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The phone vibrated persistently beside me, Martin’s name lighting up the screen over and over like a cruel echo of the life I had walked away from. My gaze locked on it, unmoving, as my fingers hovered uncertainly. My pulse thudded in my chest, the mate bond tugging weakly, like an old wound that never quite healed–dull, persistent, and impossible to ignore.}
I had left the Darkshire Pack behind–left him behind. But even with the miles stretching between us, it was clear that Martin wasn’t going to let me slip away without a fight. Part of me wanted to toss the phone out the window, bury the past for good. But another part–a damaged, confused part–still longed for closure. Still wanted answers.
With a shaky inhale, I pressed accept.
“Ella…” His voice spilled through the speaker, hoarse with fatigue and raw emotion. [Please, just hear me out.]}
“What do you want, Alpha?” I asked, my tone glacial as I began to pace the narrow confines of the hotel room. Outside the window, the city flickered with cold indifference, unaware of the chaos unraveling inside me. I could feel my wolf stirring beneath my skin, anxious and angry, her growls humming beneath the surface. But I reined her in.
[I never meant for things to turn out like this,] he began, his words laced with regret. [I didn’t realize how much pain I was causing.]
I let out a bitter laugh, the sound sharp and joyless. “Of course you didn’t,” I said, my voice rising with fury I could no longer contain. “You never saw it, Martin. You were too wrapped up in her to even notice what I was going through.“}
There was nothing but silence on the other end.
“Every time she whimpered, you were there,” I continued, my voice trembling with emotion. “Every single time she needed something- anything–you dropped everything to rush to her side. And me? I was just a figure beside your throne. A Luna in name only. While you played savior to Marcella.”
His silence made my blood simmer, the pressure of unspoken truths pushing against my chest.
[You don’t understand,] he finally muttered, and there was something strange in his tone–something almost haunted. [Marcella… she reminded me of my sister.]
The words struck me like ice water.}
“Your sister?” I repeated, stunned. My brain scrambled to connect the dots. “What are you even talking about?“}
[She died when I was still young,] he said quietly, his voice shrinking under the weight of old memories. [She died protecting me–from rogues. When Marcella came into the pack… she looked so much like her. Not just in appearance, but in spirit. The way she carried pain and pretended to be fine. I saw my sister in her. And I couldn’t fail her like I failed before.]
I stood frozen, caught between understanding and rage. He had never told me this. I hadn’t known about the sister he lost. I could hear the ache in his voice, the guilt he had buried so deeply it had begun to rot him from within.
“I didn’t know,” I said softly, the confession like ash on my tongue. For a second, sympathy flickered–but it was quickly extinguished. I squared my shoulders, forcing strength back into my words. “But knowing doesn’t change the fact that you abandoned me, Martin. Your mate.”
[I wasn’t trying to replace you,] he insisted, panic creeping into his tone. [I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought if I could protect her, it would make up for ]
“You thought wrong,” I cut him off, blinking hard to push back the sting of unshed tears. I could feel the truth between us, twisting like a blade. “You were trying to save someone who reminded you of your past, but in the process, you destroyed your present. Our present.“} [Ella, you were never an afterthought,] he said, his voice cracking. [You’re everything to me.]
“No,” I interrupted, my voice sharpening with fresh anger. “You don’t get to say that. You don’t get to hide behind some tragic memory and pretend like it justifies everything you did. I didn’t ask for much, Martin. All I wanted was for you to be there. To choose me. To respect me. And you never did.”
[I didn’t know how deeply I was hurting you,] he murmured, as if the realization was just now dawning on him. [If I had-]
“If you had?” I snapped, my chest heaving. “Would anything really have changed? Would you have stopped putting her before me? Would I have ever come first?“!
There was a long pause. The silence on the other end felt endless. Heavy. And within that stillness, I already knew the answer. The one he couldn’t say aloud.
And that silence was louder than anything he could have ever spoken.
10:44 AM
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