Chapter 17.
Chapter Fifteen: Between Love and Pride
Phera POV:
The silence left behind by their departure was nearly deafening, a suffocating vacuum of unspoken words and looming decisions. My heart was a tumultuous
a, waves of confusion crashing against the shores of reason. As the reality of the situation settled in, it seemed the room began to close around me, the walls inching ever so closer in an almost ominous fashion.
I looked around the office-a representation of everything I had worked hard for. The sleek, ergonomic furniture, the state-of- the-art computer setup, the lingering scent of fresh paint-it was all supposed to be my new beginning. But now, this space felt like a cage, the very air heavy with my mates’ presence and ultimatums.
I shook my head and blinked away the moisture forming in my eyes. Now wasn’t the time for tears. I paced around, attempting to ground my swirling thoughts. Every step was a battle against the pull of my mate bond, the very essence of my wolf urging me to run back to them, tail between my legs. But the human part of me, the part that carried the scars of their betrayal, vehemently resisted.
It was so easy for them, wasn’t it?
To walk in here, suffused with their dominant alpha auras, and just demand that I throw away everything I had struggled for.
But what about me?
Where was my choice in all this?
As much as I wanted to despise them for laying this trap, a -deeper part of me, one that had matured through years of
separation and bitterness, urged me to understand. Had their eyes not always been windows into their souls? I remember those windows now tainted with complex shades of regret, longing, and a feeling of sorrow that almost made my resolve
13 18
12 08
Chapter 17.
waver. My phone buzzed on the desk, the vibration shattering my spiralling thoughts. I picked it up and saw a text from an unfamiliar number.
Phera, it’s Zane. We need to talk later in the day. Let’s meet at our office on the 42nd floor.
A furious thumb-tapping session later, I deleted my initial scathing reply. I took a deep breath, and then I texted back,
Fine.
As I exited the elevator and stepped onto the plush carpet of the 42nd floor, the enormity of the situation sank in. The pristine walls seemed to close in on me, and the air, tinged with the smell of high-quality cologne and freshly brewed coffee, felt heavy. Each step towards the office suite of ADZ Corp, a titan in the world of finance and real estate, was a step into a world that had both beckoned and repelled me for years.
I walked through the corridor lined with mahogany walls and
287
12:09
Chapter 17.
modern art, their aesthetic beauty contrasting sharply with my emotional turmoil. When I finally reached the imposing double doors bearing the initials A, D and Z, my heart was pounding so loudly it threatened to drown out all reason.
Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Axel, Damon, and Zane sat around a glass conference table, dressed impeccably in tailored suits that highlighted their authority and exuded an aura of unequivocal power. The city skyline stretched out behind them, a sprawling vista of lights and ambitions that seemed almost within reach. Their faces were stoic, but their eyes-oh, their eyes were tempests, storms of emotion that I couldn’t decipher.
Axel, Damon, and Zane sat around a glass conference table, dressed impeccably in tailored suits that highlighted their authority and exuded an aura of unequivocal power. The city skyline stretched out behind them, a sprawling vista of lights and ambitions that seemed almost within reach.
Damon rose from his seat.
“Sunflower, please join us.”
44 ELL
Chatter 17
“Planning to make a boardroom decision about my life?” I quipped, masking my vulnerability with a veneer of sarcasm as I took a seat.
Axel sighed deeply, the sound echoing through the spacious office.
“This isn’t about control, Phera. It’s about us, and our shared future.”
“I’ve carved my own future without you,” I countered, my voice tinged with bitterness.
Zane leaned forward, placing his palms on the table.
“We’ve grown, Phera, in ways that were necessary but painful. We’ve learned to value what was once easily overlooked. You were never ‘easily overlooked, but we were foolish enough not to fight hard enough for you.” Said Zane.
Chaber 17
Damon chimed in,
288 //nochern
“Your ambition, your need to achieve and break glass ceilings- we get it. And we’re not asking you to give it up.”
The juxtaposition of the three of them against the backdrop of the city couldn’t have been more poetic. They were kings of this concrete jungle, but they were also the boys who had once captured my heart and then carelessly shattered it. Now, they were men asking for redemption, promising not just love but also respect.
Zane stood and walked over to me.
“Our empire doesn’t have to be your cage.
It can be your stage, a place where you realize your dreams, not just as an individual but as our equal, as our Luna.”
The air grew thick with tension and unspoken desire. The intimacy of the moment, heightened by the isolation of the skyscraper and the veil of night, was overpowering. My instincts screamed to yield, to let go of the past and embrace the future they offered. But years of emotional armour wouldn’t dismantle
1351
Chapter 17
that easily.
“I need more time,” I managed to say, my voice choked with. emotion.
Axel nodded, his eyes meeting mine in a silent understanding.
“Time is the one thing we can afford to give you, even if it’s the to give you, even if it’s the hardest thing for us to endure without you.”
The room fell silent again, each one of us lost in a labyrinth of what-ifs and maybes. I took one last lingering look at the men who had once been my everything and might be so again. Then, with a heavy heart but an empowered spirit, I walked away.
12:00
