Chapter 13 Landon
Landon
I knew it was going to be hard.
I knew coming here wouldn’t be simple. Hell, it took me two weeks to get the fucking courage after what my stupid insecurities put her through. If I could take it back now, I would. But there’s no use crying over spilt milk. It’s time to face the music.
But nothing could have prepared me for this.
I see her before she sees me. And for a split second—just one—I let myself believe there’s still a chance. That I haven't destroyed everything by kissing Mason’s sister. Who still wants to murder me, by the way.
Then she looks at me.
And the second our eyes lock, I feel it all over again. That pull. That ache. That undeniable connection that should have never broken in the first place.
Her scent crashes over me, and I can breathe again after two months of suffocating. But she freezes when she sees me. Not in relief. Not in hope.
In shock. In horror.
And then—before I can say a word, before I can move, another alpha gets to her first.
He moves without hesitation, stepping in as if he’s always belonged there. He kisses her. Not a chaste kiss. Not a tentative, uncertain brush of lips.
A claim.
Possessive. Deep. A statement.
Something inside me shatters.
I can’t breathe.
I can’t move.
Willow who was mine—that should have always been mine—is kissing someone else.
And the worst part is she kisses him back, absolutely melting into him. It guts me.
It takes everything inside me not to grab her. Not to pull her away and demand to know what the hell happened. Because this isn’t right. This isn’t supposed to be happening.
Even if it was my doing.
God, I'm so stupid.
I came all the way here to fix this. To grovel as much as I need. Do whatever the hell it takes to make her forgive me.
And I’m too late. Who am I kidding, I was too late the second I grabbed Dee and kissed her. I deserve this. If she felt even a fraction of what I’m feeling now when I kissed someone else in front of her, I understand why she hates me.
The kiss finally breaks, and I see it—the way she’s dazed, the way she sways slightly into him, the way her lips are still parted.
And then she looks at me again. My stomach drops to my ass. Because this time, her gaze isn’t just shocked.
It’s unreadable.
I force my feet to move, stepping toward her, my heart in my fucking throat. “Willow—”
She flinches.
That small movement kills me.
But I keep going, reaching for her, desperate to say something, anything to fix this.
“I just—I need to talk to you. Please.”
Her expression hardens. Before I can say another word, she steps back. Away from me.
“Willow.”
Another step away.
Toward him, into him, he wraps his arm around her shoulders.
“Not now, Landon,” she clips out, dismissing me as if I’m nothing more than a child underfoot—so far from the Willow I remember. The Willow who once looked at me and saw her entire world. For that all too brief week.
I did this.
They turn away as one, walking toward a waiting town-car with two other men standing near it, staring daggers at me.
She’s already moved on. Found herself a whole pack. Maybe I did the right thing. If she’s happy, maybe I should let her go for real.
I don't know what else to do so I stand there. Watching. Hurting. Knowing that the worst mistake of my life wasn’t just letting her go. It was thinking I ever had the right to come back.
The alpha hands her off to one of the others, and then he stalks back to me. Pure rage is painted on his face, like he knows who I am, what I am, and what I did. He stops in front of me as she climbs into a sleek black car. His gaze flicks over me, pure hatred burning in his eyes.
“Say her name one more time,” he murmurs, “and I'll cut your tongue out.”
The threat slices clean through the grief tightening around my ribs. My fists clench at my sides, my jaw locking, but I don’t rise to it. I glance past him, toward the darkened windows of the car, knowing she’s in there. Knowing she’s leaving—with them.
Still, I lift my chin, defiance smoldering in my chest. “I'm not giving up.”
His jaw ticks. Something sharp flickers behind his eyes—something that says he knows exactly what I just lost. Then, without another word, he turns and walks away from me, each step deliberate. He doesn’t look back as he climbs into the car and slams the door shut.
I stand there, staring after the tail lights as they vanish down the street, knowing I just lost the best thing I ever had.