Chapter 368
(Ethan’s PW)
This night was
was extremely long-
Ilmelt before Olivia’s door, my Alpha pride cast aside as each passing second became an agonizing torment. My wold whined beneath my skin, exhausted and
The cool night air carried Olivia’s scent from inside the cottage. So close, yet unreachable. My mate was just beyond this door, but the distance between us felt
Infinite.
My knees ached against the hard ground, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the weight of my guilt. I deserved far worse for what I had done to
Olivia and Lily.
shifting shadow
Hours passed. The moon traveled across the sky, casting shifting shadows around me. Still, I remained, head bowed in shame.
Danmapproached, painting the horizon with pale light, Birds began their morning songs, oblivious to my suffering.
I had been here since 3AM, and now the sun was rising. My body was still, my muscles protesting, but I wouldn’t move. Not until Olivia acknowledged me
My wold, usually so proud and dominant, lay subdued within me. We both knew we deserved this penance and much more.
Colivia’s POV
I woke to the soft plog of my phone. A message from Lucas Blackwood.
Rubbing sleep from my eyes, I opened it to find a video. The timestamp showed it was from last night.
The footage showed Ethan’s Shadow clost parked outside Victoria Frost’s residence at Rosewood Haven. Despite myself, I felt a pang seeing his car there.
Today was both Lily’s death anniversary and Emma’s birthday. Of course he would be with her.
The video continued. Ethan’s car pulled away from the house, engine revving as he accelerated down the private road.
Then something unexpected happened. Emma appeared in the frame, wearing only thin mightclothes, barefoot in the cold night.
She was chasing after Ethan’s car, her desperate cries clearly audible through Lucas’s enhanced recording device.
“Daddy! Please don’t leave me! I’m sorry!” Emma’s woll’s desperate whines echoed in the n night as she begged for forgiveness.
Ethan didn’t stop. Even when Emma fell, her knees scraping against the gravel, he kept driving.
The video ended with Emma crying on the ground, blood staining her nightgown, completely abandoned.
Tunderstood Lucas intent in sending me this. He wanted me to see Emma’s downtall, to witness her suffering as 1 had suffered
A cod satisfaction settled in my chest. This was retribution. Victoria and Enma deserved every moment of pain for what she had done to Lily and me.
Losing Ethan’s protection and be place in his pack was the ultimate punishment for Em
Without him, she was nothing in werewolf society.
before I could reply to Lucas, another notification appeared on my phone. The security system alerted me to someone lingering at my door.
1ched the notificationisiory and froze. Multiple alerts from as early as 3 AM showed Ethan laeeling outside my cottage for almost four hours.
His Alpha scent was strong enough that even the security system had registered it. I wasn’t moved by this display.
He must have discovered the truth about Emena. Perhaps I finally saw through her manipulations.
I quickly typed a message to Lucas, thanking him for the video and inviting him for breakfast. Then I prepared to confront Ethan.
Il Lucas wasn’t coming. I would have ignored Exhian completely. He could feel until his wall surrendered to exhaustion.
I would not forgive the harm he and Emma had caused me and Lily. No amount of lareling could erase that pain.
Widia steady hands, I unlocked the door and pulled it open
Ethan looked up at ine, his face paint, amber eyes bloodshot the looled like he hadn’t slept in days.
“Law, I’m sorry,” he croaked, his voice rough to disuse
His wold’s scent projected genuine remouse as he continued, “I was blind I trusted Victoria and Enna. I believed their lies.”
He swallowed hard, his shoulders slumped in defeat. “I let them use me to burt you and Laly. I was a fool
Tears welled in his eyes, something I’d never seen befor. The mighty Alpha King, crying at my doorstep
“Hiace sinned,” he whispered. “I am so sorry to you, and evenature sorry to Lily”
Tears strated down his face as the recalled the past. “I remember how Lily would wait for me at the Moonlight Fair. How she made that coffee mug Howling Clay Pottery Studio”
g for me at the
Each mitory seed to deepen his regret. “I was never there for her. I chose Emma over my own daughter.
His wolf whined pitifully, recognizing the damage done to our mate bond. “I know I can spend a lifetime trying to make it up to you, Liv. But Lily.
His wine broke. “Lily is beyond my reach now. Her spirit has already passed to the Moon Goddess.”
I remained unmoved by his remorse. My emerald eyes were cold as I stared down at him, my wolf unnaturally still within me.
is moment since Exham’s betrayal with Lucas’s kidney, His realization came too late.
1 had anticipated this moment since
in Stone,” I said, my voice devoid of emotion, “what’s the use of you laceling here? Until Lily’s revenge is taken, you don’t even have the right to say sorry to
Ethan staggered at my words, unable to speak. He knew he was complicit in Lily’s death, having prioritized Emma’s access to a kidney.
“Lly” be began, but I cut him off.
“Ethan Stone, if you haven’t thought about avenging Lily, then don’t act like you love Lily so much and feel so guilty about her. This appearance of yours will only disgust me and Lily.”
My words were harsh, but they were the truth. His tears meant nothing without action.
Ethan looked up at me, his amber eyes filled with desperation. “Liv, is it only if I die for my sins that you and Lily can forgive me?”
I frowned, my wolf bristling beneath my skin. “Erhan Stone, what’s the use of you dying for your sins now? if you want to die, first bring Victoria, the murderer who killed Lily, to jostler, and avenge Lily, then go and die in front of Lily’s Moonstone Tombstone!”
Only after helping avenge Lily would I allow him to die, should he still wish to.
Ethan’s brow furrowed, noticing something amiss in my tone. “Liv, why do you keep saying that Victoria is the murderer who killed Lily?**
My animosity toward Victoria seemed different from what he’d expected.
“Why? Because the kidnry Lily was waiting for didn’t match Emma at all, she couldn’t use it at all!” trevealed, my voice sing with suppressed rage
Erhan’s amber eyes widened in shock This was clearly news to him
“Victoria clearly couldn’t use it for Emma, but she stole Lily’s ladney when Lily’s condition worsened and she needed immediate surgery,” I continued, watching realization dawn on his fare
I reminded him of Connor Blackthorn’s words “She deliberately stole the kidney donor in order to kill your daughter. What’s more, in order to hide this matter, she pald for murder.”
