Hailey POV
The confession hit me like a tidal wave knocking the breath out of my lungs. Emilia, the sister he had always loved and cherished. The sister he would have done anything for. My knees felt weak as I processed his words, the walls of anger and betrayal I had built over the years trembling under the weight of the truth.
"You should have told me" I whispered and my voice barely audible.
"Would it have changed anything?" He stepped closer, his warmth invading my space. "You were hurt already. Broken already. And I knew you would never look at me the same way again"
Tears threatened to close my eyes but I wasn't going to let them spill. I'd spent too many nights crying over him. I refused to give him that much today.
"It doesn't matter anymore" I said firmly stepping back "We have different lives now. You made your choice and I yours."
Vickson's eyes darkened, and his face became more expressive. "So you are jumping into Alpha Lyon's arms to forget about me?"
I froze. So he knew that too? Of course, he did, Vickson always knew everything.
"Lyon has been there for me when you weren't" I retorted, lifting my chin in defiance. "He respects me. He values me and unlike you, he doesn't come with a past that shatters everything in its wake"
His nostrils flared, and for a moment, a glimpse of something dangerous passed through his eyes. "He doesn't love you like I do. He never will."
"That's not your concern anymore."
Vickson laughed softly, shaking his head. "You think I would let you go just like that? Let some other man take what's mine?" The last words were a whisper, and it scared me. "You forget, Hailey. You were always meant to be mine."
My heart was racing as I took in a ragged breath "You lost me a long time ago, Vickson."
His face softened momentarily and you could see it in his eyes, but then he wore the cold mask again. "We will wait and see."
He just turned around and walked out giving me no time even for response; that left me breathless and shattered.
Because deep down, I knew he meant every word. And Vickson never lost a fight he was determined to win.
The wind howled through the trees as I sat by the window, my head full of thoughts I couldn't shake. Vickson had been strange since we got back to the pack.
There was a restlessness in him, something that was stirring just beneath the surface and I certainly didn't know if I wanted to find out what it was. My memory came in fragments still, pieces flashing into my mind but nothing feeling certain.
These past few days had been exhausting and increasingly felt as though I were trudging through someone else's life.
Then came the knock.
A hesitant but insistent tapping at my door, a kind of shiver that trembled involuntarily through my spine. I got up and opened it slowly, to find Emilia standing there, her face pale as a ghost.
"You need to come with me" she whispered, glancing nervously over her shoulder. "Now."
Her urgency had rung all the alarm bells in my head. I followed her straight through the packhouse's dimly lit hallways. We ran fast and quiet too, until she paused near the entrance to the underground chambers. My stomach churned with unease.
"What is this about?" I asked and my voice barely above a whisper.
Emilia paused for a moment before she spoke "There's something you should see"
She opened the big wooden door, which led to a poorly lit room. There, chained to the wall, was Ava.
My heart nearly stopped.
She was beaten, her pristine skin disfigured by several scratches and cuts. Her lips were chapped, and the gaze that used to portray only malice seemed to reveal a different story now.
Fear.
"Hailey," she croaked, her voice hoarse. "You must hear me." I clenched my fists. "Why should I?"
Emilia shifted uncomfortably beside me. "Because she has information that might change everything."
Ava coughed weakly and cursed the chains. "You don't even know your real enemy, Hailey. You thought I was your biggest threat? Wrong."
My breath caught in my throat "What are you talking about?"
Ava's lips curled into a smirk, maybe a grimace "The quadruplets they're in danger"
A chilling sickness spread through my blood "What do you mean?"
She gasped sharply, her strength giving away "They're being hunted by Hailey. Someone out there knows their powers and they're coming for them"
The room was spinning around me as my heartbeat throbbed in my ears. My kids- my little ones were under attack.
By whom? And why?
I turned to Emilia, my panic rising in her chest. "Is this true?"
Emilia swallowed hard. "I don't know but I think we ought to find out"
Ava's chains rattled as she leaned forward a little, desperation flitting through her tired eyes "You don't have "the time to doubt me Hailey. If you don't do anything NOW, you'll lose them."
A heavy silence fell between us. For the first time in my life, I saw something in Ava that I had never thought possible.
Genuine terror.
Whatever was coming for my kids, it was something she feared too.
Vickson's POV
The wind was cold, whippeting across my face as I leaned over the edge of the balcony, gazing into oblivion. Everything was pouring its weight on me—Hailey, the kids, the pack, and now the ominous warning from the seer. My heart was in a battle with itself. I had finally gotten Hailey back, but at what cost? Something was coming. Something dark.
My thoughts went back to the past when I had chosen Ava over Hailey, a regret that had haunted me for years. And now here we were, linked once again, yet still dancing on the edge of uncertainty.
I was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Enter," I said.