I Left Before He Learned My Worth novel Chapter 78

Chapter 78

ARIA

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I’d been looking for Kael, wanting to discuss the implications of Ivory’s potential departure with him. We needed to make plans, needed to figure out how to convince her to stay or, if she was determined to leave, how to ensure the pack’s healing operations could continue without her expertise.

The conversation I found instead stopped me in my

tracks.

I’d turned the corner into one of the quieter corridors of the pack house-the ones that led to the private family quarters-when I heard voices. Nina and Kael, speaking in low tones that suggested they thought they were alone.

I should have announced my presence. Should have cleared my throat or called out or done something to let them know I was there.

Instead, I froze. Something in Nina’s tone made me hesitate, made me shrink back against the wall just out of sight.

“Can you

handle it?” Nina was asking. “If she moves on with someone new? If she finds someone else?”

There was a pause. I imagined Kael’s confusion, could almost see the way his brow would furrow.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Kael,” Nina said, and there was something almost gentle in her voice. Knowing. “I’m talking about Ivory. About how she was looking at Jason today like he was water and she’d been wandering in the desert. I’m talking about the fact that she doesn’t remember you, doesn’t remember what you had together, and might very well develop feelings for someone else now that she has a blank slate.”

“Nina-” Kael started, but she cut him off.

“I know about you two,” Nina said simply. “About before. About during. About all of it.”

The silence that followed was heavy, loaded with implications I was only beginning to understand. My heart had started racing, my breath coming shorter as pieces began clicking into place.

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“How long have you known?” Kael’s voice was quiet, resigned.

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“Since the beginning,” Nina said. “Kael, Ivory couldn’t keep a secret if her life depended on it. She never had to state it outright-her face always gave her away. The way she’d blush when your name came up. The way she’d disappear to your den and come back with that particular look. Even before the curse took hold, I knew you two were involved.”

My stomach dropped. Involved. They’d been involved. Kael and Ivory had been more than friends.

“It was complicated,” Kael said, and I heard him kick at something-probably a loose stone on the floor. “We were young and stupid and didn’t want to define what we were. And then the curse happened and everything got infinitely more complicated.”

“Your wolf still claimed her though,” Nina said, and it wasn’t a question. “Even cursed, even trapped in that form, your wolf knew Ivory was yours. I saw it in the way you’d watch her, the way you’d position yourself between her and any perceived threat.”

“Nina, please,” Kael’s voice was strained now. “This isn’t-we shouldn’t be talking about this.”

“Why not?” Nina challenged. “Because you’re mated to Aria now? Because you’re supposed to pretend that three years of isolation with only Ivory to care for you didn’t happen? That your wolf didn’t-”

“Don’t,” Kael interrupted sharply.

But Nina pressed on, relentless. “I know you took her virginity, Kael. Even as a cursed wolf, you could still mate her as yourself during those brief moments of clarity. And you did. Multiple times, if Ivory’s reactions whenever she came back from your den were any indication.”

The world tilted. I pressed my hand against the wall to steady myself, feeling like the floor had dropped out from under me.

Kael and Ivory had been lovers. Not just before the curse, but during it. While he was trapped in wolf form, during those moments when his human consciousness surfaced, they’d been intimate.

“Can we not discuss this in the middle of the pack house hallway?” Kael hissed, and I heard movement like he was checking to make sure they were alone.

I shrank back further, making myself as small and silent as possible.

“Fine,” Nina said. “But you need to face this, Kael. You need to acknowledge what you’re asking Ivory to accept. She gave you everything-her time, her dedication, her body, her virginity. She went into those woods alone every day for three years, searching for anything that might

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Chapter 78

help you. She risked her life testing compounds on herself. She never told anyone about what you two shared because she knew it would complicate pack politics”

“I know what she sacrificed,” Kael said, his voice thick with emotion. I know what she gave up for me. I think about it every single day.

“Do you?” Nina challenged. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’ve moved on pretty seamlessly. Ivory brings you a cure, performs the treatment, breaks your curse, makes you human again-and within days, you’re bonded to someone else. Someone who doesn’t know you the way Ivory does. Someone who hasn’t earned the right to your loyalty through years of unwavering dedication.”

“That’s not fair,” Kael protested. “The bonding with Aria was necessary. Political We’ve talked

about this.”

“Sure,” Nina said, and I could hear the skepticism in her voice. It started that way. But be honest with yourself, Kael. It’s not just political anymore, is it? You have feelings for Aria Real feelings. I can see it in the way you look at her, the way you defend her, the way your entire being lights up when she enters a room.”

Through the wall, I felt the truth of Nina’s words resonating. Kael did have feelings for me. Deep feelings that were growing stronger every day. I’d felt them through our bond, had reveled in them even if neither of us had spoken the words out loud yet.

But knowing those feelings existed alongside what he’d shared with Ivory-that complicated everything.

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