Chapter 26
A Bitter Truth Revealed
Hand in hand with Zoe Jackson, Lanie eyed Benjamin and
with guarded suspicion.
A pang of hurt struck Adam; his shadow wolf felt the weight of her mistrust.
“Lanie, we’re childhood friends. Why do you look at us like this?” Adam asked, his voice tinged with pain. His wolf whined softly at her distance.
Lanie frowned, unwilling to engage in pleasantries. Hadn’t they abandoned their years of friendship? She stared calmly.
you must quickly,” she said, her tone firm.
“Don’t waste my time. I need to return to the pack territory. Say what you m
Adam started to speak, but Benjamin interrupted, his gaze unwavering.
His guardian wolf’s protective instincts still pulsed, though tempered by sadness.
“Lanie, we were wrong. We never cared for Qiana. We tried to make you jealous, to help you see your true feelings, but…” He recounted Qiana’s actions and the reasoning behind their manipulative scheme.
A wave of resentment washed over Lanie when she recalled Qiana’s attempt to seek her help in the Jackson territory. How dare she, after causing such pain, expect forgiveness?
ཤྲཱ ཨཱ ཟ བནྟིཾ ཀྲྀརྗ ཙ ནཾ ཙ ༈
Qiana had been banished, her access to the territory revoked.
She’d learned her lesson, although Lanie imagined the difficult life awaiting her.
Knowing Qiana’s background, however, Lanie felt no pity.
Benjamin, Adam, stop deceiving yourselves,” Lanie scoffed. “There are countless ways to make someone confront their feelings. Why most hurtful?”
did you
choose the
Her perceptive wolf sensed their guilt and the faintest hint of regret. “Do you dare claim you felt nothing for Qiana after meeting Benjamin was stunned, a mixture of shock and confusion clouding his features. Adam looked uncomfortable, a hint of guilt in his eyes. “No…of course not!” he stammered.
Zoe Jackson cut through their pretense. His warrior wolf’s presence exuded an undeniable dominance.
“Stop deluding yourselves.
…even
If you hadn’t repeatedly ignored Lanie, Qiana wouldn’t have had the opportunity to hurt her,” Zoe said, his voice low and hard.“You likely don’t even know if you ever felt anything for Qiana.
It’s a childish lie. No he–wolf who truly loves a she–wolf would use another to make her jealous.” Benjamin and Adam paled as Zoe’s words hit the mark, the truth they couldn’t deny.
After a tense silence, Lanie spoke softly.
1: ཨོཾ ཋའོ ཚོ ཆེ ཀཽ ཝ ཤྩ ན ཟ བརྞཱ ཟ
Benjamin, Adam, I realize now that I may have never truly loved either of you. There might have been attraction, but…it wasn’t love. Before it could bloom, you extinguished it,” she admitted, the words a painful admission.“If you wish to attend my blood bond ceremony, you may. But I don’t want you to disrupt it. I am happy now.”
A searing pain stabbed at Benjamin’s heart, a physical ache mirroring his wolf’s despair.
He shook his head, forcing a weak smile.
Lanie, don’t… don’t be with someone else,” he murmured, clinging to a fading hope.“We’re childhood friends, I know everything about you, we’re perfect…”
His words were a desperate plea, a refusal to accept the harsh reality.
