Shadows Of Passing Time – Carter Hughes 117
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* Reckoning of Heart
Rory dropped his gaze.
Seth’s smirk vanished.
And I–I had nothing to say.
“And that is why I’m scared to be mated to you four she continued, her voice shaking but fierce. “How do I know you won’t cheat? How do I know you won’t reject me the moment I don’t measure up to your ridiculous expectations?”
Tears slipped down her cheeks, but she didn’t wipe them away.
She let us see them.
“Princess, we would never-” Rory started, his voice pleading, but she stopped him cold.
“I’m done. Just leave me alone.”
Her voice was barely a whisper, but it shattered the room. For the first time in my life, I had no idea
how to fix this.
Lila’s POV:
The silence left behind after Rhea stormed out was suffocating. The four of them just stood there,
looking like someone had just ripped their souls out
Good.
They deserved it.
I crossed my arms, glaring at them like the idiots they were. “Do you even realize what you just
did?”
Callum exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair, his normally unreadable expression cracking with frustration.
“We didn’t mean to-”
“Oh, spare me,” I cut him off, stepping forward until was toe–to–toe with my eldest brother. “You hu miliated her. She was already scared to trust you, and what do you do? Prove her right.”
Rory cursed under his breath, dragging a hand down his face. “We weren’t thinking-”
“f*****g right, you weren’t,” I snapped, shoving his shoulder hard enough to make him stumble. He let me. Probably because he knew he deserved it.
Jaxon was silent, jaw clenched so tight I thought his teeth might crack. Seth, for once, wasn’t smirking. His fingers twitched at his sides like he wanted to break something–or maybe just
himself.
“Why didn’t she tell us?” Callum muttered, his voice strained, the weight of his guilt pressing down
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on him like a boulder.
I let out a bitter laugh. “Tell you? You think she should’ve volunteered that information to you? After
all the things you guys have done to her feelings by reeking of other women the first time you saw
her, telling her she belonged to you. Then went and gave her those damn rules and went ape–s**t
crazy when another guy was mentioned. Yeah, I wonder f*****g why.”
Their flinches were satisfying, but it wasn’t enough.
“She didn’t trust you because she had no reason to. Do you think a mate bond is enough for her?
She spent her entire life being left behind. She wasn’t going to hand her heart over to the first set
of Alphas that said she belonged to them.”
Seth scrubbed a hand over his face, looking like he was physically in pain. “f**k,” he muttered under
his breath.
Jaxon took a step back, hands gripping the counter like he needed something to anchor him.
Rory looked at Callum, who had gone completely still, his expression unreadable–but I could feel it. That storm brewing beneath the surface.
“You know how she was a charge of the pack?” I asked, voice softer now.
They all nodded, still watching me like they were preparing for the worst.
“Did she tell you why?”
Jaxon’s jaw tightened.
“We figured she was just another wolf dad took in,” Callum admitted, his voice strained. “Like any other orphan.”
“She wasn’t just any other orphan,” I said, voice sharp. “She was left to die in the woods by her own
parents.”
Their reactions were immediate.
Jaxon swore violently, stepping away from the counter like the impact of my words had physically
struck him.
Rory’s entire body tensed, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
Seth went deadly still, his usual amusement completely wiped from his face.
And Callum?
Callum’s breathing deepened, his nostrils flaring, his wolf pushing dangerously close to the
surface.
“He found her,” I continued, locking eyes with Callum. “Our dad. He brought her in until a family was
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Clay
willing to adopt her. Put her in the academy. Kept her under our protection. But don’t mistake that
for her ever feeling like she belonged.”
Callum exhaled sharply, stepping away from me, raking a shaking hand through his hair.
I wasn’t done.
“She thought Ethan was her mate for years. He was her best friend. He was supposed to be hers.
And you know how she found out he wasn’t?”
They all looked at me, waiting.
I swallowed.
“The night before his birthday, Nora, our other best friend, told her. Told her that she was fated to
Ethan.”
Jaxon let out a guttural growl, and the air around him crackled with energy.
“She called him out outside the pub. Didn’t yell, didn’t cry, didn’t even ask why. Just looked him in
the eye, wished him well, and walked away.”
The tension in the room thickened, but I wasn’t done.
“Then she got wasted. And even then, she spent the night taking care of her friends instead of breaking down like any normal person would have.” My throat tightened. “She never let herself fall apart, because Rhea doesn’t believe she has the right to.”
Callum turned away, his breathing unsteady.
Rory sat down, pressing his palms against his forehead like he was processing the weight of it all.
Jaxon?
Jaxon’s hands shook at his sides, his expression a storm of devastation and fury, his wolf pushing
to the surface.
Seth muttered another curse, his jaw tightening as he ran a hand through his already–messy hair.
“She didn’t cry,” I whispered. “Didn’t fight for him. She just let him go because she thought she had to.” I exhaled sharply. “And then not even four hours later, you four showed up–reeking of s*x with
other women–and claimed her like she was just another part of your collection.”
Callum let out a low snarl, pacing to the far end of the room like he needed to put distance
between himself and the truth.
Rory lifted his head, looking at me with a broken expression that I almost felt bad for them.
Almost.
“You made her feel like a choice,” I continued, my voice barely above a whisper. “Like she was
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something you decided oninstead of something you could never live without.”
Jaxon’s breath hitched, and when his eyes met mine, they were tortured.
“She already felt replaceable, I whispered. “And you just proved her right.”
Seth cursed under his breath, shaking his head like he wanted to undo everything.
Claim
Callum looked like he was barely holding himself together. His eyes met Jaxon’s, something silent passing between them, but I could already see it.
The raw, desperate need to make this right.
“What do we do?” Jaxon asked, his voice hoarse.
I studied them–these four powerful, ruthless Alphas, standing there looking like lost boys. They were my older brothers, and I loved them to the limit beyond, but Rhea needed me. She was everything to me, the sister I never had, the girl that looked beyond my alpha family, the girl that saw just me and right now my brothers could hang upside down, but my loyalties stood with her.
“You fix it,” I said simply.
“How?” Rory asked, his voice gruff, raw.
I sighed, rubbing my temples. “You show her. That she’s enough. That she’s worth everything. That she’s yours–not because of some mate bond, but because you choose her.”
They didn’t move; they just stared at me, their guilt thick in the air.
“She feels the bond too, you know. Maybe not as strong yet, but it is affecting her as well,” I muttered, shaking my head. She’s just too scared to admit it.”
Callum inhaled sharply, his hands clenching at his sides.
“We’ll fix this,” he said, his voice stronger now. Determined.
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