TRADING MY CHEATING HUSBAND FOR THE LYCAN KING novel Chapter 214

CHAPTER 150: NO

EMBER’S POV

He frowns. “2016?”

“The 2016 deal.” I hold his gaze. “Something that had to do with Gale.”

The confusion vanishes. His face goes white.

“Where did you hear about that?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, it fucking matters.” His voice has changed completely. Hard, Cold. “Who told you? Was it Rafael? Has

he been filling your head with-”

“It wasn’t Rafael.”

“Then who?” He steps closer, and there’s something in his eyes I don’t recognize. Something desperate

and furious and barely controlled. “Tell me who’s been talking to you about things that are none of their goddamn business.”

“Maybe they’re MY business, Knox. Maybe I have a right to know what deals were made about my own life.

“You don’t know what you’re asking.”

“Then TELL me. Explain it to me. Help me understand why everyone around me seems to know something

I don’t.”

“No.”

The word lands like a slap.

“No?” I repeat.

“No. I’m not doing this.” His jaw is tight, his hands clenched at his sides. “I’m not explaining myself to you in a fucking hallway because someone decided to poison you against me. You want to know about 2016? You want the whole ugly truth?” He laughs, harsh and bitter. “You’re not ready for it. And I’m not going to hand you ammunition to use against me when you’re already looking at me like I’m the enemy.”

“I’m not-”

“You ARE.” His voice rises, echoing off the walls. “You’ve been pulling away from me all day. Looking at me like you’re waiting for me to prove everyone right. Like you’ve already decided I’m guilty of something and you’re just looking for confirmation.”

“That’s not fair.”

“None of this is fair!” He slams his palm against the wall, and I flinch. The sound cracks through the

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corridor like a gunshot. “I am TRYING, Ember. I am trying to be what you need, trying to figure out how to do this, and every time I think we’re getting somewhere, someone else gets in your ear and suddenly I’m the villain again.”

The outburst should make me push harder. Should make me demand answers.

Instead, it terrifies me.

Because I’m already drowning.

Because this is the man Nathaniel described. The man on the edge. The man who scrubbed blood for weeks and buried bodies no one could find.

And right now, watching Knox unravel in front of me, I understand for the first time that maybe – maybe everyone warning me away from him had a point.

What exactly do you think will protect you?

Rafael’s words echo in my skull, and I take a step back without meaning to. Every other truth from this

morning dies on my tongue. Everything else I want to say.

Knox sees it. Sees me retreat. The fury drains from his face, replaced by something worse. Horror. At

himself. At what he just did.

“Ember-” His voice breaks. “I didn’t mean- I’m sorry, 1

“I want to be alone.”

The words come out flat. Self–protective.

“1

The voice of a woman who has learned the hard way when to stop pushing. The voice of a woman who knows, from years of violence, what comes after an outburst like that.

“Don’t do this,” he says quietly. “Don’t push me away because you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared.” Though my fingers shake, I know my next words are true. “I’m tired. And I can’t- I can’t be around you right now. I need space to think.”

“Ember, please-”

I turn before he can finish, walking away from him, from the clinic, from all of it. My feet carry me toward the tree line, away from the buildings and the people and the weight of everything I don’t understand.

I don’t look back.

If I look back, I’ll break.

The woods swallow me whole.

I walk without direction, without thought, my breath fogging in the cold air, my boots crunching through

the snow.

The trees are thick here, blocking out the weak winter sun, creating a twilight that feels almost peaceful.

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But I don’t feel peaceful.

I feel like I’m falling apart.

Sapphire. I reach forher, desperate for the comfort of her presence. Sapphire, please. Come back. Talk to

1. me.

Silence.

She’s been quiet since the dream. Since she showed me her mernories and shared her visions and then retreated somewhere I can’t follow.

Tell me what this all means. Help me understand. I can’t do this alone.

Nothing. Not even a flicker.

I try to shift, try to force the change and call back to whatever had taken over me in the convoy, but my body won’t cooperate.

The wolf that tore apart an Alpha with impossible claws is nowhere to be found. The power that surged

through me like wildfire has gone cold.

I’m alone.

Truly, completely alone.

The weight in my chest gets heavier. The pressure behind my eyes builds until I can barely see.

My legs give out somewhere in a clearing, and I crumple to my knees in the snow, gasping for air that

won’t come.

Panic. I’m having a panic attack. I recognize it from the ones Gale used to trigger with his fists and his words, the way my body betrays me when the pressure gets too high.

I can’t breathe.

I can’t think.

Everything is closing in, crushing me, and I’m alone in the woods with no one to help and no one who

cares and-

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