Helanie:
"That’s the Alpha?" he asked, looking completely shocked.
"Yeah, the one who left ," I repeated. I guess I hadn’t focused much on Altan when telling Lamar about the incident before. I had only briefly ntioned him.
"That’s... crazy. He was in love with you? I an, you two were dating back then?" Lamar was sitting on the bed with , forcing to eat the burger he had brought for .
"Helanie, I don’t know if I should tell you this or not, but I have so information on him—from before I even knew he was the asshole who left you with those animals that night," he said, looking down, closing his eyes, and taking deep breaths. That worried .
"Tell everything you know," I said with confidence, even though I knew the truth would hurt.
"Altan has been lying to you," he paused. "He found his fated mate the day he turned eighteen. They turned eighteen together. But... she was from another pack, so you never got the chance to know much about her. He was very protective of her, so he kept her a secret." He hesitated on the word *protective*.
I couldn’t believe it.
I lost everything for soone who had been playing ?
"But he never told . He said he would accept , and—oh my God, I’ve been such a fool," I covered my mouth with my hands, tearing up. He quickly hugged while I sobbed my heart out like crazy.
"Lamar—he used to be so draining, ntally and emotionally. He kept hanging with false hopes. Of course, he didn’t stay to fight for . Of course, he didn’t protect —he chose his reputation over mine. He didn’t want anyone to find out. He didn’t want his mate to know he had been with , so he would rather let die there. Yeah!" I nodded, letting out a bitter laugh at how stupid I had been.
"Hey, he’s an asshole. It’s his loss—he lost a gem like you," Lamar patted my back. After a while, I broke the hug and wiped my cheeks with the back of my hand.
"Tell more," I needed to know. All this ti, I thought he got cold feet, but now I finally understood why.
He didn’t want to protect —he was already protecting his mate.
I was just his side chick.
He never really cared about .
"You know he’s engaged?" Lamar asked, holding my hands tightly, trying to comfort .
The question itself was heartbreaking.
He moved on without any guilt.
It confused because, even if he never truly loved , we had been friends since childhood. Did our friendship an nothing to him at all?
"Who?" I asked in a whisper, barely able to say the word.
"Sydney Coombs. She’s his fated mate."
My heart sank at the revelation.
"What?" I gulped, trying to wet my dry throat.
"What are you saying, Lamar?" I tried to pull my hands from his, my voice breaking miserably.
"He’s been with her since they were fifteen. Sydney told all about it one night when she was upset with him," he explained.
Lamar wasn’t the kind of guy to spill soone’s secrets. He had never done it before—until now. And that was because he knew I ’needed’ to hear this.
"Of course," I rembered. "You slept with her that night because she was depressed about sothing."
I finally understood why she had so desperately wanted dead.
"Yeah, she wanted to stay with her Alpha mate but didn’t want rumors spreading that she had cheated on him. Their relationship was already hanging by a thread, so she was ready to go as far as getting you thrown out of the academy tests just to save her reputation. And I wanted to stay in the academy because I wanted to find those asshole Alphas," he explained, watching as I smiled to myself.
"What happened?" he asked.
"It’s just so funny. I walked out of my house that night thinking I’d be safer with an Alpha who loved . Turns out, everything was a lie." My eyes burned with tears once again.
We remained silent for so ti, and that’s when it hit .
"You know... it’s so odd that the Alphas that night ntioned my pheromones. In the mont, it didn’t faze because I was so scared, but now that I think about it—my pheromones have been kept a secret in our pack. Why did I assu people from other packs knew about them?" I muttered under my breath, finally recalling the small details I had tried to forget about that night.
Watching Lamar’s confused expression, I added, "They even ntioned wearing my pendant—" I stopped mid-sentence when I realized my explanation wasn’t helping Lamar—it was only confusing him more.
"Pheromones?" He squinted his eyes, and I gasped.
Shit.
I had never really told him much about that either.
"You an... the scent that disappears when you feel the mate bond—?"
I’m so stupid. He must be wondering why I’m still wearing the pendant when I’ve already felt the mate bond with three Alphas.
"Actually, um... it’s not just a heat thing. It’s a curse, and I have to wear it forever," I admitted, watching his eyes widen in shock.
The next few minutes were difficult as I explained everything—the story of my pheromones, how the pack mbers perceived as filthy, and why I was so afraid of anyone doing research on . All of this could be used against by the Alphas and their parents.
"Look," Lamar said after hearing everything. He took my hand and gave a gentle smile. "None of that matters. What happened, happened. We’re on our journey to get revenge. As for Altan—there will co a ti when you’ll have to face those Alphas again. You must stay strong and rember—I’m always with you."
His words gave so much comfort that I instantly flashed him a broken smile.
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