All Chapters of My Alpha, My Mate, My Ruin.: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Betsy’s povSeveral minutes later, I stood near the pack’s entrance as Matteo saw them off. I hadn’t seen Drake since and even though I wanted to know if he was okay, I knew it’d be better if we never set eyes on each other again.Nick didn’t look at me again. Not when the team regrouped. Not even when they quietly prepared to return.“You know where home is,” he said without turning around. “Whatever you are doing, I just hope you know what it costs.”“I’m sorry,” I whispered, heart aching.Nick didn’t nod, didn’t accept it. He looked like a person biting back words sharp enough to cut a mountain in half.When Matteo stepped beside me, relaxed, hands casually in his pockets, like watching a rival pack depart was entertainment, Nick finally looked.His glare landed squarely on Matteo.“You got a lot of nerve,” Nick muttered.Matteo gave him a half-smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I get told that often.”Nick’s hand twitched, ready to shift. Matteo didn’t even flinch.“Nick,” I said

Betsy’s povTHREE MONTHS LATERThe wind hit harder in Matteo’s territory than it ever did back home. Not that home meant the same thing anymore.Three months. Three long, brutal, quiet months.Three months since I muted the bond.Three months since I ripped myself away from everything I cared about.Three months since I lied to his face and told him he was weak.And the worst part?The bond stayed muted but the ghost of it wouldn’t leave me alone.A memory of warmth.Something that woke me at night, whispering at the edge of my mind like a heartbeat I wasn’t allowed to hear. I tightened the straps of the training harness Matteo’s warriors had strapped onto me.Training has become my life now.Every day. Every night. Until my hands bled and my powers hummed like a second pulse under my skin. At some point, the wolves here stopped seeing me as the “outsider.” Then they stopped seeing me as Matteo’s little prize.Now they saw me as a threat.An eventual weapon.I knew it.They knew it.M

Betsy’s POVFor a second, I didn’t answer.Not because I didn’t want to, but because the sound of my name in his voice hit somewhere deep and fragile, like a bruise I had been pretending wasn’t there. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t dramatic. Just one word. Hoarse. Real.“Betsy.”I swallowed. My throat burned.“Drake,” I finally said.His eyes stayed on me like if he looked away, I might vanish. Slowly, carefully, he shifted, then immediately winced, teeth grinding together like he was trying not to show it.Nick was at his side in half a second.“Don’t,” Nick warned. “You are still stitched, still medicated and still very bad at listening.”Drake ignored him. Typical. His gaze never left my face.“You are here,” he said, quieter now, like saying it too loud might break something.I nodded once. “Yeah.”Another pause. Then, softer, almost disbelieving, “You came.”Matteo’s presence behind me felt heavier suddenly, like the air had thickened. I did not turn around. I refused to.Nick cleared

Betsy’s POVTraining was supposed to clear my head.That was the lie I told myself as I stepped onto the far mat at the edge of Matteo’s pack grounds, far enough that no one hovered but close enough that someone could intervene if I collapsed. The air smelled like pine and cold stone. Neutral. Clean.I rolled my shoulders and raised my hands.Again.Strike. Block. Pivot.Too slow.I corrected, moving sharper the second time, snapping my wrist harder than necessary. My foot slid half an inch too far.I stilled.“Again,” the instructor said from the bench.His name was Rafe. Not unkind. Not warm either. He watched like someone counting errors instead of progress.I moved.Strike. Block. Pivot.“Stop,” he said.I froze, breathing hard.“You’re overcorrecting,” Rafe said. “You miss by a fraction, then punish yourself for it.”“I didn’t miss,” I snapped.“You did,” he replied calmly. “You just fixed it too fast.”I clenched my jaw. “That’s not a problem.”“It is when you’re compensating fo

Drake's POVThe connection has not been reestablished.It was like a hollow chunk in my heart where the most important thing used to be. There was no pain. No attraction. Not even that usual pressure at the brink of my consciousness.Absolutely nothing.The moment I walked out, the air was biting and refreshing.Lanemoon had come to life.The pack link allowed me to sense them, regular movements, low conversations, and changes in patrols. Everything was as it should be.That was the issue.Life was going on as if nothing had happened, as if nothing had been uprooted.I took a walk.The training ring was deserted at that early hour. I ventured into it anyway, my boots making faint prints in the frost. At the center, I stopped and shut my eyes.Nothing came back to me.My wolf was restless, moving about under my skin. He did not howl. He did not try to invade my space.He was patient.I transformed.There was a sound of cracking bones, a surge of muscles, and the usual pain becoming both