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Chapter 7
Terakhir Diperbarui:
2025-04-19 05:08:57
Bab terkait
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 8
HAYLEE'S POVI rest my head against the cold glass of my office window and watch Aiden stroll across the courtyard below. He stands with his shoulders squared and walks with a purposeful, even strut among the guards who show no subtle invective. Five years hasn’t made much difference in him — still so vain, still wielding respect he doesn’t have.Aiden Fenrir—I mutter in a voice that steams up the window. The lie I told him weighs heavy on my chest. But what choice did I have? It would open a door I have held closed for five years, to admit the twins are his.I hear a soft tap on my door, and I’m jolted out of my reverie.It’s a grisly welcome, but it’s all I have right now; it’ll have to do until I can find out more information."Come in," I call, trying to compose myself.My Beta, Scarlett, and my best friend, sneaks into the room. Her eyes are sharp, she doesn’t miss anything, and she’s noticed the tension in my shoulders.“So,” she says, and takes a seat in the chair across from my
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-19Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 9
XAVIER'S POVI stand at the great windows of my office, looking out over our territory, as the sun sets. Endless pine forests bathed in golden light — the kingdom I’ve constructed over years of careful leadership. A kingdom I share with Haylee.There is no rap at the door behind me. There is only one who ever strides in like he owns the place.You’re late,” I say without looking up. "The council meeting is over.""I just needed to clear my head," Haylee's voice holds a trace of something that I can't put my finger on. Uncertainty? Guilt?I turn toward her, her hair wild and cheeks pink. Or rather, she’s been running — her wolf has. When she’s upset she’s always shifting."And did it help?" I move in, closer, I breathe in her scent. There’s a new twist to it today—a familiar but unwelcome note that puts my wolf’s hackles up.Fenrir. His smell is still on her, a mere residue, but there’s no mistaking it.“A little,” she says, going to the desk, shuffling papers, not looking at me.“You s
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-19Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 10
AIDEN'S POVAnother deep breath of slightly chilly air, spring melting the last of the snow, lifting off the cool ground to absorb the warmth of my being, the wolf inside me thrashing against the inside of my skin as I head home from the border inspection. The scent of Haylee—of sweet vanilla overlaying wildflowers—wafts around this field at every turn, her very presence unmistakable even though she’s missing.Five years of searching, of guilt, of wondering what happened. And now I’m here, an interloper in the life she’s made for herself without me.Guards with my every step as the pack house appears in the distance—an imposing stone building surrounded by cabins and training grounds. Their distrust is evident. I don’t blame them; I’m the outsider who ruined their Luna’s heart.My phone vibrates. A text message.‘We need to go over the alliance. See you in the east garden in half an hour. Come alone. -H’Even though I attempt to steady myself, my heart is pounding. After the tense back
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-20Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter eleven
HAYLEE'S POVTouching my mother's pendant, I skirt its silvered curves on my skin with my fingers, I stand before the bedroom mirror. It is the moon and star that make up my family symbol—a relic I believed was lost forever when my father’s pack was toppled."You look beautiful."Xavier's image hovers behind me as he touches my shoulders. He’s tall, strong, his basic, cedar and amber scent fills me as he drops a soft kiss on my neck.“Thanks so much for catching that again,” I tell him, looking him in the eye in the mirror. “I’m still in shock that you found it after all these months.“haylee- I would move mountains for you,” he responds, in a tone most sincere. "You know that."I turn to him, noting the bold angles in his jaw, that arrogance in his posture and the prolonged stretch in the corded muscle down his neck to the spikes on his back. Xavier has been my stronghold, my savior, my second chance at life. So, why do I keep hearing Aiden's voice playing in my head?*I never chose
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-20Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 12
AIDEN'S POVHaylee’s mother’s ring weighs heavy in my hand as I see the expression of her face change into one of pure shock. This silver band I have preserved for five years now to keep close, a last tie to the woman I lost, the only thing of her that remained."Where did you get this?" she whispers, gaze fastened on the fragile moonstone setting that reflects the garden’s soft light.“It was on your wrist the day you went missing,” I say, the words wanting to reach out to close the space. I discovered it on the bank of the northern creek, partly buried in mud. I’ve carried it all this time, hoping one day to find you and make it back to you.”She notices that her fingers tremble a little as she reaches for it, hesitates, and then allows herself to go on. “I always thought that it was lost forever. Like so many things."There is a heaviness to her words that goes unsaid, which lingers between us—its meaning as trashed as our future, our love, our family.“It’s all yours,” I say, offer
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-21Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 13
