His words struck me like a physical blow, stealing the breath from my lungs. A year ago, Kieran had been diagnosed with an untreatable illness. His frail heart, his inability to heal—everything had pointed to a grim fate. He was just a child, too weak to shift, too fragile to connect with his wolf. Every day, his life had hung by a thread while I watched in helpless agony, knowing he was slipping further away. And throughout it all, he had only asked for one thing—to see his father.
Ronan had never visited him, never shown the slightest concern. In his mind, I had only ever used Kieran to gain sympathy, to guilt-trip him into caring. And now, after ten years together, that was all I was to him—a manipulative woman desperate for attention.
I blinked away the sting of tears, refusing to let him see me break. "Believe whatever you want, Alpha. I'm leaving."
With that, I turned on my heel, dragging my suitcase toward the door. But before I could make it out, Adeline’s voice cut through the silence, feigning innocence. "Alpha, didn’t you plan to take Kieran to the ocean? You didn’t cancel that just for the mountain trip with me, did you? Anastasia’s upset..."