?Chapter 319:

“That’s not what happened,” I snarled.

“Isn’t it?” Aiden said, his eyes gleaming with malice. “Go on, Ryder. Tell her. Or should I?”

Jasmine’s hand shot out, grabbing my arm. “What is he talking about?” she demanded, her voice shaking.

I met her eyes, the weight of her gaze nearly crushing me. “I did what I had to do,” I said, my voice barely audible. “To protect the pack. To protect you.”

Her hand fell away, and the hurt in her eyes nearly broke me.

“You lied to me,” she said, her voice a whisper. “You lied about him. About everything.”

“I didn’t—”

“Don’t,” she cut me off, stepping back. “Don’t try to justify it. Don’t try to make it okay. You should have told me. You should have trusted me.”

Aiden’s smirk was a knife in my ribs. “Looks like the perfect Alpha isn’t so perfect after all.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I growled, my voice shaking with fury.

Her eyes were misty, like she was fighting the tears that were threatening to slip down. It hurt me, it hurt us, to know I was the reason behind those tears.

“Fucking rip his heart,” Ace was being Ace again. “Don’t you see what he’s doing to our mate? Don’t you see how he’s making her hate us? I swear, if she leaves…”

“I need space,” she said, her eyes locked on mine.

Space. I froze.

And just like that, she turned and walked out, leaving me standing there, shattered.

Aiden’sughter followed me as I watched the door close behind her. I turned to him, my body trembling with barely contained rage. “If you say one more word, I swear by the moon goddess—”

Discover more at gα?ησν??s

“What?” he interrupted, stepping closer. “You’ll kill me? Go ahead, brother. Finish the job you started all those years ago.”

Ryder’s POV

The door mmed shut behind her, and the silence that followed was deafening. My chest felt like it had been torn open, and every breath burned. Jasmine’s scent lingered in the room, the fading trace of her presence twisting the knife Aiden had driven into my heart.

Ace was there, wing at my insides, his voice a goddamn roar: Go after her. Fix this. But my body wouldn’t fucking move.

Not with Aiden standing there, his smirk sharp enough to slice my goddamn throat.

“You’ve always been predictable, Ryder,” he drawled, taking a slow step toward me. “So fucking easy to tear down. I almost forgot how much fun it is.”

I wanted to hit him. No—destroy him. Fists, teeth, ws—whatever it fucking took to wipe that smug grin off his face.

“You really fucked this one up, didn’t you?” Aiden drawled, his voice as cold as the smirk on his face.

I turned to him, my fists clenching at my sides. Ace roared inside me, wing for control, demanding I end this. But I couldn’t—not yet.

“Why are you here, Aiden?” My voice was low, rough with barely restrained fury.

.

.

.