99 Times Repeated, Not Once Did They Say I Love You Chapter 07

99 Times Repeated, Not Once Did They Say I Love You Chapter 07

After the Pack Summit, I earned a level of respect I’d never had before.

I threw myself into learning everything about being an Alpha, and I nearly forgot the Lioraens existed. Then

one day, I walked out of my hotel and ran into them again.

After the scandal was forced off everyone’s feeds, the Lioraens lay low for a while.

Then, not long ago, the whole family went on another trip. Maeve got carried away and posted the family

photos online.

People noticed right away that I wasn’t in a single one.

Then someone claimed they’d seen me stranded at an interstate rest stop on New Year’s Eve, with no money

and no phone, and that a stranger had to call the police before I could get safely off the highway.

And with that, the story the Lioraens had buried started bubbling up again.

This time, it got too big for them to bury, so they came to me.

Silas’s eyes were burning.

“This is all because of you. Maeve’s getting torn apart online because of you. She cries every day. She won’t

even leave the house.”

He took another step toward me, and his voice hardened.

“You’re going to post a statement online and clear this up. You’ll say we didn’t leave you behind on purpose. You’ll say you didn’t want to go on the trip, and you walked off on your own.”

I actually laughed.

I wasn’t the one who made Maeve post those family photos. She made this mess herself. Since when was

cleaning it up my job?

But Silas had always been like this. Whenever something went wrong, he found a way to pin it on me.

It was the same as when Maeve messed up as a kid. He always shifted the blame onto me.

During the ninety-nine-day loop, she broke an antique diamond bracelet, then looked me straight in the eye without blinking and blamed it on me.

Back then, because of that god’s stupid task, I swallowed every accusation.

I wasn’t that stupid anymore.

I kept my voice even. “No. Not happening.”

My father’s tired eyes burned with restrained fury. “If you hadn’t played the victim in front of those cameras,

we wouldn’t be public enemy number one online.”

He pointed at me as if he were giving orders to an Omega. “You’ll do what Silas said, and you’ll do it now.”

I checked my watch.

Any longer and I’d miss my flight.

My patience was running out fast. “You brought the reporters without asking me. All I did was tell the truth.”

I tightened my grip on the suitcase handle.

“One last time, get it through your heads what cutting ties means. We have nothing to do with each other

anymore. Whatever happens to the Lioraens is none of my concern.”

I looked at each of the three of them in turn.

“Hazel, what’s going on here?”

A tall Alpha walked toward me. He raised an eyebrow at the Lioraens. “I heard about all that old garbage, and they still have the nerve to come find you. Hazel, would it bother you if I knocked them around a little?”

My father stumbled back a step in shock. “Alpha Kaelen? We have no quarrel with you or Rivenwood Pack.”

Kaelen lifted his chin. “A friend’s business is my business.”

I checked my watch again. “That’s enough. Don’t start anything. I have a flight to catch, Kaelen. We’ll talk next

time we’re both free.”

“As you wish.”

My father stared at me in shock, as if he couldn’t understand how I could be so close to Kaelen, the man the

rumors called “the Butcher.”

I wheeled my suitcase past them and kept walking.

My mother reached out and grabbed my arm as if she wanted to say something.

But the moment she opened her mouth, her face changed. She clutched her chest and slowly doubled over,

her face drained white,

My eye twitched.

For one second, I hesitated.

Then I remembered that my father and Silas were both right there. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t going to die because I walked away.

So I pried her fingers off my arm and kept going.

Behind me, my father shouted after me and called me heartless. Then Kaelen’s arrogant laughter rang out.

I didn’t look back.

I was already running late.

After the plane landed, I switched to a long-distance bus and finally made it back to Dreadmoor Pack’s

territory.

Alpha Seraphine Silvanor was already waiting at the gate in her wheelchair.

The moment she saw how much I was carrying, she rolled over to help.

“Why’d you haul all this by yourself? That’s such a hassle on the road.”

“It’s fine.”

She didn’t say anything more. She helped me carry everything into my room, then looked me over carefully. After a moment, she took my wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“You’ve lost weight.”

That was all she said.

But it cut right through me. It was as if something deep in my chest finally shifted, and years of buried pain

crawled up my throat and stung my eyes until the world went blurry.