Chapter 33: The Explanation (II)
Kaiser:
I didn’t know how to describe what I was feeling. Perhaps the first time in my life, I genuinely couldn’t find the right words.
I stood there staring at Rose while her questions echoed through the room, each one striking harder than the last, and for the first time since she returned, something deeply uncomfortable began settling inside my chest.
Because logically, I knew my brothers and I hadn’t done anything wrong. At least not truly wrong. Everything we had done had reasons behind it. Everything we had done had been necessary.
Charlotte was our fated mate. The Moon Goddess herself had chosen her for us. The future of both packs depended on stability. And the future of our bloodlines depended on the decisions we made.
We hadn’t betrayed Rosalie simply because we wanted to hurt her. We hadn’t chosen Charlotte over her out of cruelty. And we hadn’t hidden things because we enjoyed deceiving her. There had been circumstances, complications, and responsibilities.
So why...
Why did I suddenly feel like the guilty one standing trial? Why did every question coming from her lips make me feel as though I was the one who had done something unforgivable?
The feeling made no sense. Yet it refused to leave. And the more I looked at her, the stronger that dread became.
Nothing about this situation was unfolding the way I expected. Nothing.
The moment I received the call earlier today, everything inside me had stopped. I could still remember every detail perfectly.
I had been sitting inside one of the most important meetings of the year. Darien sat to my right while Alastor sat at the head of the table. And around us were the betas, security heads, and senior warriors from both Blackthorn and Crescent Wolf Packs.
Maps covered the table. Reports were being discussed. Plans were being finalized.
It was supposed to be a meeting that determined the future security arrangements of both territories. And in the middle of all that, my phone rang.
Normally I would have ignored it. But nobody interrupted meetings like that unless it was an emergency. So I answered immediately.
The moment I heard the words coming from the other end, my entire world stopped.
"Alpha... Lady Rosalie has returned."
I remembered the exact second my heart skipped a beat, the exact second my lungs forgot how to function, and the exact second the room disappeared around me.
After so long, she had finally returned.
It had been sixteen endless days since Rose disappeared, since she fell from that cliff. And each of these sixteen days I had spent searching for her, waiting, hoping, and praying for her return.
These were sixteen days of searching forests, rivers, mountains, and valleys. Sixteen long days of warriors returning empty-handed. Sixteen days of hope and despair tearing me apart. And sixteen days of waking up every morning wondering if today would finally be the day someone found her.
And now...
Now I was being told she had returned. That she’s alive safe, and breathing.
There were no words in existence capable of describing what I felt. Surprise, disbelief, joy, relief, love, grief, panic, hope, worry - all of it crashed into me at once so violently that darkness flickered across my vision.
I vaguely remembered my chair falling backward. Remembered somebody saying my name. Remembered Darien standing and Alastor grabbing his phone. Then suddenly I was already moving. Running. Within seconds I was halfway through the corridor and also halfway through shifting.
The need to reach her had completely consumed me.
My wolf was already clawing at the surface, demanding control. He demanded to see her, demanded proof she was alive. And the next thing I knew, I was racing through the forest.
My wolf had never run faster. Not once in my entire life.
Trees blurred past us. Branches snapped beneath our paws. The wind screamed in my ears. And still it wasn’t fast enough. Because every second felt unbearable. Every second felt stolen.
I needed to see her. Needed to hear her voice, to know she was truly alive, to touch her.
The journey that should have taken much longer lasted only minutes. Then Blackthorn Packhouse appeared and all I could think was-
Rose is home.
Rose is alive.
Rose is finally back.
On the way here, I had imagined this reunion a dozen different ways. Perhaps she would be crying. Perhaps she would be frightened or maybe she would be angry.
Actually, I expected anger. A lot of anger. After everything that happened on her birthday, how could she not be angry? So I had prepared for that. I had prepared for shouting, for accusations, for tears, and for emotional outbursts.
I had even rehearsed what I would say. How I would pull her into my arms. How I would calm her down and explain everything. And how I would make her understand that Charlotte changed nothing important between us. That our feelings for Rose hadn’t disappeared. And that Charlotte’s existence didn’t mean Rose suddenly became less valuable.
That we could still make this work and could still fix everything. That she would never have to fear losing her place in our lives. And that we could all move forward together.
I truly believed that.
I truly thought she would understand once we explained. Maybe not immediately, but eventually. Yet the woman standing before me now wasn’t the Rose I prepared myself for.
She wasn’t screaming. She wasn’t crying, wasn’t begging for answers. She wasn’t even emotional. And somehow that was far worse because she was cold.
Cold in a way I had never seen before. She was cold in a way that made her feel like a stranger, and made every instinct inside me panic.
I couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand the distance between us or the way she looked at me. Nor could I stand the way she acted as though my touch disgusted her.
Without thinking, I took another step toward her and my hand lifted instinctively, the same way it had countless times before whenever she was upset, or sad, or needed comfort.
But before I could reach her, she moved.
Again.
It was a small movement, yet it hit harder than a punch. She didn’t even try to hide her rejection. She simply stepped away, deliberately and purposefully, making sure I understood.
My heart clenched painfully. And inside my head, my wolf let out a low whine. The sound carried pain, confusion, and sadness. Because this wasn’t supposed to happen.
Rose used to love our touch. She used to curl up beside me whenever she was cold. Used to fall asleep against my shoulder and hug me without warning. She used to smile whenever I wrapped my arms around her.
But now she wouldn’t even allow me to stand close.
The realization hurt more than I expected.
Then I looked into her eyes, and the coldness I saw in those dark brown orbs was something I had never seen before in all those years I had known her since we were all children.
She didn’t look sad, disappointed, or angry like I expected. Like I wanted. Instead she looked cold. There was a frozen distance, a wall in her gaze as that settled directly on me. Then she spoke.
"What exactly was last minute?"
Her voice was calm. Too calm. And it made my stomach tighten.
She took another step forward. It wasn’t enough to approach us, but still enough to make every word impossible to ignore.
"Was it you cheating on me and sleeping with another woman?"
The room became silent.
"Was it impregnating that woman and keeping it a secret?"
My jaw locked.
"Was it deciding to betray me?"
Every question struck harder than the previous one. Like blades. Like accusations none of us had prepared ourselves to hear spoken aloud.
But then she asked something that sounded so absurd my brain didn’t even process it for several long seconds.
"Or was the last-minute thing you are talking about has something to do with you trying to kill me so I would stop being a problem for you, your sweet Luna, and your future?"
