CHAPTER 112: THE HEARTBREAK.

The place went silent, so quiet it felt like no one had spoken at all. It was as if the world had stopped and only they were left standing in it. Doubt filled their eyes, all except Kaito. He just stood there, staring at her, and that silence hurt more than if he had shouted. She would have preferred his anger over that cold, still look.

"That’s a good joke," Hiro said with a short laugh, turning to his brothers. The two beside him nodded. "There is no way you are our mate."

"Is she not good enough?" Alex finally spoke, his voice sharp. He was getting angry. They were too afraid to face the truth, but it was time they did. They needed to handle it like the men they were instead of making Angela shake in fear.

"That’s not it," Renn said. "Why would you even think that, boy? She is my girlfriend. Why can’t I make her my mate if I have the chance?"

"Your what?" Taros asked, not sure he had heard correctly.

"She is your girlfriend?" Hiro’s shock showed clearly. When Renn nodded, he turned to Angela. "Is that true?"

"It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not," Angela said firmly. "You are all my mates, and since I cannot reject any of you, I had no choice but to treat you equally." She could still see the doubt written on their faces. They were not going to believe her... except Kaito, who had gone completely quiet.

"You are human. The prophecy says a she-wolf, not you," Renn said, his tone softer now. He seemed to be letting go of the idea of being hard on her. "I know you are sorry for lying to us, but do not hide her from us. Are you afraid we will fight over her?"

"It is bound to happen. If we do not fight now, we will fight for the rest of our lives," Hiro said, glancing at each of his brothers. "I am sorry, but I cannot share her with any of you. Too bad."

"Tell us who she is," Taros asked, his patience thin. The lies were already too much for him. He was not sure he could ever trust her again after this.

"I am telling the truth," Angela said, her voice breaking as tears filled her eyes. How could she make them believe her?

"Your eyes," Mighty-Storm urged.

Angela gave a small nod. She closed her eyes and called for it. When she opened them again, her irises glowed a deep red. The Alphas instinctively stepped back, shock flashing across their faces. Their own eyes glowed in answer to the call of their mate. But behind their shock was something sharper — the horror of the truth she had been hiding from them all this time.

"You are her?" Hiro’s voice cut through the air as he snapped out of his shock. "You are the reason we have been punished every full moon for as long as I can remember? You are the reason for the pain we have suffered?"

"I... I didn’t know what you went through during the full moon until Stales told me," Angela said, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"What about the story that your uncle was going to sell you? That was why you ran to the Academy," Kaito asked. His voice was gentle but laced with heartbreak and disappointment. "Was all that a lie? Were you here because you knew you were our mate?"

"No, no, Kaito," Angela’s voice trembled. She had known these questions would come. "That is why I came here. I never knew I was a wolf."

"She is telling the truth," Alex said quietly, and Stales nodded in agreement.

"So you knew the truth?" Kaito turned to Alex, surprise flashing in his eyes. He had never expected his own beta to keep such a thing from him. The disappointment in his gaze was sharp enough to cut. Alex stayed silent, but the guilt was written all over him.

"When did you find out you were a wolf?" Renn asked, his voice carrying a desperate hope that she would say yesterday, or maybe today.

"On the night of the full moon," Angela answered, twisting her fingers together. She could not bring herself to look at him. The way Renn took a deep breath at her words broke her completely.

"You had plenty of time to tell me, babe," Renn said. His brows furrowed before he forced them back to normal. "Why am I even still calling you babe? You had the choice to tell me the truth. If you had, we would not be here now."

"I did not want to be unfair to the others," she whispered.

"Stop saying that, Hiro. I know I have hurt all of you, but it was never intentional," Angela said, her voice trembling. "I should have told you the truth, but I was scared you would fight over claiming me. I did not want that to happen. I wanted peace between us."

"You did. You achieved the peace," Kaito said, his voice flat as he turned to leave. "But I am not interested in being with a mate who cannot tell the truth, not even once. If I have to live with this pain until I die, then so be it. If I never have children in the future, it is fine. At least we will be saving the next generation from this."

Without another word, he started walking down the path he had come from. Angela felt as if her heart had been ripped from her chest. She could not believe he would walk away just like that, without forgiving her, without easing the blame he placed on her.

"I will talk to him," Samuel said, hurrying after Kaito.

"You should not have been the one. I never liked the idea of sharing my mate with anyone. But with you, I thought it was just you and I," Renn began, his voice heavy with pain. "That is one of the reasons I did not hesitate to love you. But now it will never be that way. You have three other men in your life, and I cannot handle that, Angela. Do you hear me? My heart cannot handle that."

Angela stood there, listening to him pour out his pain. She had known it would hurt him, but hearing his words made her realise she had underestimated how deeply he loved her. Renn turned to leave, kicking a rock out of his way, and Angela felt the pain echo in her own chest.

Alex went after him, promising he would try to calm him down, though Angela doubted it was possible. He told her to stay back.

"You messed it up. I am not going to forget this. For now, let us stay this way," Hiro said, and before she could answer, he vanished into the woods using his primal power.

"I will keep him company," Kael said, going after him.

Now only Taros and Stales were left. The silence between them was heavy. Angela braced herself for more words of heartbreak and disappointment.

Taros walked up to her. "Was it in school that you found out about your identity?"

"Yes," Angela nodded, avoiding his eyes. She could not bear to look at them.

"What about your family?"

"I only have my mother, and she never told me anything about my father or about werewolves. I do not know where to start. I was trying to figure it all out before telling anyone. I just could not..."

She did not know when he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Her heart skipped a beat as she found herself in his embrace. She stood frozen, still shaking from the shock. Was this real? Did he see that it was not entirely her fault? Had he forgiven her?

So many questions filled her mind, but then he spoke softly. "I understand you, dear. I do. The others will too."

Stales let out a breath of relief. He had been dreading going after an Alpha to calm him down, but now that Taros was not acting like the others, he felt lucky. "Thank goodness. I am not in a tight corner like Alex or Kael," he muttered.