Bad Love an Alpha’s Regret by Elise Sinclair

Chapter 313

He holds out his hand and I take it, shaking.

His grip is firm and cool, and there’s something almost comforting about it.

“I’m Emily,” I tell him in return.

His smile deepens. “That’s a pretty name.”

I laugh at this.

Ronan might be too charming for his own good.

“I think it’s pretty basic myself, but you’re welcome to your opinion.”

He gives a quick, friendly laugh.

“So, Emily, what has you out here looking so down on a day like today?”

I take a slow breath, working out how I can explain without sounding crazy.

“Something bad happened to me, something traumatizing,” I begin, choosing my words carefully. “Something that went on for a long time. I finally got out just recently, and now my family are treating me like I’m fragile and broken. Maybe because I am.

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But I don’t want to be. And I can’t stay with my family, I can see that. It’s just not going to work. They’ll hate me when the realize the truth of everything that happened to me. Except I don’t know what to do, and don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Ronan nods, listening with sympathy and understanding.

And I realize it’s something no one has bothered to do since I got home.

They all just assume they know what happened to me, and what they should do about it.

that moment with

wasn’t real..

line to kill

brave. You survived that bad thing you went through. And maybe these might seem like empty words, but I’m sure if you look inside yourself, you’ll see that you came

but I don’t think I’ve ever stopped to consider that I might be stronger for

to me.

Just not in the way he

www

experiments were literally torture, but I can do things now that I couldn’t do

saying that makes it all worthwhile.

I could go back and have a choice, I’d choose not to ever go through that, because I can’t exactly say what I’ve

puts me in greater danger from people like Axel.

to the new me, if I decide to look at

continues in a sincere voice. “In a way that no one in your family can probably

stranger has actually seen me- in a way Aaron and Jessica and Axel and everyone else maybe

just not

are they simply so caught up in their own drama–and I was gone for ten years, so they’ve all moved on

in a spiteful way, I just

kind of way.

they can’t see any of that. You’re strong. You’ve proven that to yourself. You don’t need to prove

I’m speechless.

don’t know what to say, but I’m

to him, emotion catching in my voice.

he gets to his

hike these trails a few times a week,” he says. “Maybe I’ll see you around

hope

and we stand there

step forward and hug

but then hugs me back, and it’s nice.