Bonds

Chapter 122

Alex’sPOV-

Two weeks earlier-

I watched her bolt, the door slamming shut with a finality that echoed the hollowness blooming in my chest. A million things buzzed in my head, a swarm of words begging to be released, explanations I desperately wanted her to hear. But they all died on my tongue, choked by the tangled mess of emotions churning in my gut.

Regret. Confusion. A yearning so deep it felt like a physical ache, a phantom limb I couldn’t quite grasp. The taste of the kiss lingered on my lips, a forbidden fruit that had left me both wanting and hollow. It was a glimpse into a world I once had but I had thrown away, a connection as thrilling as it was terrifying.

Frustration clawed at me as I ran a hand through my hair, the strands catching on the growing knots of tension at the base of my scalp. What the hell was I doing? This whole thing felt like a twisted game, a dance on the edge of a knife. One wrong move, and I could lose everything.

Pushing myself away from the door, I took a shaky breath. There was no point in dwelling on what could have been. I needed a plan, a way to deal with whatever chaos was going on in my head before it spiraled further out of control. But every thought, every strategy, kept circling back to her. With a heavy heart, I turned and headed out, the weight of the city pressing down on me. The familiar roar of the engine as I pulled out of the parking lot did little to soothe the storm raging inside. My mansion loomed ahead, a stark monument to a life that suddenly felt empty and meaningless.

Stepping inside, the silence was deafening. The plush sofas and gleaming surfaces mocked me with their sterile perfection. This wasn’t a home, it was a trophy case, a collection of achievements that now felt hollow.

I sank onto the couch, the leather cool against my skin. Suddenly, a voice sliced through the stillness, sharp and unexpected.

“Did someone have a bad day at work?”

my wolf standing in alert, ready to pounce as my eyes narrowed at the person sitting cross legged in

a low growl, suspicion lacing

his face. “Seems like you forgot about

Alex.”

irritation, a thin veil for the underlying shock and confusion I

a corner of the room. The mansion was practically a maze, with a damn bar stashed in almost every corner and he knew every one of them. He stopped by one, a familiar glint in his eyes. Adrian used

at the walls I’d built around my heart. A sigh escaped my lips, heavy with regret. I owed him

himself á drink, the clinking of ice cubes against glass echoing in the

tongue. He turned, glass halfway to his lips, his head tilted in a question.

forcing myself to meet his gaze. “I’m sorry.” The apology felt hollow, a meager

of

dissolving into a humorless laugh. “Sorry?

Chapter 122

took everything from me? I was your best friend, Alex, your damn right-hand man! And you couldn’t even trust me enough to believe I wouldn’t betray you.Your apology? It’s worthless to me, Alex.

be extinguished. There were no justifications, no excuses.

of what I’d done.

brings you here?”

on Adrian when I visited him in prison returned. His eyes, once filled with warmth, were now cold and calculating. He raised his glass in a sardonic toast. “Well, Alex,” he said, a cruel smile twisting his lips, “I guess you could say I’m here to share one last drink with

a unspoken promise of a future where our bond lay shattered, a casualty

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