The Alpha Who Never Loved Me (Serena and Kieran) novel Chapter 36

< The Alpha Who Never Loved Me

Chapter 36

Serena

“Did I imagine it?” I asked again. “When you threatened your own family for Sophie’s sake? When you told them your grandfather ruined your happiness by breaking the two of you apart?”

He reached for me. His arm wrapped around my shoulder and his hand started stroking my back in slow circles.

I shoved him off.

“I don’t want this kind of marriage.” My voice was hoarse and shredded. “Stop trying to get me pregnant. Nothing you do will make me want to keep your child. I would never have a baby with someone like you.”

“Forget what you heard today,” he said.

I stared at him. “How?”

How could I forget something that was already tattooed inside my skull? I had stood behind that door and listened to the man I loved confess his love for a pthen:26

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That wasn’t a sentence I could unhear.

“I can’t forget!” I screamed it at him. “I will never be able to forget!”

He said nothing. The car pulled into our driveway and I reached for the door handle but he was faster. He came around to my side, lifted me into his arms bridal style, and carried me upstairs to the master bedroom.

He laid me on the bed. His phone was ringing in his pocket. He held my wrist with one hand and checked the screen with the other.

“I have a meeting with the pack,” he said. “I need to leave. But I need you to stop making a fuss first.”

“Give me back the medicine and I’ll stop.”

I had to sell it. I had to make him believe I wasn’t already carrying his child.

He just stood there, staring at me.

“Even with Sophie and Ethan,” he said slowly, “nothing changes your status in this family. You have nothing 19:26

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< Chapter 36

worry about.”

A laugh ripped out of me. “They’ve already done enough. If it wasn’t for them, my husband wouldn’t have missed our anniversary. My husband wouldn’t be treating me like I don’t exist. Even if my husband didn’t love me, he would at least be around.”

“Stop.” He ran a hand through his hair. “What’s between me and Sophie is just responsibility.”

“Fine. Then go be responsible for them and leave me alone. I’ll give you my blessing.”

He was quiet.

“You know I love you.” My voice cracked. “You’ve always known. And you still keep me locked in this suffocating marriage.” I searched his face. “Do you hate me, Kieran?

Is that what this is?”

He pulled me against his chest and held me there. “Nothing is wrong. You’re overthinking. If you stop overthinking, there won’t be a problem.”

bpressed my face into his shirt and spoke against the 1:26 fabric. “I’ll stop overthinking when you give me the

< Chapter 36

medicine.”

He was still for a long moment. Then he reached into his pocket and placed the box in my hand.

I swallowed the pill before he could change his mind and lay back on the bed.

He watched me for a few minutes. Then he told me Jenna would come to keep me company and walked toward the door.

I stared at the ceiling.

“I had been so foolish thinking he had actually loved me.’

Kieran

I was on my fifth glass when Trevor stopped me.

He placed his hand flat over the top of my glass and pushed the bottle out of reach.

“If you give that paternity test to your grandfather,” Trevor said, “and claim Ethan as your son, Sophie will start demanding a place in your life. More than what you’re giving her now.”

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I shook my head. “She’s not like that.”

“She’s exactly like that.” He leaned back. “And even if she’s not, your grandfather will use this to control you.”

“If I don’t do this, he’ll kill her.” I set the glass down. “I can’t let them be in his crosshairs.”

Trevor rubbed his jaw. “Morals don’t seem to hold anyone in your family back.”

I looked at him.

“There are a hundred ways to protect Sophie,” he continued. “Relocation, new identity, financial support from a distance. You picked the one option that destroys your family.” He held my gaze. “You still love her. You hate your grandfather for breaking you apart. I understand that. What I don’t understand is why you keep dragging Serena through the wreckage.”

“I’m not-”

“The only thing that woman did wrong was love you too much.” His voice was blunt. “Have mercy on her. Divorce her, She’s suffering and I pity her.”

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My easy expression turned to stone. “Serena is my wife. Don’t pity her.”

Trevor chuckled. “You’re so confident she’ll stay. But tell me, what reason does she have to hold on? You haven’t treated her well. You haven’t given her a single thing worth staying for.”

“Mind your business.”

My phone rang. Sophie’s name lit up the screen.

Trevor looked at it, then at me. “Who is it?”

“Sophie.”

I stood up. Trevor leaned back in his chair and crossed his

arms.

“Serena is at home losing her mind,” he said, “and you’re about to walk out of here for Sophie.”

“She’s being released from the hospital.” I pulled on my jacket. “That’s the only reason I’m going.”

Treyor didn’t say another word.

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Serena

Jenna showed up a few hours later, just like Kieran had said she would.

She didn’t come alone. Trevor was with her.

Seeing the two of them standing in the doorway pulled something loose inside my chest. I remembered when we were children, all of us running through the pack grounds, climbing trees, racing each other through the creek that cut between Blackthorn and Crimson territory.

Tears trickled down before I could stop them.

Jenna caught me first. She pulled me into her arms and Trevor stepped in behind me, his hand cradling the back of my head. I cried into their shoulders until my body was

empty.

When the sobs finally quieted, Trevor spoke.

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