Chapter 25
The sun had begun to set over Moonlight Pack as Marissa and her mother settled in.
It wasn’t long before Marissa’s former friends, Hunter and Caleb, arrived unannounced, their faces etched with something she could only describe as desperate regret. Seeing them filled her with a blend of anger and sorrow she thought she’d buried. She felt Idris‘ hand on her shoulder, grounding her, reminding her of the strength she needed to face them.
“Marissa,” Hunter began, his voice unsteady as he searched her face for some hint of forgiveness. “We… we needed to come, to see you. Please… hear us out.”
She met their gazes, her own eyes cold and unyielding, her voice hard as stone. “What are you doing here?” The words cut through the air, and both men flinched, unprepared for the bitterness in her tone.
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“Haven‘ t you done enough?”
Caleb took a shaky breath, his face pained. “Marissa… we just wanted to say we re sorry. We… we made mistakes. We should have been there for you, for your father.”
Marissa s lips tightened, her fury barely contained. She took a step forward, her gaze blazing with the anger that had simmered within her since her father‘ death. “Should have?” Her voice was a low, dangerous murmur. “You think your words are enough? My father is dead, Caleb. Nothing you say or do now will bring him back.”
Hunter’s shoulders sagged, guilt and shame written across his face. “I know,”
he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I know, Marissa. But please… let us make it right. We just want to be there for you.
A bitter laugh escaped her lips, one filled with the weight of her broken heart. She raised her hand, trembling with the urge to strike, and before she could stop herself,
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she slapped Hunter across the face. The sound echoed, a testament to the sting of her grief, her betrayal.
Hunter” s head snapped back, his expression one of pure shock as he brought a hand to his cheek, his eyes wide and disbelieving. Caleb, standing beside him, didn’t dare move, the shock just as clear on his face.
“Where were you?” Marissa’s voice broke, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps as she looked between them.
“Where were you when my father was lying on the ground, fighting for his life? Where were you when our pack needed you the most? Weren‘ t you busy protecting Ivy?”
Caleb tried to speak, but his voice faltered, his gaze dropping to the ground. He couldn‘ t look at her, couldn t face the truth of what they’d done. Or hadn’t done.
“I wanted to be there,” Hunter said, his
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voice hoarse with emotion. “I wanted to help, but… Ivy was in danger too.”
The words struck Marissa like a slap, the name Ivy, a wound that reopened her anger and hurt. Her eyes blazed as she took a step forward, her fury igniting with fresh intensity.
“Ivy.” Her voice was laced with venom, the very sound of the name enough to rekindle e every ounce of rage she’d tried to contain. “It’s always Ivy with you two, isn’t it? She plays helpless, and you rush to her side, no matter the cost.”
Hunter winced, the shame in his gaze unmistakable, but Marissa didn’t stop. She’d been silent for too long, had held her tongue while they betrayed everything they had once promised her.
“Two of you… and you couldn’t split up to protect your pack?” Her voice was a snarl, her wolf pushing to the surface, her rage a living thing that clawed to be set free. “One of you could have protected
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her, and the other could have fought for our pack! My father was dying, and you left him to die alone!”
Caleb opened his mouth, but no words came. He knew she was right; the truth was etched into the guilty lines of his face, the weight of his regret visible in the way his shoulders slumped. Marissa‘ s eyes narrowed, her gaze as sharp as a blade as she watched him struggle to find words..
But there was nothing he could say. Nothing that could mend the wounds they had inflicted upon her.
Marissa’s chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath, her voice shaking as she forced out the words she had held back for far too long. “I hate you both. I hate what you’ve done, and I hate what you‘ ve become.”
Hunter’s face crumpled, pain and guilt pooling in his gaze. “Marissa… please. We know we failed you, failed him. But please, just… give us a chance to make it right.
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I’d do anything to fix this.”
Caleb dropped to his knees, his head bowed, his hands clenched in fists.
“We’re begging you, Marissa,” he whispered, his voice thick with sorrow.
“Forgive us… please.”
Hunter knelt beside him, his own head lowered in shame as he choked out his words. “We’re so sorry… we never wanted this. We just… we just want to make things right. Please, Marissa… please forgive us.”
Marissa looked down at them, her heart cold and unyielding. She could feel their regret, their desperation, but it did nothing. to case the ache in her chest. They had betrayed her, abandoned her father when he needed them most, chosen Ivy over everything they had once stood for. And now they begged for forgiveness, as if their remorse could erase the pain they had
caused.
But the wounds they had inflicted ran too
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deep. Her father was gone, and nothing would bring him back. Nothing they could do would ever undo the betrayal she felt, the heartbreak that had torn her apart.
Marissa’s voice was a whisper, but it carried the weight of her grief, her pain, her final goodbye. “It’s too late,” she said, her gaze unflinching as she looked at them. “Nothing you do will bring him. back. Nothing will fix what you‘ ve done.
Hunter’s shoulders shook as he looked up at her, his eyes filled with tears, his voice breaking. “Marissa, please… don’t turn your back on us. We need you. I… I still love you.”
The words hung in the air, a raw, desperate plea that Marissa knew came from the depths of his heart. But she felt nothing, only a hollow emptiness where her love for them had once been.
“You don’t get to say that,” she replied coldly, her voice a shard of ice. “You
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abandoned me, just like you abandoned my father. You chose Ivy over us, and now you have to live with that choice.”
Caleb’s head fell, his shoulders trembling as the full weight of her words settled over him. He looked up at her, his voice a broken whisper. “Please, Marissa… give us a chance to prove ourselves.”
She shook her head, her heart hardened by the betrayal that had shattered her world.
“I don’t want to see either of you again,” she said, her voice filled with finality. “You‘ re nothing to me now.
They stared at her, their expressions. stricken, helpless, their pleas falling on deaf ears. Marissa turned away, her heart heavy, her mind filled with memories of her father’s strength, his sacrifice. She had no more room for their apologies, no more room for their regret. They had broken her heart, and nothing would ever
mend it.
As she walked away, their voices followed
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her, pleading, desperate, but she didn’t turn back. She wouldn’t give them that satisfaction, wouldn‘ t allow them back into the life they had abandoned.
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