Chapter 181 Wrong All Along


    Chapter 181 Wrong All Along


    ROWAN


    My ears rang.


    It was a horror.


    Pure, gut–wrenching horror.


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    Those few words sent me spiraling down into a ce I hadn’t thought I could reach again.


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    I didn’t even realize I’d grabbed Dustin until I felt the fabric of his shirt under my fists, my knuckles tight and shaking as I pinned him with a re. My breath came ragged, each inhale tasting like ashes.


    “What do you mean?” My whole body felt like it was on fire, rage and confusion boiling in my veins.


    Dustin didn’t fight me. He didn’t raise his hands nor try to pry me off. His head tilted down slightly, like he had already epted every consequence of the truth he was about to spill.


    “I’ll tell you everything,” he whispered. “But you have to calm down, Alpha Rowan. Please.”


    I released him with a violent shove, my chest heaving. My wolf wed inside me, snarling at the truth that hadn’t even been fully spoken yet. I took a step back, but the anger didn’t leave–it only grew. My hands shook at my sides, and I had to curl them into fists to keep myself from striking him again.


    “Say it,” I demanded.


    Dustin exhaled shakily and ran a hand down his face. Then, finally, he began.


    “I met Ena in the summer,” he said, his voice heavy with longing, regret, and something I hated recognizing–love. “It was in the East, before thest year of high school. And I instantly fell in love. We were mates.”


    I froze. Every muscle in my body locked, my breath stuck halfway in my throat.


    “But we couldn’t be together,” Dustin continued quickly. “Because she was with you.”


    My nails dug into my palms. My vision swam. “You’re lying.”


    “I’m not,” he said firmly. “Rowan… I loved her. She loved me, too. But she still cared about you, in her own way. She couldn’t bring herself to break what you had.”


    Memories flooded me. It was the time Ena’sughter and touches grew colder.


    I thought it was me. I thought I wasn’t enough.


    “She couldn’t tell you because she still cared for you,” Dustin said softly. “She didn’t want to shatter you. But I met her nearly every week. Sometimes for hours, sometimes just for a few moments. And most of the time, she would tell me about Tessa.”


    My head snapped up.


    “Tessa?”


    “Yes,” Dustin said. “Ena admired her a lot. She said she was kind and understood her more than anyone could.”


    My blood turned cold.


    “Tessa knew?” I whispered.


    “She did,” Dustin admitted. “And she didn’t tell you because she cared too much about Ena. She wanted to protect her… protect both of you.”


    My heart felt like it was being ripped in half, shredded by shreds, and yet still beating, still bleeding.


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    Chapter 181 Wrong All Along


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    She knew<b>. </b>


    All this time.


    Tessa knew.


    And she never told me.


    I swallowed hard, a bitter taste burning my tongue. She could have told me and ended it all sooner. She could have ripped the bandage clean. But would I have believed her? Would I have listened even when I was blinded by the love I thought was unshakable?


    I shook my head.


    Dustin pressed on. “One time, when I was training prematurely, I got into an ident. I broke my arm.”


    “I called her right away, even though I knew she had sses. It wasn’t serious, but I just wanted her validation. That was my mistake.”


    “She said she asked Tessa to drive,” he went on. “And I knew Tessa… she really liked Ena. She would do anything for her. So she agreed. I waited. I waited so long. But they never came.”


    The world blurred. The walls, the ground, the very air seemed to bend and shatter.


    “I thought she stayed for you,” Dustin whispered, shame flooding his face. “That she chose you, again. And I—” His voice broke. He clenched his fists, tears finally spilling from his eyes. “And then I heard she had died in an ident.”


    The words rang in my ears.


    “After that, we met coincidentally, and Tessa asked me to side with her. However, at that time, I didn’t know what to do. I was drowning in my own guilt and anger. I ended up digging the hole deeper, running from it all. But I realized I was in the wrong. I’ve known it since then. And when I saw her here again…”


    My gaze snapped to him.


    He met my eyes. “I felt it all. Everything I’d buried. I just wanted to make things right.“/


    “So, for now, I want you to know that Tessa never did anything wrong.”


    I turned the words over and over in my head. Tessa never did anything wrong. That realization burned through my chest until it felt like my lungs could barely expand. I had spent so much of my life directing my anger, my grief, my fury toward her–hating her so much, resenting her presence, convincing myself she was the source of my suffering. I had made her my viin. The one I pointed to whenever the shadows of my past crept too close.


    Yet all this time, what if I’d been wrong?


    I swallowed hard, feeling my throat tighten as Dustin’s words reyed. His confession didn’t have the sheen of maniption. He had no reason to deceive me.


    If what he said was true, then the foundation of everything I thought I knew had been shattered in an instant.


    I had believed everyone except her.


    The image of her face shed in my mind, and suddenly <b>I </b>couldn’t breathe. What did I do to you, Tessa?


    Dustin exhaled slowly. “Right now,” he said quietly, “I’m with someone who makes meplete. I’ve learned what it means to finally find peace. I hope-“his voice softened even more, “I hope it’ll be that way for you too. Because Ena… she was truly rooting for you. For Tessa. She wanted you happy, Rowan. She believed you deserved it, even when you couldn’t see it yourself.”


    His words washed over me, but they barely registered. My ears buzzed. My pulse thundered in my skull. I could see his lips moving, but all I heard was silence inside me. Silence, and then <b>a </b>single name.


    Tessa.


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    Chapter 181 Wrong All Along


    Everything I had done to her hit me all at once. How many times had I shut her out when she was the only one I should have let in?


    I clenched my fists until my knuckles burned. I had been blind. Sopletely blind.


    I couldn’t stand still anymore. My hands trembled as I pressed them to my face, dragging them down slowly like I could wipe away the guilt pressing down on me.


    Tessa, where are you? How much have I hurt you?


    I had wasted years believing a lie. Years of painting her in colors she didn’t deserve. Years of making her carry the me for wounds she never inflicted.


    I needed to find her. I needed to see her face, hear her voice, let her know that I understood.


    I needed to look for Tessa.