Once Love, Double Betrayal Chapter 08

Once Love, Double Betrayal Chapter 08

I threw myself into Dad’s arms like a storm-tossed boat finally finding its harbor.

I sobbed against his chest until I broke, until my voice gave out and my throat was raw. Even then, I

had to force the words out.

“Dad, I’m not going through with the mating bond.”

“I don’t want Adrian as my mate. I don’t want Candy as my friend.”

“I don’t want any of it. None of it!”

I expected my parents to call me selfish. They’d always respected my choices-ever since I chose to be with him, through every step leading to the mating bond.

I thought they’d blame me for throwing away the alliance between our packs, for not seeing the bigger picture.

But Dad just rubbed slow circles on my back and said softly, “Your mom and I will always have your back. You’ll always be my daughter. My princess.”

The next day after we got home, Adrian showed up at the door.

I refused to see him. All I heard was Dad’s voice booming downstairs, followed by the front door slamming so hard the walls shook.

Mom walked in carrying my favorite cranberry cake.

“Your father sent him packing,” she said, sitting on the edge of my bed. “We’ve already spoken to his father, Alpha Benjamin, about canceling the mating ceremony.”

She watched my face carefully. “Adrian’s being stubborn. He still wants to go through with it. But don’t worry,” she added quickly, before I could spiral.

“We’ve turned down every project the Blackwood Pack offered. Whatever Alpha Adrian does from now on, whoever he ends up with-it has nothing to do with us.”

She pulled me into her arms and whispered, “Claire, it’s over.”

All the hurt I’d buried came rushing out the moment she held me.

I clung to her, choking out, “I don’t blame Adrian for not fighting harder for us. I just- burned as I looked up at her. “It hurts so much. Why did it have to be Candy?”

-” My eyes

Why did the two people I loved most have to betray me together?

Why?

I couldn’t make sense of it.

Every shared memory with them stabbed like a blade straight through my chest, leaving/me gasping for air.

As the original date of the mating ceremony drew closer, I still refused to answer Adrian’s calls.

His warriors eventually lost patience.

“Just let it go, man.”

“The Crescent Moon Pack’s cut all ties. Claire’s dad, Alpha Thomas made it clear-there’s no coming back from this.”

His beta, Ethan, watched Adrian fall apart and couldn’t hold back. “If you really cared about Claire, why risk everything with Candy?”

When Adrian didn’t answer, Ethan sighed. “Think about it. For once.”

In the empty meeting hall, Adrian sat alone.

He stared at the mating ceremony site he and I had spent three months planning down to the smallest detail. Everything looked exactly the same, yet none of it felt real.

He couldn’t understand how we’d ended up here.

He’d kept it all hidden. Everything had been under control-until it wasn’t.

He saw again the ghost-pale face I wore the day I confronted him outside the hotel. Heard my broken voice whisper, “Adrian, we’re done.”

He remembered the way I looked at him and Candy, the way despair cracked my words when I said, “I don’t want either of you.” The way I spat, “Scum and trash-perfect for each other.”

Pain hollowed out his chest, stealing his breath.

He still didn’t have answers, but he kept searching for what to do next.

Until Candy’s voice called his name.