Chapter 24.
Chapter Twenty: Decisions! Descisions!
Phera POV:
I stood there, my gaze shifting between Axel, Damon, and Zane. The air in the room felt thick with tension, almost as if it were a tangible thing I could touch. The atmosphere was suffused with a sense of urgency, a need for resolution that seemed to pulsate from the walls of the ADZ Corp office. The solemnity in their eyes made my stomach churn, each set of gray eyes looking at me as if I held the keys to a future we were all uncertain about.
Memories surged, pulling me into the depths of introspection. There I was, a little girl frolicking under the vast skies of the Red Moon Pack’s territory. Then, a young woman burying herself in books, trying to escape the raw reality of unexplained abandonment. The late-night conversations with Betty and Reese filled with laughter and sometimes tears. The milestones I’d celebrated alone, the failures Id kept to myself, and every tiny victory that felt monumental. So much had happened, yet it
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iseenneddtoocooleerge to this single point in time. I felt like thee picenter of faaccomplexwebywoven with threads of my past t choices themideetsingsaandbourintertwined destinities.
wxel’s lips parted his swooddsteetering on the brink of utterance, eady to offer med heddyyofitime to decide what I wanted. Buti couldn’t let him
Don’t, I said softly, the woodgedwithassadness that eerned to fill the room. Doch tooféenea time like it’s a duocurry l can afford.”
Confusion and concern drewDamonasdeakiboows together.
What are you talking about?”
ameant that any semblance of agency youthink you’re offering merislarsillusion, I clarified, every word deliberate wedgledd hdwhy the truth i’d been carrying. My wolf myyrineeibleing,
eafps for henmates. That’s instinctual, an urged can’tssinpyy off offdAnd the mate bond?” 1 paused, looking each of themin yeseyes. It’s a force of nature, a pul so strong that eveninfill I achtedres/resisting it would be akin to holding back the oceanlss
Chapter 3
tides. So, tell me, where does that leave me with choices?”
For a moment, the room was silent, save for the muted sounds of the city filtering through the office’s glass walls. I could see my words sinking in, their expressions changing as the weight
gast of what I was saying hit them. Zane finally spoke, his voice tinged with a regret I’d never heard from him before.
“We never wanted to trap you, Phera.”
“And yet, here I am,” I continued, unable to keep the sorrow out. of my voice. “Feeling trapped not by ropes or walls, but by circumstances, by biology, by a destiny I never got to choose.”
I could see the conflict in their faces, the battle between wanting to assure me and understanding that assurances were not what I needed. They were frozen, perhaps for the first time contemplating the extent of the power dynamics that had always been at play, that would always be at play, between us.
“I’ve been through a lot,” I concluded, my voice almost a whisper now. “I’ve been alone, I’ve been with people, I’ve laughed, and I’ve cried. And through all of that, the one thing I thought I had,
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Chapter 24
at the very least, was the power to choose my own path. But you’ve managed to make me question even that. So forgive me if I don’t jump for joy at the prospect of going back to a life where my agency is a theoretical concept at best.”
My words seemed to hang in the air long after I’d finished speaking, creating a tapestry of hurt, realization, and complexities that none of us had the answers to. The silence was almost unbearable. I looked at each of their faces-one by one-and knew that whatever came next was not just up to them, but also to the fates that had been pulling our strings all along. For better or worse.
Drawing a measured breath deep into my lungs, I let it out slowly, easing the tension in my shoulders as my chin lifted high. The room was thick with a potent, silent energy, as though the walls themselves leaned in, listening intently to the words I was about to utter. The atmosphere felt almost sacred, a silence so profound it seemed like the cosmos itself had halted its ceaseless spin, awaiting my decree.
“I’ll go back to the Red Moon Pack,” I finally declared.
Each syllable distinct and calculated, landing in the space between us like heavy raindrops on parched earth. Axel, Damon,
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and Zane sprang to life at my words. Eyes that had been dull with worry brightened, their posture changed-shoulders relaxed, heads lifted. It was as though my words had breathed life back into them, filling their lungs with a fresh gulp of air after being submerged for too long.
I
“But wait,” I cautioned, raising a single finger. The small gesture sucked the rising hope from the room as if I’d popped a balloon.
“Before you get carried away, there are conditions you won’t particularly enjoy.”
“Conditions!
Axel echoed, a quizzical furrow creasing his brow, his lips pulling into a perplexed half-smile as if he’d misheard
me.
“Exactly,” I affirmed, meeting each of their gazes with a gravity that anchored them to the moment.
“First off, no marking or mating until you’ve earned my trust and my forgiveness. This isn’t a debate or a point of negotiation. It’s non-negotiable.”
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Chapter 24
Their eyes turned sharp, almost piercing. Their jaws clenched, teeth grinding subtly against each other. The very air between us grew dense, heavy with a c*cktail of disbelief, frustration, and repressed longing.
“Phera, sunflower, we’re your mates, the bond-,” Damon interjected, but I snapped him off mid-sentence.
“I know a real bond, a lasting one, is founded on mutual trust and understanding, not just biological imperatives.”
what the mate bond is,” I shot back “D
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