Rosalie:

I wished I could tell Alastor to go to hell.

I wished I could tell him to keep the bracelet and never show his face to me again.

I wished I had enough pride left to turn around and walk away from all three of them.

But I couldn’t.

Because that bracelet wasn’t just a... bracelet. It was my mother’s. The last piece of her that still remained in this world. The last thing she had placed in my hands before she left me. And for that reason alone, I forced myself to nod.

It was a small movement, barely noticeable. But enough.

The tension in the room shifted immediately as if all three of them had been waiting for that agreement.

Alastor took a step forward, lifting his hand slightly as though he intended to reach for me. But the moment I noticed the movement, I shifted my body. It wasn’t anything dramatic or big enough to make a scene. It was just enough for all three of them to understand exactly what I meant.

Don’t touch me.

The message couldn’t have been clearer.

A strange silence followed and the grim expressions on their faces darkened - Darien’s jaw tightened. Kaiser’s brows furrowed. And for the briefest moment, something flashed across Alastor’s face, something sharp and almost wounded. But whatever it was disappeared before I could identify it.

At least none of them tried touching me again. Not for now.

I immediately moved farther away until I was satisfied with the distance between us. Only then did I stop and squared my shoulders, folding my arms across my chest. And then I looked at them.

Three powerful alphas. Three men who had once occupied every corner of my heart. Now stood before me like strangers.

"Go ahead," I said coldly, my voice sounding almost foreign to my own ears. "Say whatever it is you are all apparently dying to say."

The effect was immediate.

Alastor’s gaze sharpened. The familiar commanding aura that used to make entire rooms fall silent spread through the room. His expression turned hard, disapproving, and condemning.

"Mind your choice of words and your tone, Rosalie."

For a second, I almost laughed. Then I almost snapped back at him. The audacity. The sheer audacity. After everything they had done, he was lecturing me about my tone. The words were already forming on my tongue when Darien suddenly spoke.

"Alastor." His voice was calm, but with a hint of warning. "Don’t make her more angry than she already is."

Angry.

There it was again. That word. I almost smiled. Because anger was such a laughably small description for what I felt. Anger implied something temporary, something that faded, something manageable.

What I felt wasn’t anger.

It was grief, humiliation, heartbreak, betrayal. The destruction of years of trust and the death of every future I had imagined.

But I didn’t bother correcting them. Because what would even be the point? They clearly hadn’t understood the magnitude of what they had done. Not then. Not now. And perhaps they never would.

So I simply remained silent, waiting.

Eventually, Darien took a slow breath and stepped forward. Unlike Alastor, he seemed to choose his words carefully. Almost cautiously.

"Rose," he began.

The sound of my name from his lips no longer carried the warmth it once did.

"I understand that you may be feeling angry."

There was that word again.

"Confused."

His voice lowered slightly.

"Betrayed."

For the first time, he hesitated. Only for a fraction of a second, but I noticed.

Then he continued, "And a lot of other emotions after seeing us announce Charlotte as our fated mate and future Luna of both packs."

My face remained expressionless. Inside, however, the wounds twisted painfully.

Darien kept speaking, "But you need to understand that we had our reasons."

Reasons.

Of course they did. Everyone always had reasons. People lied for reasons. People betrayed for reasons. People destroyed others for reasons. But the existence of a reason never erased the consequences.

Still... I listened.

Because despite everything, they deserved that much. Not forgiveness, but an opportunity to explain themselves. Just as they owed me an explanation, I owed them the chance to give one.

After this conversation ended, neither side would owe the other anything. At least that was what I told myself.

The silence stretched.

I didn’t respond, didn’t react, didn’t encourage him. I simply stood there, watching and waiting.

The lack of reaction seemed to unsettle them.

Darien stopped speaking. His gaze shifted toward his brothers and the three of them exchanged a look, like a silent conversation. And for the first time, they genuinely appeared uncertain as though they didn’t know how to proceed and as though they had expected something else.

Tears perhaps. Accusations. Screaming. Anything but this cold indifference.

The truth was simple. The Rosalie they knew would have cried, would have begged for answers, would have desperately searched for reassurance. But that version of me no longer existed.

Eventually Kaiser took over and his deep voice filled the room next. "Everything that happened on your birthday was a last-minute situation."

I remained silent.

"We didn’t plan for things to happen the way they did."

Still silent.

"It all happened very suddenly." His gaze remained fixed on me. "We barely had time to tell you anything."

There it was. The explanation. Or at least the beginning of one.

And judging by the way Kaiser watched me afterward, he was clearly expecting some kind of reaction. Some kind of understanding. Perhaps even sympathy.

Instead, I tilted my head slightly. It was the first visible reaction I had shown since this conversation began.

The room became quiet and all three of them looked at me.

And finally, I opened my mouth.

"What exactly was last minute?"

The question landed softly, almost politely. But I saw Kaiser’s expression shift. Noticed the way Darien’s shoulders stiffened, or the way Alastor’s eyes narrowed slightly.

I took a small step forward. It wasn’t enough to close the distance, but enough to make sure every word reached them clearly.

"What exactly happened suddenly?" My voice remained calm. Dangerously calm. "Finding out Charlotte was your fated mate?"

Silence.

None of them answered.

My lips curved into something that wasn’t quite a smile. "Or was it deciding to use my birthday celebration as the perfect opportunity to announce her as the future Luna of both packs?"

This time the silence became heavier. The room itself seemed to grow colder. And I could practically see the discomfort settling over them. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Good. Because I wanted them uncomfortable. I wanted them forced to confront every ugly detail they preferred dancing around.

But I wasn’t finished. Not even close. Because there was one thing they had all carefully avoided mentioning since this conversation started. One thing none of them seemed eager to acknowledge.

My gaze slowly moved between the three of them as I asked the final question. The sharpest and cruelest one. The one that finally shattered whatever fragile composure remained in the room.

"Or perhaps," I said quietly, "the last-minute situation you are referring to was one of you getting Charlotte pregnant?"

The silence that followed was absolute. And judging by the expressions on all three of their faces... I had finally hit exactly where it hurt.