Chapter 26 Tell Me Why


    Aubrey’s POV


    My smile was turning colder.


    Alpha Henry was getting angrier by the second. He scoffed, full of disdain. “If they don’t find that recorder, are you gonna say Mariana picked it up? Don’t forget, she’s on tour. She won’t be back for a month!”


    “I can’t believe our mate is this dumb! He actually doesn’t believe you!” E growled furiously in my mind. “Should I break the suppression? Let him know we’re fated mates? Maybe then he’ll finally fucking believe you!”


    I felt her urge boil up and immediately stopped her. “No. Don’t do it. Even if he finds out I’m his mate. I swear, it wouldn’t change a thing. And I don’t want to use that to tie him to me. I’m tired. I don’t want to be with him anymore. E, please… don’t let him know I’m his mate. Okay?”


    E went quiet. After a long moment, she finally answered, “Okay.”


    I let out a breath and looked back at Alpha Henry. I gritted my teeth. “Can I just ask you something?”


    My eyes stayed locked on his. I didn’t look away for even a second.


    “She’s your childhood friend. But so am I. I even met you before she did. I was your fiancée. So why do you trust her so much… but not me?”


    “Because she’s simpler than you. Kinder than you. No–there’s nothing about you that evenpares to her.”


    Alpha Henry sneered and turned to leave.


    And right then, I snapped.


    With E awakened, my speed was insane. Before he could react, I got to the door first, mmed it shut, and shoved him back against it. But as Shadowmoon Pack’s Alpha, there was no way he’d let himself be cornered like that. In one smooth motion, he grabbed my hands and pinned me against the door instead.


    I couldn’t break free, so I grabbed his cor tight with both fists, not letting him get away.


    “Let go!” he barked.


    “No.”


    I don’t know where the strength came from, but I stood my ground. The old me would never have dared to speak to Alpha Henry like that. I would’ve backed down in an instant. But I’m not the old me anymore.


    “Goddamn it!!”


    Alpha Henry’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want from me?!” he shouted, mming a fist into the door right next to my head.


    The loud bang rang out beside my ear, and the rage radiating off him felt like a wall about to crush me.


    We were so close, I could feel his body trembling with anger.


    I raised my head, stubborn as hell, and stared at him. I wasn’t just angry. I was in pain. And I was so, so tired.


    <b>?</b><b>?</b>???


    Chapter 20 Tell Me Why


    The look in my eyes must’ve shaken him–like something haunted.


    “Tell me,” I yelled. “Tell me exactly why you treat me and her so differently! Just say it, and I’ll let


    He let out a bitterugh.


    “You really want to know? Fine, If you’ve forgotten, I’ll remind you.”


    <b>28</b><b>% </b>


    40 Pears


    you go!<i>” </i>


    “You remember, don’t you? When we were fourteen? The three of us snuck off to the countryside vi. I fell into the water. You were right there. But you were so scared of water, all you did was stand there frozen! Even when I was cking out, thest thing I saw was you, standing there useless, too scared to move. If it weren’t for Mariana, I would’ve died. You tell me–how the hell could someone like you be my fiancée?”


    His words stunned me. I stared at him, wide–eyed,pletely thrown..


    But he wasn’t done.


    “After she pulled me out, I had a fever. I was unconscious for days. The first time I opened my eyes, Mariana was right there, taking care of me. Where the hell were you?”


    “It was the middle of the night. Mariana walked ten miles through the damn mountains to get me medicine. She was just a girl. No wolf yet. If she’d run into a rogue, she’d be dead. But she still did it. And you? You were so scared, you ran all the way home by yourself! If Mariana hadn’t been there, I’d be six feet under. And now you have the nerve to ask why I treat you differently?!”


    “Ha… hahahahahahaha!”


    Suddenly, I burst outughing.


    My eyes went red in an instant, but I couldn’t stop. Iughed like I was losing my mind–sharp, shrill,pletely unhinged.


    Henry had been seething just seconds ago, but now he looked baffled.


    “What the hell are youughing at?!”


    “Ha… haha…”


    Theughter kept bubbling up. I slowly let go of his cor. Myugh faded, but it sounded more like crying.


    A whole lifetime of loving someone who never loved you back… and <i>this </i>was the reason? <i>This </i>was it?


    “When I was younger… yeah, I was terrified of water. I couldn’t even go near it…”


    I looked up at him and spoke slowly.


    “But I saw you go under. I saw you close your eyes. You were about to die. So in the end… I still jumped in.”


    30