AIDEN'S POVThe council meeting stretches on through the morning, Xavier deftly manipulating the story to my wolves remains out in the territories. I politely protest, bringing up the idea of joint patrols which would give me more valid excuses to lurk around the pack house—close to Haylee and the enigmatic twins who've so captivated me.haunting me.“Mixed patrols create the chance for conflict of unknown wolves,” Xavier gently debates.“Or they consolidate trust and deepen the alliance,” I counter. "My lieutenant Damon has a lot of training experience for integrated packs.The council members murmur thoughtfully, and I can tell Xavier’s jaw hardens with frustration. It’s a small victory but I’ll take it.”After the meeting ends, I head back to my quarters to shower and change, and then I make my way to the science fair. My phone is buzzing with a text from my beta back home about pack business. Everything is stable, nothing that needs me to come home right nowI veer slightly off cou
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-22Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 14
HAYLEE'S POVThe first light of morning seeps through the curtains, and I look at my face in the mirror in my bedroom. The woman in my mirror seems at peace, but inside I feel like a storm is brewing, a gale-force rumbling that never quite materializes. It’s the day I vowed to give Aiden—one day and nothing more—but the promise has kept me up most of last night and it’s filled with dread and a queasy kind of excitement I can’t let myself feel."You're up early." Xavier's voice startles me. He’s standing in the doorways, already in his Alpha’s uniform, watching me with evaluative eyes.“Council reports,” I explain, sweeping my hand towards the papers on the dresser. "Thought I'd beat them to the punch before—-”"Prior to your outing with Fenrir?" He says in a flat voice, but his clenching jaw gives away his annoyance.I turn to face him directly. "It's one day, Xavier. To move the details of the alliance to a private discussion.“So that’s the new name for it?” He moves a step closer an
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-22Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 15
AIDEN'S POVFrom the time that Haylee sets foot into the clearing, the world appears to halt. She’s wearing a plain blue dress that makes the silver flecks in her eyes pop—eyes I’ve dreamed of for five long years. I push myself away from the oak we once carved our names in, buried under new bark. Appropriate, the way nature hides the old wounds.“You showed up,” I say, shocked. Part of me had thought Xavier would come up with some kind of emergency to keep her from returning.“I don’t lie, I keep my promises,” she says, keeping a safe space between us. "One day, as agreed."The mate bond thrums between us, louder than it was yesterday, impossible to escape. Does she feel it too, the strange force compelling us together despite the years and pain that lie between us?“I think we can go over by the river,” I say, pointing to the eroded path on the east side. "Like we used to."Haylee pauses, her guarded expression on her face. "I'm not here to swap memories, Aiden.“Just walking,” I repl
Terakhir Diperbarui : 2025-04-22
Bab terbaru
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 27
Aiden's POVI walk back and forth in my office, unwilling to even glance at the stack of reports Beta Marcus has for me. However, two weeks past the time I returned from Haylee’s plane, and I am still experiencing the phantom pressure of little arms about my neck, the phantom sound of childish laughter ringing in my head.The twins. They seem eerie to me, even beyond the connection to Haylee. There’s an unidentifiable tug I can’t explain, as if there is an echo of a connection I never knew existed.Suddenly, there is a loud rap at my door.I call. "It's open." I straighten my shoulders and slip on my Alpha mask like the second skin it is.Our pack healer, Elara, pushes her way through, her silver-streaked hair pulled into a stiff bun. "Alpha, I just got a bad call from the Northern Ridge Pack."Haylee's pack. My interest snaps to attention. "What's happened?"“It’s all about Luna’s kids. Elara's expression is grave. "They have gotten sick with, with symptoms I find … they are troublin
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 26
HAYLEE'S POVThe tension in this office is a genuine-thickness claw. Xavier stalks by the window, his image shattered in the dusk light, with Aiden sitting on the other side of my desk, ankle on his knee. Two large and dominant Alphas, two pairs of eyes trained on me.“This is not working,” I say at last. “The way it is at the moment, it’s chaos for both packs.Aiden's face is still and neutral. “Our trade talks are close to complete. Another week and—""I’m not discussing the negotiations."I interrupt, crushing my hand around the crescent moon at my throat. “I mean, how you’re still here right now.”Xavier halts his pacing, a smile appearing on his face but he quickly schools his expression."Then what is it exactly that you are suggesting?" Aiden inquires, his voice belying nothing even as his scent wavers with concern.“You need to get back to your territory. We can carry on with the trade deal, only with more space between us.”“Distancing,” Aiden repeats, struck flat."Yes. You'v
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 25
AIDEN'S POVMorning sun is pouring in through the window of my office as I look at the trade agreement papers for the third time. Each line must be perfect - this is not just pack business, but my opportunity to impress Haylee."Two hours until meeting, Alpha," Marcus says, standing in the doorway. “Team is prepped when you are.”I nod without looking up. "And the other matter?""All is in order as was requested." His voice drops. “But I do think it’s still risky.”“There are some risks that are worth taking,” I argue and then meet his look of concern.Marcus shifts uncomfortably. "Carters won't appreciate it. If he suspects you're—"“I’m not trying to undermine him,” I cut in, and we both know that’s not really true. “Haylee and me, we have our thing, okay?“Her fiancé might prefer it not be commented upon.” Marcus crosses his arms. "Be careful. We don't have the numbers for another war with Silver Moon Pack.”I get up, adjusting my tie. “I wouldn’t have rebuilt this pack from nothin
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 24
