CHAPTER 128: SHATTERED

Josie

I wanted nothing more than to get away from him. Away from his suffocating grip, away from that sharp, mocking voice that always cut deeper than it should.

"Josie—wait," Liam snapped, his hand closing around my arm before I could slip past. His fingers dug in, not hard enough to bruise, but hard enough to stop me. "You can’t just walk away from me like this. You need to listen."

My chest tightened, fury and exhaustion crashing together like storm waves. I yanked my arm, but he didn’t let go. "I told you I’m not ready to talk to you," I bit out, my voice rough from holding everything in. "Not now. Not like this."

His eyes burned with irritation. "You think you can just ignore me? That’s not how this works. You need to understand something, Josie—your duties come first. Always. Before your emotions. Before your whims. Before anything else."

That word—duties—was the spark that lit the fire under my skin. I jerked back with all my strength, tearing free of his hold, and spun on him, my glare sharp enough to cut. "You’re wrong," I hissed, every syllable vibrating with anger. "My mates come first. Always. That will never change, no matter what you think, no matter how much you try to wedge yourself into my life. Do you hear me? They come first."

For a split second, silence hung heavy between us. Then his mouth twisted into a sneer, but I didn’t care. I was already turning, already running, because I had seen him—Kiel—and the look on his face had shattered me.

I bolted after him, my heartbeat roaring in my ears, the world blurring around me. The path back to the pack house stretched like an endless tunnel, but I chased him, desperate, terrified of what would happen if I let him go inside without stopping him.

"Kiel!" My voice broke as I called out, my lungs burning. "Please—stop!"

He was already at the steps of the pack house, his hand curling around the door handle, when my words finally reached him. His shoulders stiffened. Slowly, too slowly, he turned, and when his eyes met mine, my breath caught.

They were red.

Red-rimmed, raw, the kind of eyes that spoke of rage so deep it bled into grief.

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach.

"It’s not what you think," I blurted, the words tumbling out, messy and desperate. "What happened with Liam—it wasn’t—Kiel, it wasn’t what you think it was."

He stared at me, silent, his jaw tight enough to crack. Then he finally spoke, and his voice was quiet, but it cut sharper than a scream. "I lost the right to be angry about your choices a long time ago."

"No—" I shook my head violently, my chest clenching. "That’s not true."

"There are some things," he went on, ignoring me, his tone flat and final, "that can’t be fixed. That can’t be undone. And I’m done pretending otherwise. I just want to be alone."

I stumbled forward a step, my hand reaching toward him before I could stop myself. "You can’t just walk away," I pleaded, my voice cracking. "Not like this. Please, Kiel—you can’t—"

His lips twisted, bitter, and he let out a short, humorless laugh. "Watch me."

The words slammed into me like a blade. My knees nearly buckled under the weight of them, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

I just stood there, staring at him, feeling everything inside me start to collapse. The threads I’d been clutching to hold us together were fraying, slipping through my fingers, no matter how hard I tried to hold on. I was so close to giving up completely. So close to letting the hopelessness swallow me whole.

But I couldn’t. Not yet.

My chest ached as I whispered, "I’m sorry." My voice wavered, raw, as I forced the words out. "I’m sorry for hitting you before. For not thinking about your feelings. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. I never should’ve done it."

For a heartbeat, his expression didn’t change. Then he shrugged, a careless, jagged motion that made something inside me splinter.

"Making a mockery out of me," he said, his voice rough, bitter, "seems to be your favorite pastime these days. Maybe I should’ve gotten used to it by now. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt this much if I had."

The pain in his tone gutted me.

I felt my control snap. The scream tore out of me, raw and wild. "Where is all this even coming from?!" My hands shook as I threw them out at my sides, my chest heaving. "How could you ever think I’d make a mockery of you? You think I want this distance? That I want to see you hurting like this?"

My throat burned, but I pushed through it. "I don’t. I just—I want you to see that I’m sorry. That I love you. That no matter how badly I screw things up, I still love you, Kiel. We can fix this. We can find a way to make this work. But you have to see it. Please, just see it."

His eyes softened for half a second, just enough to spark hope in me. Then it vanished. His shoulders sagged, his gaze going hollow as he shook his head.

"I don’t see that," he said quietly, almost to himself. "All I see is a woman who doesn’t stand me anymore."

The words hit harder than any blow Liam could’ve delivered. They knocked the air from my lungs, left me trembling, staring at him as if I didn’t recognize him anymore.

And then, without another word, without another glance, he turned.

He went inside, the heavy door closing behind him with a finality that felt like the slamming of a coffin lid.

I stood frozen on the steps, breathless, tears spilling hot down my cheeks. My heart cracked in a thousand jagged shards, each one slicing me open from the inside.

And for the first time, I didn’t know if there was anything left I could do to stop us from falling apart completely.