Blood And Silver:Rise of the Alpha’s Rejected Mate

Chapter 278

LILA

Aurora spoke softly, her words hanging in the silence, in the balance within the pack, seeming to resound within her mind:

“Every choice ripples through into others. Be sure yours aren’t the one drowning someone you care for.”

I glared hard at the paper clutched in my shaking hands on it, Calla’s uneven words across the page read clear as day, the demand, “Sow doubt. Make them question him, or I’ll make sure your past comes to light.”

I felt my heart twist, words cutting deeper into me like a knife as I reread the message over and over.

The face of Rowan flashed into my mind, the honesty in his smile, the brightness of his eyes when he spoke about earning again the trust of his pack.

Why does he have to be so good? Why did I have to care?

I lay under a mountain of blankets, smothering, unable to get out. The murmurs of the pack outside my room filtered into my ears, a toneless reminder of how much it would cost me if Calla followed through with her threats.

“What am I doing?” I whispered, pacing. “I should have just

Chapter 278

walked away when she first called.

2/6

But Calla knew too much. She was the key to unraveling it all the life I’d tried to build here.

It was some kind of treachery, a betrayal, to that one fragile. piece inside me that still hoped I could be better when Rowan. betrayed me.

I found him at the training grounds, his form economical as he showed techniques to a circle of younger wolves, voice steady, firm with corrections, yet the patience distinct beneath that weight of whispered concern surrounding his name.

“You’re gripping too tight,” he told one young werewolf, adjusting the werewolf’s hands on the practice sword. “Loosen up. If your hands are stiff, your strikes won’t flow.”

grip as

a brilliant

he said, mopping sweat off his forehead. “What’re you doing

my words my readied

to, um check on you,” I heard myself saying weakly, managing a smile I made myself affect my face,

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words sounded

3/6

nodded toward the sparring wolves. “They keep me on

stump beside him, fidgeting my hands nervously in my lap. “You seem different,” I ventured. “More

said. “Each day feels

be.“.

of those words shrunk my chest as guilt chomped down on the edges of my

feeling like you are fighting a fight that nobody

his brow furrowed. “All

barely above a

of the wolves. drifting across the field. It was some time before Rowan

the silence.

lately,” he said softly, still questioning. “Not that I mind. It’s nice having someone who doesn’t look at me

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4/6

soft, unexpected, even to me. “Maybe I just see

to me, his face unreadable. “And that

cares too much,” I said without thinking, then hastened

a small smile. “Careful, Lila. You’re starting. to

I meant it to, and I made

Rowan and I sat at the edge of the training grounds, younger wolves

over us.

think about leaving?” he asked abruptly,