I sat back slowly, trying to keep my hands from shaking.
I loved you.
Crafted.
“I regret everything,” she said, her gaze fixed on the flickering fire. “All of it.”
It was planned.
I stared at her, unsure if I was ready to believe her… unsure if I even wanted to. opened my mouth to respond-to say something, anything-but I paused.
He looked away. “If I don’t… they’ll kill Sofia.”
I stepped forward slowly. “What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.
“I didn’t get the triplets’ love,” she said, her voice breaking. “Not even for a second. No matter how much charm or magic was used, they never looked at me like they looked at Olivia. Not once.”
“I regret hurting her. I regret every action, every cruel word, every moment I let someone convince me she didn’t deserve what she had. I regret listening to my parents. I thought I’d be happier if I had what she had… but I was wrong”
I crouched beside him, my voice softer. “You don’t have to keep shutting me out. Whatever it is… just tell me.”
Alpha Damien walked in.
I swallowed hard. “Did she tell you why?”
“To step down.”
It wasn’t just betrayal.
She finally looked at me again, and this time, her eyes were hollow.
I could see the shame flicker in her eyes as she continued.
Still nothing.
Anita was beautiful-no doubt about that-but boys were never attracted to her. Not really. Not like they saw me.
I hesitated, then turned and walked away, Damien’s gaze following me the entire time.
After a few minutes, she finally pulled herself together, sniffling as she wiped at her face with trembling fingers. She didn’t look at me at first, just kept staring at her hands.
Them?
She sucked in a shaky breath and finally met my gaze.
I never expected Anita to break down in tears… this was not what I expected. I expected her to give excuses, say evil things about me, but she didn’t-rather, she was crying loudly while I just sat there, not knowing what to do.
My stomach turned.
His eyes landed on me immediately, sharp and annoyed. He didn’t say anything, just gave me a look that said you shouldn’t be here.
“A week before Olivia’s birthday… Lady Fiona came to see me,” she said slowly. “She told me she didn’t want Olivia for the triplets. She wanted me.” 2
So that was it.
She nodded slowly. “Lady Fiona took me somewhere… I don’t even know where. It was a witch… they… they did something. They gave me something to drink, something to bathe in. They said it would help. That it would ‘clean me’-make the charm stronger, make the triplets look at me the way they looked at her.”
She let out a bitter sigh. “So I told my parents what Lady Fiona said. I thought they’d talk me out of it. But instead… they encouraged me. Said they had their own plans too.
That this could work in our favor”
Her words hit like a punch to the chest.
“I’m sorry you have to see me this way,” she murmured.
He didn’t answer.
My throat tightened. “And you agreed.”
“I have to go,” I said quietly.
She didn’t stop.
But she kept going.
Just sat there, breathing hard through his nose, refusing to meet my gaze.
After a few minutes, she got a grip of herself and began wiping her face. I looked at her, wondering why she was crying. Was she mourning me? Was this guilt? Or was she just acting, trying to get something out of me?
And she was telling the truth.
A long, tense pause filled the room.
I took the stairs back to the room I shared with Alpha Damien. We both stepped in, and I expected him to lash out… I was used to his lashing out, but he didn’t. Instead, Alpha Damien dragged himself to the nearest seat and slumped into it, shoulders hunched, face buried in his hands like the weight of the world was pressing him down.
I nodded slowly. “It’s okay to let it out… don’t apologize for that,” I said gently, though deep down, I wanted to scream at her. Tell her she was a terrible friend. Ask her why. Why did you hurt me like that, Anita?
She hesitated, eyes darting around the empty room before she whispered, “My parents… and the triplets’ parents.”
“I wish…” she began, her voice cracking. “I wish I never let jealousy take over me.”
I frowned. “Three days for what?”
My breath caught.
Because just then, the front door opened.
She nodded slowly, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes still wet. “Thank you… for listening.”
Anita hesitated again, like she was weighing whether to tell me the truth.
I moved closer. “Alpha Damien…”
Outside the hallway, I murmured to my brothers. “I’m going to the garden,” I told my brothers quietly. “I need to clear my head.” They didn’t question me. We were all too drained to speak.
She froze for a moment, then hesitated… and finally walked into the garden. She didn’t speak right away. Neither did I. The silence between us felt thick-but strangely comforting.
We reached Anita’s room, and the moment I stepped inside, I stopped cold. Lennox and Louis were already there. Lennox leaned stiffly against the wall, arms crossed, jaw tight. Louis didn’t even look at her-just stared blankly at the floor. My mother stood beside the healers, nervously biting at her thumbnail, while three healers surrounded the bed.
“Absolutely not,” Lennox added, his voice ice.
After some time, the room grew quiet.
Lennox and Louis noticed too. I could feel the shift in the room-feel them stiffen.
Lennox’s eyes locked onto her like she was gravity. Louis took a step forward without realizing.
“Why?” she asked softly. “Why don’t you want to mark Anita… to save the baby?”
“Alpha…” one of the healers spoke suddenly, snapping me out of the trance. “You have to mark her.” 3
The crying grated on my nerves. The healers worked on her while I and my brothers all stood quiet.
Anita broke it with a soft, pathetic cry. I didn’t move. Neither did my brothers. She curled in on herself, weeping into the pillow.
She blinked, thrown off.
Anita whimpered again on the bed, but none of us felt pity for her.
“I…” she started, then hesitated. “I’m trying to.” That answer made something in my chest tighten. She looked away, fiddling with her fingers. “He’s been good to me. Kind, in his own way. He protects me. And he says he loves me… I’m trying to believe that. To grow into that.”
“Levi… you need to see this,” he yelled from outside. The urgency in his voice told me something was wrong. I jumped out of the bed and went to the door… I pushed it open and saw Clark standing in front of me.
“And that baby?” I said. “I don’t even know if it was ever really mine. But even if it is… I’m not giving her a bond she doesn’t deserve.”
And this time I decided to ask. “Do you love Damien?” I didn’t know why I said it, but I am not taking it back.
But all I felt… was a blank feeling… If I could lose Olivia, then I am prepared to lose anything.
“I never loved her,” I added, my voice low. “She was just… convenient. And I’ve lost too much already to keep sacrificing pieces of myself for things that were never real.”
What the hell was happening to me?
“Do you feel anything?” I asked, my voice low. “Butterflies? Heat? That pull in your chest like something is anchoring you to him?”
“What happened?” I asked, panicking.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.