Shunned By An Alpha, Cherised By A Lycan

Chapter 260:

I finally force myself to look at Ryder, and the pain on his face is a knife to my heart. His jaw is tight, his eyes narrowed slightly, like he’s trying to hold himself together.

Ryder didn’t say anything right away, but I could feel the tension building between us, a wall rising that we couldn’t seem to break down. I looked at him, trying to gauge what he was feeling, but his expression was unreadable. His jaw was clenched, his fists tight at his sides, like he was holding himself back from saying something he couldn’t take back.

“You were hoping for him to come back?” he finally asked, his voice strained. His eyes were hard, like he was trying to mask the pain, but it was there, flickering just beneath the surface.

I want to deny it, to take it back, to make it all disappear. But I can’t. I feel the tears slip down my cheeks, hot and shameful. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” I whisper. “I thought I loved him, I thought… I didn’t deserve better.”

A bitter laugh escapes me, and it sounds broken, hollow. “I was wrong, Ryder. So wrong.”

He doesn’t say anything for a long time. The silence is thick, suffocating. I watch as his fists clench tighter, his knuckles turning white. Ace is probably snarling inside him, furious and hurt. And it’s all my fault.

Ryder’s eyes softened for a second, but then the hurt came back, and he turned his face away from me. I could feel the weight of it, the disappointment, the confusion. And it hit me harder than I expected.

“I thought…” Ryder started, his voice breaking slightly. “I thought you were done with him. That you had moved on.”

“I never wanted to hurt you,” I say, my voice trembling. “I didn’t know how to let go.”

His eyes flick back to mine, and there’s a rawness there that makes my chest ache.

“I was wrong,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I’m sorry, Ryder. I should have let go a long time ago. I shouldn’t have kept hoping.”

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He didn’t look at me right away, and for a second, I thought he might walk away, that I’d lost him for good. But then, he slowly turned back toward me, his eyes dark and filled with something I couldn’t quite place.

“You don’t have to apologize for that,” he said, his voice low. “I just… I just wanted you to be happy. I wanted you to be with me. But I don’t know if I can be what you need.”

His words hung in the air, and I felt the sting of them, but they also made something inside me click into place. He was hurting too. And I had caused it.

“I don’t know what I need either,” I admitted, the truth spilling out like a flood. “But I know I want you, Ryder. I want you, not him. I was just… lost. And I let that hold me back.”

Ryder was quiet for a long moment, his eyes searching mine like he was looking for something. Maybe answers. Maybe hope. And then, without saying a word, he reached out, his hand brushing mine gently.

“I’m not giving up on you,” he whispered, his voice hoarse.

The relief that flooded through me was overwhelming, but so was the guilt. I had hurt him. I had made him feel like I didn’t want him, and that hurt too much to bear. But now, maybe we had a chance. A chance to figure things out, to rebuild the trust that had been broken.noveldrama

“I’m sorry,” I whispered again, the words barely enough to express the remorse I felt. “I’ll make it right. I promise.”

And for the first time in what felt like forever, Ryder gave me a small, fragile smile.

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