Fury Unleashed: The Awakening Alpha Nira (by Chloe Ramos) novel Chapter 285

Chapter 285 The Truth Behind the Engagement.

Nira’s POV:

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Derrick stood perfectly straight, meeting my gaze without hesitation through the lenses of his glasses.

“Nira, ask.”

“Tessa says she sees me as her real sister, and I’ve always treated her like my own younger sister.” I looked at him sharply, my voice turning serious. “So today, I’m asking as her sister. This marriage alliance–are you doing it because you genuinely love her, or because you have another motive?”

When the question left my mouth, silence settled over the room.

The only sound was the steady beeping of the medical equipment.

Standing by the window, Derrick lowered his eyes and adjusted his cuff. Sunlight filtered through the glass and cast shifting shadows across him as he spoke in a voice so quiet it almost blended into the air.

“When we were kids, before Tessa’s wolf spirit awakened, she was always climbing trees. One time she fell, and I ended up underneath her. I broke a rib.”

A faint smile touched his lips.

“She cried on my chest until my entire shirt was soaked through. Back then, I remember thinking that I never wanted to see her cry again.”

His gaze drifted toward the window.

“Another time, she was attacked by a rogue wolf. I carried her all the way to the hospital.”

His voice grew lower.

“On the way there, she was barely conscious. She kept mumbling, and at one point she said, ‘Derrick, your heartbeat is so loud.””

A quiet laugh escaped him.

“That was the first time I realized that when someone’s truly terrified, their heartbeat can sound deafening.”

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Chapter 285 The Truth Behind the Engagement

I watched him for a moment before asking, “If you’ve loved her for so long, why didn’t her?”

“You know Tessa.”

The smile faded into something gentler and more bittersweet.

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you

tell

“She acts like she’s got everything figured out, but when it comes to love, she’s still a lot more innocent than people realize.”

His fingers traced absentminded circles along the bed rail.

“I was afraid that by the time she understood what love really was, she’d be looking at someone else.”

After a pause, he continued quietly.

“And I was afraid she’d find her destined mate and leave me behind.”

For the first time, something sharp flashed in his eyes.

“So I was selfish.”

His throat tightened.

“The alliance between our families… I helped make it happen.”

I frowned immediately.

“You can yell at me if you want,” he said, straightening his back. “But I don’t regret it.”

“You’re just going to tell me that?” I studied him carefully. “Aren’t you worried I’ll tell Tessa?”

He swallowed.

His fists tightened.

“I am.”

For a moment, tension visibly crossed his face.

“But I’m more afraid of losing her if I don’t tell you.”

He let out a breath.

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Chapter 285 The Truth Behind the Engagement

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“Tessa’s too straightforward to see through something like this, but you would. There was never any chance I could hide it from you, so I’d rather be honest.”

I looked at him for a long time before finally sighing.

Then I stepped forward and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“Remember something. Tessa acts carefree, but she’s more sentimental than anyone gives her credit for.”

Then I fixed him with a warning look.

“If I ever find out you’re hurting her—”

“That day will never come.” Derrick cut me off immediately.

His answer came without the slightest hesitation.

“I know better than anyone how difficult it is to earn her trust.”

His expression softened.

“And I know exactly how painful it would be to lose it.”

Just then, Tessa’s voice drifted in from outside as she hummed cheerfully to herself.

Derrick instantly took half a step back and returned to his usual calm, gentle demeanor.

But when the hospital room door swung open, I caught sight of the hand hanging at his side.

His nails were digging hard into his own palm.

“The thermometer delivery service is here!”

Tessa bounced into the room, then abruptly stopped.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Why do you two look weird?”

She glanced between us.

“Were you talking about me behind my back?”

Without missing a beat, Derrick took the thermometer from her hand.

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Chapter 285 The Truth Behind the Engagement

“We were discussing the time you put a frog in my backpack when you were seven.”

Tessa immediately groaned.

“Oh, come on! I apologized for that.”

Then she turned to me.

“And I made up for it. For a whole month, I ate all the vegetables he secretly dumped on my plate because he hated eating them.”

Derrick lowered his head with a quiet laugh, looking at her with open affection.

Watching the two of them together, I couldn’t help smiling myself.

Maybe choosing your own mate wasn’t such a bad thing.

Still, if destined mates truly existed, their relationship probably wouldn’t stay this simple forever.

The thought immediately brought me back to Kade and me.

I still didn’t know whether either of us had a destined mate somewhere out there.

And if we did….

Where would that leave us?

I was still lost in those thoughts when Kade walked into the room. His fingertips brushed lightly across the crease between my brows as he asked, “Thinking about Tessa?”

I looked up at him.

“I was wondering whether I should tell her that Derrick was the one who helped push the engagement forward.”

A low chuckle escaped him as he sat down beside my bed.

“You really think she needs you to tell her? Derrick being in love with Tessa isn’t exactly a secret. Both the Duvall family and the Carter family know. The only person who doesn’t seem to know is Tessa.”

I thought back to all the years they’d spent together and paused.

“That’s true. The way he looks after her is pretty obvious.”

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Chapter 285 The Truth Behind the Engagement

Kade took my hand and wrapped it between both of his.

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“On Tessa’s eighteenth birthday, she spent the entire party looking for her destined mate. Derrick got drunk, wrapped himself around a tree she used to climb all the time, and whole night calling her name.”

My eyes widened.

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