Faking Amnesia to Replace Me? Keep Her, I’m Gone. Chapter 04

Faking Amnesia to Replace Me? Keep Her, I’m Gone. Chapter 04

The instant our eyes met, Kieran went rigid.

He released Nessa almost on instinct.

Caught off guard, Nessa stumbled onto the wooden floor.

He didn’t even have time to help her up.

He only stared at me.

“Seren, darling, it’s not what it looks like…”

I almost laughed.

There was no mistaking what had happened between them.

Nessa’s scent clung to him.

My wolf recoiled.

“Don’t call me that. It makes me sick. We’re done. I’ll submit a request to end our mate bond to the Pack Council.”

He stared at me, and his expression darkened.

He strode over and grabbed my wrist.

His grip tightened painfully.

“Seren, you’re going to end our mate bond without even hearing an explanation?”

“Who do you think will want you after you leave me?”

“With a temper like yours, who else could put up with you?”

“You’re always so full of yourself. No wonder even your own parents don’t love you!”

I tore my wrist free and shoved him back.

“Get out.”

For one second, he just stared at me.

Then his temper snapped.

His hand moved before either of us could think.

I stumbled sideways, stunned.

The shock seemed to hit him only after he’d done it.

He stood frozen, staring at me.

“Seren, I…”

His lips moved as he started to speak, but Nessa suddenly dropped to her knees and burst into tears.

“I’m sorry, Seren! This is all my fault!”

“I was the one who crossed the line. What do I have to do for you to forgive Kieran?”

I let out a cold laugh.

“Forgiveness?”

“Not in this lifetime.”

Nessa shuddered and slowly pushed herself up from the floor.

“Okay, Seren. Don’t be angry.”

“I’ll leave now. I’ll never show up in your life again…”

She got the words out through her tears, then ran out.

A cold smile crossed Kieran’s face, one I’d never seen before.

“See? You’re always like this. Cruel and looking down on everyone. I’m so sick of you.”

“To be honest, I wish my fated mate had been your sister.”

Then he ran after Nessa without looking back.

Nessa’s broken sobs and his anxious, soothing voice drifted from the end of the hall.

I stood there, completely still.

“You bad woman! You made my Mother cry again! Get out!”

“I hate you! I never want to see you again!”

Elsie’s furious voice came from behind me.

I turned to look at her.

She was clutching a heavy stone wolf statue and glaring at me.

Then she suddenly threw it toward me.

“Don’t ever come back!”

The statue crashed onto the floor beside me.

The hatred on her face made her look nothing like the daughter I remembered, the little girl who had clung to me and loved me.

In that moment, something inside me finally went quiet.

I tugged at the corner of my mouth and said, one word at a time:

“You don’t have to pretend anymore.”

“Whoever you choose as your Mother has nothing to do with me.”

I turned and left without looking back.

…

On the way to the airport, Mother’s messages kept appearing.

[When are you finally going to learn to give Nessa a break?]

[You couldn’t keep your own mate. That’s your failure, so what gives you the right to take it out on her?]

[She ran off crying because of you!]

[Come back and apologize right now, or your father and I will act as if we never had a daughter.]

I opened my parents’ profiles one after the other and blocked them.

Then I opened Kieran’s profile and blocked him too.

When I finished, I turned off my phone.

Only one thing remained.

I stopped beneath the silver light spilling through the airport windows and pressed my palm over the mate mark near my collarbone.

My wolf went still.

“With the Moon Goddess as my witness, I, Seren Veyne, willingly give up my status as Kieran Blackwell’s mate.”

“Our mate bond ends here.”

The instant the last word left my lips, pain seared through my torso one final time.

My wolf released a long, anguished howl.

And then–

everything went quiet.

I wiped away my tears.

The boarding announcement had already begun.

I turned and walked into the airport.

…

Meanwhile, Kieran was holding Nessa and comforting her as she cried.

Suddenly, a sharp pain exploded in his torso.