Chapter 639
As he pulled her into the waltz, the space between them vanished. Even without an Inner Wolf, I could feel the explosive cocktail of desperation, longing, and raw agony radiating from them. Beside me, Dallas’s jaw was tight, a low, warning growl building in his chest at the blatant crossing of boundaries.
When the music faded, Azalea leaned in, her lips brushing Vance’s ear. I couldn’t hear the words, but the desperate plea in her eyes was unmistakable.
Half an hour later, I slipped out of the suffocating ballroom, following the faint trail of Azalea’s distressed scent.
The old conservatory sat in the dark gardens — a heavy glass structure filled with blooming Moonflowers and damp earth. I stayed hidden behind a thick cluster of rose bushes outside the glass walls, my heart pounding.
Inside, moonlight cast mottled shadows across the stone floor. Vance had come.
Before he could speak, Azalea threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him — a desperate, messy collision of lips and tears. She was begging him, her voice breaking as she pleaded for him to take her away.
For three agonizing seconds, Vance stood like a stone statue, absorbing her grief. Then his large hands gripped her shoulders, and he shoved her away.
“I am the Gamma of this Pack,” Vance stated, his voice stripped of all warmth. “My life is sworn to your father. To me, you are a charge to be protected. Nothing more.”
Azalea stumbled back, her chest heaving. “My father is dying, Vance! The silver is eating him alive, and that monster from the diary — Valerius — is here! I am terrified of my own blood, and I am completely powerless! You took a silver arrow for me once! Why won’t you fight for me now?”
“That was my duty,” Vance replied, his face an impenetrable mask. “I would have done the same for any member of the Alpha’s bloodline.”
Azalea shook her head, her entire body trembling as a silent, devastating agony seemed to crack the very glass around them.
Vance delivered the final, fatal blow. “Do not dishonor your father’s name, and my oath, with this… childish fantasy.”
The words struck her like a physical blow. Azalea collapsed inward, her spirit shattering into a million irreparable pieces.
Vance turned on his heel and strode toward the heavy glass doors. But as he stepped out into the cool night air, believing himself entirely alone, I saw it. For a fraction of a second, the Gamma’s broad, invincible shoulders slumped, and a single tear traced a slow path down his hardened cheek. His Inner Wolf was bleeding out from a self-inflicted wound.
I took a step forward, every instinct screaming at me to rush in and hold Azalea. But as I watched her wipe her tears, a terrifying, hollow emptiness settled over her features. She wasn’t just heartbroken — she was breaking away. I stayed hidden, offering a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess, completely unaware that this was the last time I would see her in our home.