XAVIER'S POVHe is on her skin when she walks through our bedroom door. Aiden's scent lingers on her subtly, as invisible a stamp as it is distinct. The wolf wakes under my flesh, not snarling but with a melt of worry and the instinct, again, to Protect."How was the meeting?" I say, my voice relaxed as I undo my tie.Haylee dumps the contents of the briefcase by the dresser, fatigue visible in the tilt of her shoulders. "Productive. Frustrating. The usual.""Did he behave himself?" I step up behind her, hands on her shoulders, inhaling her from a little closer. Yes, there it is — the woodsy tang that is his.She stiffens slightly at my contact. "As well as can be expected.""Meaning?" I press my fingers into the tense muscles at the back of her neck.Which means he crossed the line.” She walks away from the bed, heads out to the bathroom. "But I handled it."I do as I’m told, propping up against the doorframe while she washes her face. "What boundaries exactly?"She meets my gaze in
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 23
AIDEN'S POVI keep my eyes on Haylee across the conference room; her back is straight as steel, and she won’t meet my eyes. She’s perfected the art of ignoring me as if I don’t even have a pulse; directing whatever questions she has to my Beta or to the papers laid before us as if I’m not even there.“The southeast will need more patrols,” she says, tapping the map with a manicured nail. "Our scouts have picked up increased wind and rogue activity in the area.I can take my warriors," I lean in. "We're doing all our patrols up in the north. It's a simple extension."Haylee’s eyes meet mine for only a brief moment and then they shoot away. "That won't be necessary. Xavier’s boys are handling it.”My blood boils with a rush of anger when I hear his name but I conceal it well behind an emotionless mask."With respect," I say, trying to sound neutral, "but we've had _way_ more rogue incursions than my pack. The landscape on the southeast border looks like our territory.”“It’s not experie
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 22
HAYLEE'S POV“You were talking to him,” Xavier says, his tone deceptively light as he uncorks the bottle of wine sitting in our cabin.I take off my hiking boots, not meeting his eyes. Near the lookout we were standing when he approached me. "I barely managed to push him off the mountain."Xavier chuckles without amusement while pouring two glasses of merlot. “Oh, I would like to see that in it.”Tonight the cabin seems cramped, almost claustrophobic, despite the luxury. We are suffocated by the burden of the things left unsaid.“He is persistent,” Xavier adds, looking at me over the rim if his glass.“You know he was always stubborn,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.Xavier gives a half-squint of his eyes. "Indeed, you more than most would know that."I take a long sip of wine. That was another lifetime, Xavier. It hardly matters now.""Doesn't it?" He steps in a little closer, and his fingers follow the chain at my neck to the pendant underneath the thin fabric of my shirt. "Yo
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 21
AIDEN'S POVThe morning sun is pouring in the window of the lodge as I sip coffee in the great room. The close-of-the-weekend gathering persists in a forced cheeriness that is annoying. Alphas and their Lunas, pace around getting ready for today's planned hike on the trails of the mountain—it's a pack tradition, supposedly to promote unity and pack-strength.I see her as soon as she walks in. Haylee. Her hair is pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail, and she is dressed in practical hiking clothes that cling to her athletic frame. She is beautiful, stunningly so. The way she always has.Xavier right behind her, hand possessively at her lower back, they fall into line for the breakfast buffet. He leans down to whisper something in her ear that makes her laugh, and something rips through me like acid."As you coming on the hike Fenrir?" Alpha Rodriguez stands next to me, giant plate of food in his hand.I pull my eyes away from the couple. "Wouldn't miss it.""Good man." He claps my shou
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 20
HAYLEE'S POVI collapse another dress into my overnight bag, my motion mechanical. The weekend getaway is lurking in front of me like an exam I’m unprepared to take. Three days with just Xavier at the Blue Ridge Lodge—three days pretending that I am not disturbed after seeing Aiden."Taking the blue one? that is Good choice. You look stunning in it."I smile, but it does not come all the way up to my eyes. "For the formal dinner, yes. Is Marissa ready with the twins?”"Everything's arranged." He moves up behind me, his hands resting on my shoulders. "They'll be fine. This is about us, remember?"His fingers knead the tight muscles in the back of my neck, and I force myself not to step away. There’s nothing wrong with his touch — it’s soft, affectionate — but he’s starting to scare me. Then why does it make me want to run?---The twins’ room is a riot of toys, both boys lying on the floor with their wooden wolves. Kael leads a first battle scene while Lior positions his wolves as thou
Let Me Go, Ex Husband Chapter 19
XAVIER'S POVI observe Haylee as she steps out of the shrubs, stiff backed and expressionless. Aesthetically about control, as pure control as we’ve seen in years. But I know better. Since we have been together for five years, I can decipher the nuances — the small line between her brows and the tightness in her shoulders. Aiden has gotten to her more than she’d like to concede."How did it go?" I remain calm in my voice as she gets up onto the steps to our porch.Haylee looks me in the eye, but there’s a wariness in her eyes. "It's done. I told him to stay away.""And will he?" I lean on the railing, looking at her face.She groans, ruffling her hair with her hand. "He's stubborn. But I made myself clear."I take a confident step forward and circle her in my arms. She pauses for half a second and then relaxes against me. That brief pause cuts me to the heart.“You seem tense,” I say, into her hair. “Let me make dinner like this today. You can rest.""That's not necessary—""I insist.
