But in the end, it was never really my home.
Chapter 3
At first, I thought packing up my things would take it long
But when I was done, I realized there wasn’t much at all.
Every article of clothing I owned had been bought by Xander.
I remembered him once telling me, “You’re as beautiful as a fairy, Willow. You should only wear the prettiest things.”
Now those clothes were all soaked through, recking with a sour stench.
And me?
I had fallen from his little fairy to nothing more than a dispensable parasite.
Mixed among the clothes were a few photographs.
They had been taken by Lucas, snapshots of our younger days, frozen proof of happier times.
He used to love capturing my image, swearing he wanted to record every look of mine..
Whenever we took group photos, both brothers would fight for the spot closest to me.
But now, in those same pictures, my face was painted with angry red crosses.
I couldn’t stand it anymore. In one go, I shoved everything into the trash.
When Xander and Maxie came downstairs, they caught me in the act
For a brief moment, shock flickered across his eyes. He knew how I once cherished these things as if they were priceless treasures
But then he smirked coldly, his words laced with contempt
“So this is how you waste the Bloodstone Pack’s money?”
There was a time when Xander had spent fortunes just to see me smile.
v, every
Now,
move I made was a mistake in his eyes.
I had lost the right to be willful. I had lost even the will to explain.
“I’ll pay back every cent I’ve ever cost Alpha Victor,” I said firmly..
“We don’t care about that money. Just stay away from Maxie from now on.”
Xander’s voice cut like ice.
Maxie tugged on his arm, her tone impatient.
“Xander, why waste time on someone who doesn’t matter? Let’s go to the Galaxy.”
My steps faltered. Memories surged.
The Galaxy.
That was what Xander had called the private theater he built for me when I first joined the pack
Back then, Glinda and Alpha Victor had been consumed with pack affairs, leaving the task of looking after me to Xander, who was three years older than me.
He had poured every bit of beauty he could find into my world,
He called me his little mate, and built a theater exclusively for me with his own hands.
That night, when the movie ended, he gazed at me with a depth that made my heart tremble and promised, “Willow, remember, this
Chapter
DrameRex
belongs to you alone. This affection also belongs to you alone.”
For ten years, we worked on the Galaxy together, turning it into a dreamscape.
And for ten years, my heart leaned quietly toward Xander.
Every time I gathered the courage to confess, to ask if he would be my chosen mate, Lucas would interfere, stir chaos, and my words would die in my throat.
But now… now they had someone new.
And I had become nothing more than someone they used to know.
It didn’t matter.
I drew a steady breath, turned my back, and walked away.
I needed neither of them anymore.
Maxie, unwilling to let me go, suddenly grabbed my wrist. Her grip was cruel, the pain sharp.
“Why won’t you listen to me, Willow? Do you think I’m beneath you?”
Iyanked hard, breaking free, and she stumbled backward, crashing to the floor.
“Xander! Help me!”
He rushed to her, frantic, pulling her into his arms.
Then, without warning, his hand cracked across my face.
Lucas arrived just in time to see Maxie in tears. His fury exploded.
“Why would you lay a hand on her, Willow? Don’t forget, if it weren’t for your mother begging my father to take you in, you’d be dead already, just like your poor dad! Instead of being grateful, you dare to bite the hand that feeds you!”
A high–pitched ringing filled my ears.
All my life, no one had ever struck me
The world shattered in that single blow.
Xander froze, staring at me as though even he realized what he’d done.
“You’re… are you okay? I didn’t mean-
