Chapter 281
[ 490 words ]
Chapter 281:
I turned my gaze away, ignoring her outburst, and stepped into the house.
Where on earth was Lianne hiding?
Ethan’s POV:
By the time I pulled away from the Voss estate, night had already settled thick and heavy.
The streetlights smeared past the window, stretching into long, silent streaks like a never-ending reel. A tight knot formed in my chest, unease crawling through me.
I opened the mind link again, my voice unnaturally calm. “It’s been some time since the rumors about me having a new mate spread. Is there truly still no word of Lianne?”
On the other end, Noah, who always mirrored my words without question, stayed quiet for an unusually long stretch. So long that I began to wonder if the link had failed, until finally a voice, hesitant and unfamiliar, broke the silence.
“Alpha, maybe we should stop looking.”
My fingers gripped the steering wheel so tightly the knuckles whitened.
𝘙𝘰𝗆a𝗇c𝗲 𝗮n𝖽 𝘱𝖺𝘴𝘴𝗂𝘰𝗻 оn 𝗴𝖺𝘭𝗇𝘰𝗏𝗲𝘭ѕ.𝗰𝗼𝗆
Noah had never dared to challenge me, yet this time, he must have seen the toll this endless pursuit had taken on me and could not remain silent.
“Lianne has chosen to hide. For three years, we’ve deployed every resource and haven’t even glimpsed her.” A faint edge of pity crept into his tone. “Alpha, it’s been three years. She might have found another mate by now, perhaps even had a child.”
Those words struck like a poisoned arrow, embedding themselves deep in the center of my chest. Yet strangely, there was no anger. I did not even have the energy to scold him.
The car was swallowed in silence.
I could imagine the anxiety etched across Noah’s face at the other end, but I could only remain quiet. The quiet stretched like a slow, careful digestion of words that could destroy me.
After what felt like an eternity, I heard my own voice, fragile and trembling, barely more than a whisper.
“Do you think she’s stopped loving me?”
“Yes.” Noah’s voice was steady and unyielding. “If even a shred of affection remained, she wouldn’t have left so decisively, nor would she have stayed hidden for three years. Alpha, let her go.”
Another long silence followed, heavy and absolute.
Noah’s voice carried the weight of a final, merciless decision, presenting the harshest possibility.
“If you find her and see her in another man’s arms, laughing with him, maybe even holding his child, could you truly endure it?”
That question shattered the last remnants of my resolve, snapping the fragile control I had left.
I said nothing and severed the link immediately.
I steered the car to the roadside, hands trembling as I pulled out my phone. I opened the pinned number that had never once replied, and typed a single message.
“Lianne, I’m tired. Will you come back to me?”
Just like the thousands of messages I had sent before, there was no reply.
I stared at the blank screen so long my eyes ached, until finally I turned to Noah and sent another message. “Stop looking.”
Three years of relentless obsession ended in that instant.
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