บททั้งหมดของ The Last Blackthorne Heir Returns: บทที่ 21 - บทที่ 30

"I should have." His voice was fierce with regret. "I saw the changes in you over the years, how you withdrew, how you stopped participating in things you used to enjoy. I noticed, but I didn't do anything about it."I looked down at our joined hands, feeling strangely vulnerable. "Why did you notice me at all? Before the mate bond, I mean."He was quiet for so long, I thought he might not answer. Then he sighed, his thumb tracing circles on my palm."Because you were different," he said finally. "Even as a kid, you had this...intensity. This way of looking at the world, like you were taking everything in, cataloguing it for later. I found it fascinating.""And yet you let your brothers torment me," I said, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice."I know." His shoulders slumped. "I was a coward. I told myself I was protecting you by staying away, that my brothers would be worse if they knew I was interested in you. But the truth is, I was protecting myself."Before I could respond

"What?" I interrupted. "What am I to you, really? Because before yesterday, I was the girl you told to kill herself. The girl you mocked for having no parents. The girl you made cry herself to sleep more times than I can count."All four of them flinched as if I'd physically struck them. Good. Let them hurt. Let them feel a fraction of what I'd felt all these years."We deserve that," Fin said finally, his voice rough with emotion. "We deserve your anger, your mistrust. We've earned it.""Yes, you have," I agreed. "So why should I believe anything has changed? Why should I trust that this isn't just another way to hurt me?""Because the mate bond doesn't allow us to hurt you anymore," Liam explained. "It physically pains us to see you suffer. That's why we were so affected by that recording you played earlier. Hearing our own cruelty played back to us was like being stabbed. It's not just guilt, it's the bond showing us exactly how much damage we've done."I stared at him, trying to pr

I could feel it, that magnetic draw that made me want to lean closer to him despite every rational thought in my head. But admitting that felt too dangerous, too much like surrendering control, I wasn't ready to give up."What I feel doesn't matter," I said instead. "Not when I don't trust any of you.""Then let me earn it," he said, rising from the chair with fluid grace. "One shopping trip. No pressure, no expectations. Just...let me do this for you."I studied his face, looking for any sign of manipulation or ulterior motive. All I saw was that same vulnerable honesty I'd glimpsed in all of them lately, as if the mate bond had stripped away their ability to hide behind their usual masks."Fine," I said finally. "But I'm not trying on anything ridiculous. And if you make even one comment about how I look...""I would never," he interrupted, and something in his tone made me believe him. "Give me twenty minutes to shower and change, and we'll go."After he left, I stared at the closed

Had he always been this way beneath the cruelty? Or was this transformation purely the result of the mate bond?"Your brothers," I said finally, setting down my fork. "Do they know we're here together?"Kane nodded, taking a sip of his water. "They know. They're not happy about it, but they know.""Not happy?" I raised an eyebrow. "Why?""Because they all want the same chance," he said simply. "To show you who they really are. Who we could be together.""All of you?" The idea of being courted by four Alpha werewolves simultaneously was absurd enough to make me almost laugh. "This is insane.""Completely," he agreed, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "But it's our reality now."Our reality. The words echoed in my mind as we finished our meal and headed back to the car. Our shopping bags filled the backseat, tangible evidence that something had fundamentally changed in my life. Twenty-four hours ago, I'd been the unwanted orphan living in a house where I was barely toler

I stared at the weapons, fear creeping up my spine. "I can barely throw a punch correctly. How am I supposed to use those?""You're going to learn," Kane said, moving to stand beside me. His presence was oddly comforting, even as my anxiety spiked. "We'll teach you.""In two days?" I laughed, but there was no humour in it. "I'm going to die, aren't I?""No," all four brothers said in unison, their voices overlapping in a way that sent shivers down my spine.“Ok, I think I might just go over there to warm up,” I said, moving over and putting in my ear buds and starting my usual tai chi moves.I felt their eyes on me as I moved through the fluid motions of tai chi, letting my body find its centre. The familiar routine calmed my racing thoughts, each movement bringing me deeper into myself and away from the chaos surrounding me.For a few precious minutes, I could pretend I was alone, that I wasn't the last survivor of a murdered pack, that I didn't have four mates watching my every move,