Semua Bab Let Me Go, Ex Husband: Bab 11 - Bab 20

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

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

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

AIDEN'S POVThere are coils of seedy tendrils of steam emanating from the holy hot waters and they skulk through the dusk like gasps from ancestors. I glance at my watch for the fourth time in fifteen minutes. She's late. Maybe she’s not coming at all.The mere thought sends an unpleasant wince down my chest. Five years of being apart, five years of wondering, of wishing, of regretting, and now that I have found her again I don’t want to frighten her. One slip up and I might lose her forever with my children.A branch breaks in the distance, and my wolf ears automatically zero in on it. Seconds later, I’m enveloped in her scent now; lavender and rain with an essence that is so Haylee beneath it. My body reacts and my heart races when she breaks through the trees.She stops at the clearing’s edge, wariness in every line of her form. The Luna finery is gone, replaced with plain jeans and a forest green sweater that turns her eyes more gold than brown. Her hair is down around her shoulder

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.