I Left Before He Learned My Worth novel Chapter 24

**I Left Before He Learned My Worth**
**Chapter 24**

**KAEL**

I stood at the threshold of the packhouse, my gaze fixed on Aria as she walked away, her posture rigid and tense, a silent testament to the turmoil raging within her. Each step she took felt like a thunderclap in my chest, sending ripples of conflicting emotions through our bond, a tempest that I was powerless to quell.

My wolf was a restless beast, howling in fury at the very thought that she still harbored feelings for Damon Cross. It was a visceral rejection, a primal urge to deny the truth that lingered in the air like a bitter fog.

She had loved him once, fiercely and completely.

And in that love, he had shattered her.

I could still feel the echoes of her heart’s betrayal coursing through our connection during that agonizing confrontation—the way her heart had stuttered at the sight of him, the flicker of hope she had desperately tried to suppress, and the instinct of her wolf, yearning to run to him despite the scars he had left behind.

Then came the crushing weight of disappointment when he had mentioned their dreams of pups, tossing their shared aspirations back at her like daggers.

Watching her slap him had been a moment of satisfaction, but it hadn’t wiped away the raw emotions I had sensed from her just moments before—the longing, the haunting what-ifs, the flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, he could change.

“Alpha?” Nina’s voice sliced through the chaos of my thoughts. She had moved closer, her hand resting gently on my fur, a grounding presence amidst the storm. “Are you alright?”

The truth was a heavy weight on my tongue. No, I wasn’t alright. I was consumed by a fear that the woman I was meant to bond with in just two days still carried a torch for another, that she might go through with the ceremony out of spite, to wound Damon, rather than from a genuine desire to be with me.

I was terrified of setting myself up for the same heartbreak that had become the foundation of my curse—yearning for someone who could never truly be mine.

But I couldn’t voice those fears. Not aloud, and not even through the mindlink where Aria might overhear.

So, I projected a sense of calm through our connection. *“I’m fine. Just worried about Aria. That was… hard for her.”*

Nina’s eyes held a knowing glimmer. She had been my Beta long enough to decipher my unspoken thoughts, to grasp the weight of what I wasn’t saying.

“She chose you,” Nina said softly, her voice steady. “She chose Shadowmere. That has to count for something.”

*“Does it?”* I couldn’t mask the bitterness that seeped into my mental voice.

“Or did she simply choose anywhere but him? I felt her emotions, Nina. The way her heart shattered when he spoke of their future together, of pups and dreams. She still cares for him. Perhaps she still loves him.”

“Love doesn’t vanish overnight,” Nina agreed. “Especially not after years of it. But Aria is stronger than you realize. She walked away from him just now. She slapped him when he tried to manipulate her. She told him she was falling in love with you.”

*“She said that to hurt him. To make him feel the pain she has carried all these years.”*

“Maybe,” Nina conceded thoughtfully. “Or maybe she meant it. Have you considered that both could be true? That she can still harbor feelings for her past while forging something new with you?”

I hadn’t. I couldn’t see beyond my own fears to entertain that possibility.

The harsh truth gnawed at me, a relentless reminder that I was only getting a chance with Aria because Damon had stumbled so spectacularly. If he had been even a fraction decent to her, if he had chosen her over Sera, if he had cherished what she had offered—then I would have never crossed paths with her. She would be bonded to him, thriving in Blackwood pack, living the life she had always envisioned.

I was merely the backup plan. The consolation prize. The cursed Alpha she had agreed to bond with because remaining in Blackwood was too painful.

And that realization consumed me like acid, corroding my insides.

“I need to speak with her,” I said, my voice firm as I turned toward the direction she had vanished into the depths of the forest. “I need to know if she truly desires this, or if she’s merely using me to strike back at him.”

Nina’s grip on my fur tightened. “Don’t. Not right now. She asked for space—mumbled something about needing time alone before she left. Give her that. Allow her to process what just transpired without you hovering, demanding answers she may not have yet.”

She was right. I forced myself to remain still, my gaze fixed on the trees where she had disappeared, hoping she would return. Trusting that she would uphold her commitment to the ceremony, to the pack, to me.

“Come on,” Nina urged gently, tugging at my fur. “Let’s head back. We need to brief the council about Alpha Cross’s visit and determine what his presence means for our pack’s security. He seemed… unstable.”

“He’s desperate,” I corrected, my tone sharp.

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