Rosalie:

My words hit exactly where I intended them to.

I watched the color slowly disappear from the faces of all three men. It didn’t happen all at once, nor dramatically. Still, it was enough to know that for the first time since this conversation began, they were genuinely affected by what I had said.

The room fell silent.

Neither of the three rushed to argue. Nobody immediately defended themselves or tried to interrupt me. They simply stood there staring, almost as though they had never considered the possibility that someone might point out something so painfully obvious.

Because that was the problem, wasn’t it?

They had spent this entire conversation explaining their reasons, explaining their circumstances and their choices. Yet not once had any of them actually apologized. Not even accidentally.

The realization seemed to settle over them like a heavy blanket.

I could practically see it happening, especially in Alastor. One look at him was enough to know he was struggling. His jaw remained clenched and shoulders rigid as his eyes locked onto mine. And despite the silence, I could practically hear the gears turning inside his head.

Because Alastor wanted to defend himself. Desperately. He wanted to explain, to justify, to prove he wasn’t the villain I was making him out to be.

It was written all over his face.

The problem was that no matter how much he wanted to defend himself, the facts remained the same.

Eventually he found his voice. And when he finally spoke, he only proved my point. "I was worried you wouldn’t listen. That’s why I did what I did."

There it was. Another justification. Another explanation. And another reason. Still not an apology. I genuinely didn’t know what to say anymore. What exactly was I supposed to do with that? Argue? Debate? Convince him otherwise? And if so, why? What would be the point?

These men were so convinced they had acted reasonably that they couldn’t even recognize how unreasonable they sounded.

For years I had admired them, loved them, respected them, trusted them, and placed them on a pedestal so high that nobody else could even come close. I had always seen the best in them. Always. When other people criticized them, I defended them. When people called them ruthless, I justified it. When people feared them, I explained why they acted the way they did. I had spent years believing they were nearly perfect.

Now I stood here wondering if I had simply been blind. Because the more time passed, the more I questioned my own judgment.

How had I missed this side of them? How had I never noticed it? How had I spent years believing these men were incapable of being unreasonable?

Because right now they weren’t acting like powerful Alphas. They were acting like people desperately trying to convince themselves they had done nothing wrong. And the realization left me exhausted.

Slowly, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I held it for a moment or two, then released it. When I opened my eyes again, I no longer wanted to argue. I no longer wanted to explain or to convince them of anything. Instead, I turned my gaze toward Darien.

Of the three, he had always been the most reasonable. The most level-headed. And the one who usually saw what others missed. Which was exactly why I wanted him to answer.

"There is something I want to know."

The atmosphere shifted immediately as all three focused on me.

I hesitated, and for a moment, I almost didn’t ask. Because I already knew the answer would hurt. Yet despite that, I couldn’t stop myself because I needed to know. Needed to understand, to know exactly how long they had been lying to me. How long they had been betraying me. And how long they had looked me in the eye while hiding another woman behind my back.

I swallowed and then finally asked.

"When did you meet Charlotte?"

The effect was immediate. All three visibly tensed, every single one of them. The reaction alone told me I had asked the right question.

A long silence followed as nobody answered. Instead, they exchanged quick, subtle, and silent looks that I didn’t go unnoticed by me. The discomfort was obvious and so was the reluctance, which only made me more certain that I deserved an answer.

Before anyone could speak, Kaiser suddenly stepped forward. His expression softened.

"Rose-" His voice lowered. "We can talk about that later."

I stared at him as he continued, "You should change first."

I blinked. For a second, I genuinely thought I had heard him wrong. His eyes swept over my soaked clothes as he added, "You are freezing." The concern in his voice sounded genuine. "You are going to catch a cold."

I simply stared for a while, and then I almost laughed. Not because it was funny, but because it was completely absurd. The same man who had watched my life collapse around me, the same man who had broken my heart, and the same man who tried to erase my existence... was now worried about me catching a cold.

The irony was almost impressive.

Slowly, I lifted my gaze and met Kaiser’s eyes. The coldness in my stare must have affected him because his hand - which had been slowly moving toward mine - froze only inches away.

He hesitated for a second and then slowly lowered his hand. Something painful flickered across his face, but I ignored it. Instead, I repeated my question.

"When did you meet Charlotte?"

Nobody answered.

My voice hardened. "When did she come back?"

The room grew quiet again. I looked at all three of them one by one. The more I thought about it, the less sense any of this made.

Charlotte wasn’t some stranger. She wasn’t some random woman who had suddenly appeared in their lives. Instead, I knew exactly who she was. Which was precisely why none of this added up.

It happened seventeen months ago. It was back then when Charlotte got banished.

Back then, she had been Alastor’s secretary. She was beautiful, smart, ambitious, and completely obsessed with him. Everybody knew it, including me.

At first I ignored it because Alastor never encouraged her. He never reciprocated, nor gave her any reason to believe she had a chance, at least not that I knew of.

Then one day everything changed.

Charlotte noticed how close Alastor had become to me. And not just Alastor, but also Darien and Kaiser. And instead of accepting it, she decided to do something about it. Something unforgivable.

She tried to drug me and found someone to sleep with me.

I still remembered that night. Remembered the shock, the betrayal, and exactly how furious Alastor had been when he discovered the truth. He hadn’t hesitated, not even for a second, and had expelled Charlotte immediately.

She was banished from both Blackthorn and Crescent Wolf territories. Forbidden from returning.

The punishment had been absolute. At least I thought it had been. Yet somehow... the woman who had once tried to drug me, the woman who had been cast out, and the woman forbidden from stepping foot near either pack - had returned.

And she had not only returned, but had also become their fated mate. She’s pregnant, carrying one of their children, and had been announced the Luna of both packs.

I stared at them, waiting, trying to understand and to find even a single piece that made sense. Because no matter how many times I looked at the situation, one question continued repeating inside my head.

How? How exactly did a banished woman become all of this? And perhaps more importantly - how long had she already been back before I found out?