Chapter 186

Chapter 186:

Azalea hesitated, her grip on my hand tightening. “Elder Marshall, she’s in pain p>

“I said, leave us.” The command wasn’t shouted, but it carried the weight of decades of authority. Azalea gave me a helpless look, squeezed my hand one last time, and slipped out of the room.

I was alone with the woman who had likely shaped the King I had just broken.

Augusta pulled the chair Braydon had vacated closer to the bed. She didn’t sit immediately. She loomed over me, her gaze dissecting my soul.

“My nephew is currently in a penthouse, coughing up water from his lungs and refusing medical treatment because he believes his Mate has chosen a coward over him,” she stated, her tone devoid of emotion. “Explain yourself, girl. And do not lie to me — I can smell deceit better than I can smell that antiseptic p>

𝖶𝘦 𝘶𝘱dа𝘁𝘦 𝗲𝘷ery 𝘄ee𝘬 оn

“I didn’t choose Braydon,” I rasped, the effort of speaking sending sharp needles of pain through my chest. “I was drowning, Augusta. Everything was dark. My senses were gone p>

I tried to sit up, desperate to make her understand. “The river took everything. I couldn’t smell. I couldn’t see. When I woke up, I felt a hand. I thought — I prayed — it was Dallas. I was confessing to him.” Tears blurred my vision. “I would never choose Braydon. Never p>

Augusta studied my face, searching for any flicker of dishonesty. Slowly, the rigid set of her shoulders relaxed, just a fraction. She sat down, crossing her legs elegantly.

“I believe you,” she said, though her voice remained hard. “You were delirious. A mistake of the senses. But that brings us to the real question, Adella p>

She leaned forward, her grey eyes boring into mine. “Do you love him? Truly? Or are you simply grateful he saved your life p>

The question hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. My heart screamed the answer. I loved him with a ferocity that terrified me. But then the image of Dallas — strong, invincible Dallas — breaking his own body to breathe life into mine flashed through my mind. I saw the bruises, the pneumonia ravaging his lungs because he had dove into freezing water for a wolfless girl.

I was a weakness. A liability. As long as I was his Mate, the Alpha King would be vulnerable.

“Look at what loving me did to him,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “He almost died, Augusta. Because I couldn’t save myself. Because I have no wolf p>

“That is not an answer,” Augusta snapped.

“It’s the only one that matters!” I cried, clutching the sheets. “I love him enough to know that maybe I’m not good for him. Maybe he needs a Luna who can stand beside him — not one he has to constantly rescue.” I choked back a sob and looked away from her piercing gaze. “Maybe he’d be better off free p>

The silence that followed was deafening.