Chapter 27 Alpha, This Is What You Owe Me


    Aubrey’s POV


    Whether it was a calmke or a raging river if I couldn’t touch the bottom. I was terrified. I almost drowned once. I remember that pain. That helpless, suffocating terror. Water forces its way into your body like it’s alive, flooding your nose, throat, windpipe, lungs. And all you can do is stay awake, watching yourself slowly die.


    But when I saw Henry slipping under his eyes closing, body going limp–all of that fear vanished.


    Because more than 1 feared death, 1 feared losing him.


    “I pushed through that panic to save you. You were already unconscious. You didn’t see how hard I was shaking. I nearly didn’t make it. It was Mariana–she came back with flowers, saw you drowning, and helped me drag you out.”


    I started to calm down. But I couldn’t stop theugh that slipped out. It was too ridiculous. Too cruel. Only now did I know the truth.


    “Later, you got sick. I did too. We both had fevers. But there was no medicine in that countryside ce, no signal either. Mariana said she was scared of the dark, didn’t dare go alone.”


    “It was me. I had a fever, and I still walked ten miles in the pouring rain through the mountains to get you medicine.”


    “I barely managed to get to the town, bought the meds, popped one myself, and caught a ride back. I was burning up. The second I handed the bottle to Mariana, I cked out. When I woke up, I was in the hospital. The driver was the one who took me.”


    Back then, we hadn’t awakened our wolves yet. No mind link, no way to call for help.


    “Afterward, Mariana told me you were unconscious the whole time and didn’t know what I’d done. She said if you found out, you’d feel guilty. You’d feel awful. So I told her, it’s no big deal. Don’t say anything…”


    Anotherugh escaped me.


    “So… I told her not to tell you… and she turned everything I did into <i>her </i>story. And you? You believed her. You protected her. And you pushed me away…”


    Iughed harder, voice rising into something high and brittle.


    “God, is there anything funnier than this?!”


    “Shut up!” Alpha Henry cut me off, his eyes sharp as knives. “Where’s your proof? You say all this, but where’s the evidence?”


    “Evidence?” I red right back. “Did Mariana show you any evidence when she imed she saved you?!”


    “So you don’t have any.” He lowered his eyes, tone unreadable.


    I scoffed. “Evidence? Yeah, I’ve got it.”


    “You remember the medicine/bottle?” I asked, tone cutting. “That town was so behind, they used paper pouches. But it was raining. I didn’t want the pills to get soaked, so I asked the pharmacy to put them in an empty milk bottle instead.”


    Chapter 27 Alpha. This Is What You Owe Me


    8 Pearlg.


    “I ran too fast, tripped, but I protected the bottle. It didn’t break, but the mouth cracked. You remember that?”


    Henry’s POV


    Of course I remembered.


    I asked why the meds were in a milk bottle. Mariana said it was to keep them dry in the damp weather. I didn’t question it.


    But I did notice–there were spiderweb cracks around the mouth of the bottle. I remembered that part clearly.


    Still, I couldn’t bring myself to believe it. What Aubrey said was the <i>exact opposite </i>of what Mariana told me<i>. </i>


    Mariana said when she arrived, Aubrey was frozen stiff in fear. She said she jumped in and pulled me out. She said she was the one who got the meds.


    Aubreyughed again. Her eyes were bloodshot, almost manic. Thatugh- I couldn’t tell if she was mocking me, or herself.


    “You still want more proof?” Her voice was hoarse.


    “I went in the water. I ran those mountains. I passed out in the rain. I was this close to getting pneumonia! The hospital has a record. If they still have the file, you can look it up. Check the date.”


    And just like that, the room went dead silent.


    Technically, none of this was concrete evidence. But her expression–so hollow, so bitter–it spoke volumes.


    Then someone knocked on the door.


    Both of us jumped, like we’d been snapped out of a trance.


    “Excuse me, Alpha,” the voice said from outside., “I’m here to take the statement. May Ie in?”


    Before I could respond, Aubrey moved. She grabbed me by the neck–and kissed me.Hard.


    She bit down deep. The kiss was brutal, bloody. My lips split I hissed in pain, but I didn’t push her away.


    Her eyes were burning. Her kiss–more vicious than anything she could’ve said. Her mouth was like fire, searing right through me.


    Then she pulled back, her voice low and cold by my ear.


    “That kiss… is what you owe me.”


    “You owe me a lifetime. But I don’t want it anymore.”


    Blood stained her lips. She leaned in again.


    “From now on… we’re nothing. You can forget everything I said. Don’t bother looking into it. Don’t remember it. I hope you and Máriana live happily ever after.”