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Chapter 119
~Valerie’s POV~
Isla opened her mouth, but the glare Valerie sent her shut her down quick. Still, Isla protested.
"He is an alpha. Territory is kind of our thing."
"Nope." Valerie tossed Isla’s phone onto the bed. "No. You’re not giving it to him."
"Oh come on," Isla groaned. "He made a mistake, that’s all." Isla tried to argue.
Valerie crossed her arms. "Right. That kind of mistake."
"He’s your mate."
"So are the rest of them." Doesn’t mean I’m handing them my number on a silver platter. Besides, a mate mistake? Yeah. We’ve seen how well that goes."
"You’re not being fair." Valerie arched a brow. "You’re really not going to forgive him?"
"He can earn it, not shortcut it." Valerie smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. "And you’re definitely not sending him my number."
Isla grumbled. "I should have sent it when I had the chance."
"Good thing Dristan wasn’t interested enough to get it earlier," Valerie said, snatching up Isla’s phone again.
"Where do you think you are going with that, young lady?"
A beat passed before Valerie answered, smiling, "I told you not to give it to him," Valerie reminded.
"And I didn’t," Isla said, crossing her arms. "But it doesn’t mean I agree."
Valerie was already halfway to the door. "Now I can’t trust you not to give in. Good thing I don’t need your agreement. Just your silence."
"Hey! My phone—!"
"Too late. Your love for Dristan would make you spin." Valerie called over her shoulder as she slipped out of the room.
The door clicked shut behind her. Isla stared at the door, fuming. Then she sighed and rubbed her face and fell back on the bed.
As Valerie disappeared down the hall, she rolled over and reached for her wardrobe. From a hidden drawer, she pulled out a slim backup phone.
She turned it on, smirking.
"Fine. You win for now, Val. But I’ve got tricks too."
Her mind flashed to earlier, when Valerie had walked into her room, voice flat and unreadable.
"I need a favour," Valerie had said. "Don’t give Dristan my number. No matter what."
At the time, Isla had nodded. Of course, she would protect her cousin. But now... Valerie was cutting ties. Pushing them all away.
And Isla wasn’t so sure that was the right move anymore.
Not if Dristan was finally ready to fight for her.
"I may not have your number on this phone, Val..." she murmured, typing quickly. "But I can get it. Just watch."
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~Dristan’s POV~
The call went dead.
I barely had time to speak when it ended abruptly.
I stared at the screen for a second longer, not quite believing it.
Then slowly, I lowered the phone from my ear. The silence in the room pressed in like a weight.
She hung up on me.
No hesitation. No stutter. No flicker of softness in her voice. Just a sharp, final "No" and then—click.
Kai, Axel, and Xade were all watching me.
Xade blinked. "She what?"
"Yeah," I said bitterly, shoving the phone into my pocket. "She made it very clear."
"We didn’t fuck up," Kai said, though his voice lacked confidence. "We just... waited too long."
"No," I muttered, pacing again. "We treated her like she was just there. Accessible. Around. Like we’d always have time to figure it out."
"We had weeks to get her number, to talk to her without all the matebond drama," Xade said, rubbing the back of his neck. "And we didn’t."
"I let her walk away," I said. "She didn’t even look back. And now she won’t give me her number, won’t even hear me out."
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