Lahat ng Kabanata ng Broken Bonds: Beyond Destiny: Kabanata 171 - Kabanata 180

Sophia The air felt heavier than usual when we arrived in front of the great pack meeting hall. The place where I had so often felt a strange sense of belonging now welcomed me with stares that cut through me like knives. Bright walked beside me, rigid, his expression serious, though I knew he was only here because he wouldn’t let me face this alone. He no longer officially belonged to the pack. I, on the other hand, was still bound by that tie, and that was why I had to be here: to say what I had decided.Every step toward the doors was a silent torture. I didn’t need words to understand what they thought of us. The turned heads, the muffled whispers, the tense faces… everyone remembered the moment Bright had abruptly resigned, confronting Dante and creating a rift too big to ignore. That rift followed us like a shadow.I pressed my lips together and straightened my back. I was tired of feeling guilty for things beyond my control, yet the weight of those stares still weakened me. Br

Bright The weight of Sophia in my arms was unbearable, and I didn’t just mean her physically fragile, wounded body, but the terror that tore through me from the inside. Her breathing was short, weak, each inhale a cruel reminder that the bullet was still inside her, and that with every passing second, we could lose her. The fear was uncontrollable; it was a hurricane consuming me entirely. My heart pounded wildly as I held her trembling body against mine, feeling like the world could collapse around us and I wouldn’t care, because only she existed.“Sophia, hold on…” I whispered, though I knew my words couldn’t stop the poison spreading through her blood. “I’m not going to let this beat you, not while I’m here.”Her skin was cold beneath my hands, sending a shiver down my spine. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, of our child never seeing the light of day. Each minute stretched endlessly. I feared for her so much that I couldn’t think of anything else, couldn’t keep my compos

Bright The hospital waiting room was full, but to me it was as if everything were silent. The ticking of the clock on the wall was the only thing marking the passage of time, and even then, the hands seemed to move at an unbearably slow pace. I felt trapped in a kind of limbo, a space where nothing changed and all I could do was wait.Dante was sitting across from me, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped, his head bowed as if he were praying in silence. I had never thought of him as a man of prayer, but in that moment, he looked like one. James, on the other hand, was right beside me, so still that for a second I thought he had stopped breathing. His face was pale, his lips slightly parted, his eyes glassy as if he could barely stay conscious.I looked at him with contained anger, even though I knew that anger wouldn’t solve anything. He had already told me what I needed to hear earlier, the truth about what he had been hiding from us.I didn’t want to hear it again, bu

Sophia The constant sound of the heart monitor was the only thing that seemed to keep me anchored to reality. Its monotonous, rhythmic beeping filled the silence of the room, a silence that, instead of calming me, made me feel trapped. The smell of disinfectant mixed with the metallic taste that still lingered in my mouth, and every time I tried to move even slightly, my body reminded me of how fragile I was with sharp stabs of pain in my abdomen.Bright was by my side, as always. His presence was a pillar, a protective shadow that stood firm even when everything around us seemed to be collapsing. He looked at me in silence, arms crossed, his jaw tense. He didn’t need to speak for me to know that inside, he was burning with worry. Still, there was something strange about him at that moment: it was as if he was waiting for something.It didn’t take me long to understand why.The door opened slowly, and the air in the room shifted at once. I recognized the silhouette immediately, and m

Sophia The feeling of fresh air hitting my face as I left the hospital was like a gift after a long sentence. A week might seem like a short time to anyone else, but for me, it had been an eternity. A week in which my thoughts had tangled with pain, scars, fears, and also with the unconditional presence of those who never left my side.Bright never left me. I saw him every morning, with his tired face, his eyes red from lack of sleep, but without a single complaint. James was there too, loyal as always, helping however he could, breaking the silence with his humor. And Dante… Dante had been a surprise. I knew Bright couldn’t stand his presence, I could feel the tension run through him every time Dante entered the room. And yet, Dante came, with that calm expression, bringing me water, adjusting my pillow, offering words that eased the kind of pain even painkillers couldn’t soothe.And though I was grateful to each of them, there was an emptiness I couldn’t ignore. A pain that didn’t