The Alpha's Chubby Obsession. novel Chapter 162

Side Story 14-2

No-

I was breaking.

I rocked myself slowly, desperately, as if the motion alone could quiet the storm ripping through my chest. I fought the tears, bit them back, swallowed hard… but nothing worked. They still fell One after another. Hot. Unwelcome. Violent.

I clenched my fist so tightly my knuckles turned white. Then I brought them to my mouth, biting down on them like that would somehow anchor me, soothe the ache, keep me from falling apart completely.

But it did nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Why was I crying again?

Why now?

Why after everything I swore to myself?

/

I had promised-promised-never to shed another tear over her. I had sworn I was done with pain,

done with regrets, done with the past.

Yet here I was.

Falling apart on the floor of my own office.

Crying like a man who had just lost something he never deserved to keep.

And I wanted it to stop.

I wanted the tears to stop.

But they didn’t.

They came anyway, slipping out against my will, dragging every piece of me down with them.

I still remembered that day-the very first day I saw her. At first, it was nothing more than curiosity,

but when I got home, I couldn’t take her out of my mind. I kept replaying the way she had turned to

look at me, that brief moment when her eyes met mine.

And her hand…

Moon goddess, the way her hand felt in mine when I helped her up-I had liked it far more than I

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should have. From that moment, it became something I secretly longed for again.

Clar

After that day, I watched her silently. Always from a distance, always pretending I wasn’t paying attention when in truth she had captured every part of me.

Even when the mashed potato was thrown on her, it took every single fiber in me not to shred that bastard on the spot. I had to hold myself back. The rage then was real-too real.

And then she smiled at me.

Told me her name.

Just that small thing, but it made me feel so damn happy, even though I kept pretending to be tough, pretending none of it affected me.

But from that day onward, she became the air I breathed. I used the excuse of being her friend just

to stay close, just to have a reason to be near her without scaring her away.

Then came the day Benson escorted her to me during my birthday and when I had shifted for the

first time…

Leo had screamed mate inside of me, loud and fierce, and my eyes widened instantly. Aria was

mine. I felt possessive-terribly, powerfully possessive.

But now I realized I shouldn’t have.

When she realized it and told me to reject her, I should have done it. I should have followed her

wishes.

But instead, I did the opposite.

I begged her not to reject me.

I thought I could change my father’s heart.

I thought I could stand up to him.

I thought I could protect her.

But he was always one step ahead. Always.

He planned everything. He arranged everything. He forced everything.

I remembered that day clearly-Olivia smiling the moment she saw me, her cheeks glowing red with excitement. But all I had inside me was despair, heavy and suffocating.

I had gone to my father, thinking maybe he would reconsider. But he looked me straight in the eye and told me it was for the best. When I challenged him, he threatened me.

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Side Story 14 2

Cla

“You know, Owen,” he had said, “this pack comes first, not your love life. I’ll burn everything to the

ground to protect this legacy-even if it means taking who you love with it.”

My eyes had widened. I told him he wouldn’t dare.

But he leaned back, calm as always, and said:

“Try me, Owen. With the snap of my fingers, it’ll be like she never existed.”

I knew my father.

I knew what he was capable of.

And just like that, fear swallowed me whole.

So I agreed.

Like a fool, I agreed.

I went to her one last time.

Then went home and tied the knot with Olivia-Olivia who didn’t know a single thing, Olivia who

walked into it blind.

She suffered from my hands too.

She would ask why I didn’t want to touch her… why I never wanted to make love to her… and I

couldn’t answer. I couldn’t tell her it was because my heart wasn’t hers. That my heart belonged to

another-someone I had been forced to destroy.

And soon Leo followed, telling me he wanted Olivia, saying she was already marked, that the bond

with Aria was fading.

But Leo was just an animal.

I wasn’t.

Even when the mate bond weakened, the love I had for Aria stayed. It remained stubborn, painful,

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