words silenced them both. "She’s in the bedroom. I’ll go out for a run."


    I didn’t need to exin further, they knew exactly what I meant by that.


    "Are you sure? We don’t want to hurt you either," Kaye said gently.


    I only nodded, then turned and sped away.


    I couldn’t bear to see it.


    "All this pain because we aren’t part of it," I had a feeling Rome would speak up soon. I had already felt him stirring inside me.


    I rushed out of the mansion and only stopped once I hit the trail.


    "I can’t be part of it. If she’s going to be shared, that means my brothers will be involved too. Seeing her with them, it’ll never be easy for me," I said aloud, my hands on my waist, my head tilted toward the sky.


    "Don’t you fear she might fall harder for them?" my wolf pushed, refusing to let me find peace. "They’re the mates she has the bond with. And she once dated them too. What if we’re the ones left out?"


    He wasn’t helping.


    I grunted and rubbed my face in my hands. Why does it have to be this way?


    Earlier, I had gone to meet the man who imed to know about the witches. He turned out to be a clueless liar.


    "It seems like the Moon Goddess has set these rules in a way that they can’t be broken. We wolves always look for loopholes. Our mother did too when she was told she’d never carry her mate’s children. She found a way to go against the Moon Goddess’s decision, and in return, the Goddess nned our fates. This time, she made sure we knew: if she wills it, we can never defy her," Rome said with conviction.


    He was right! The Moon Goddess was making an example out of us. Our mother’s reckless defiance and stubbornness had left us with the consequences.


    I wandered the mountains in pain for hours. The thought of my brothers being intimate with my wife haunted me the entire time. By the time the sky started to lighten, I had crossed the mountains more times than I could count.


    Finally, I came to a stop and stared at the brightening horizon.


    "They must be done by now," I muttered under my breath.


    Rome didn’t respond, but I could sense he wasn’t in much pain. Maybe because she was with her marked mates and not us. But my three heartbeast were irregr.


    I made my way back home, and as the mansion came into view, I started taking deeper breaths. But just as I was about to enter, someone stormed past me, heading inside.


    "Maximus?" I asked, confused. What was he doing outside the mansion?


    He slowed down and turned toward me, lookingpletely worn out.


    "What happened? When did you leave?" I asked, though it was more like I was punishing myself. I wanted to know, when did they finish?


    "After just a few minutes in the bedroom," he replied, sounding exhausted. "She kicked us outst night. Said she couldn’t hurt you."


    It was when I realized why the heartbeats were so irregr because my brothers spent the night in pain.


    Those words filled my heart with a rush of joy, just for a moment. Until I thought about the pain she must have gone through--all night.