Goodbye My Alpha (Taya and Griffon)

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Chapter 239

Audrey

Erik and Stella stood in the doorway like ghosts that never should have returned to this plane of existence.

Stella’s expression was as frosty as ever, making no attempt to hide the disdain in her icy gaze. Her lips were pressed into a tight, unmoving line, and her hands, clasped primly in front of her, were the only sign of restraint.

I knew she remained silent not out of choice but because of Edwin’s Alpha command that had muted her since the charity gala.

Still, her silence felt more ominous than any words she could have spoken.

Erik, in contrast, looked.. Empty. Hollowed out. As if some essential part of him had been scraped away since we had last seen him.

His skin had taken on a pallor, and his eyes-those same eyes that had once burned with cruelty and cold calculation- darted nervously between Edwin and me, unable to settle for more than a second.

Fear. Regret. Shame.

Those were not the emotions I felt, but rather the emotions that Erik Brooks’ gaunt face conveyed.

Edwin stiffened beside me. Eliza, who’d previously been banging on the bathroom door and asking Peter why he was running away from her, suddenly materialized at my other side.

“What are they doing here?” she hissed, not even pretending to be glad to see her parents.

Erik’s voice was tight, strained, as he spoke. “Edwin. Audrey. May I have a word?” He glanced at Eliza, then the others, and even Stella, before adding, “Alone?”

I felt Edwin’s unease rip through the mate bond like fire.

I met my mate’s eyes, giving him a small, uncertain nod. “It’s your call,” I told him through the Mindlink.

Edwin stood still, his face betraying little. I could feel his uncertainty, his emotions warring between vile hatred for his parents and curiosity as to what his father had to say.

Eventually, it seemed that curiosity won out.

After a long moment, he gave a single, slow nod. “I’ll give you two minutes to say whatever it is you have to say.”

With that, we followed Erik out of the room, leaving the others. As we left, I could see Eliza advancing on Stella, her lip curled in a hateful sneer. Whatever Eliza said to Stella in those moments, I closed my ears to it, giving them privacy

us. He looked smaller now. He’d lost weight, that much was clear, but it was as if

his shoulders slumped, head bent. His hand twitched nervously at his side, his forehead creasing then smoothing itself out then

just stood there, silent, like he was trying to gather the strength for whatever he

it out,” Edwin said, folding his arms across his

to flinch at

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my eyes “when you showed me your memories-your death, the void-it…

blinked in surprise, caught off guard. That

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no afterlife… no second chances… It opened my eyes. To everything. To my actions. To all the horrible choices I made. And the weight of them-the weight of

I… I need to apologize. For everything. For

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still after that, as if even the constant beeping of

beside me, his face unreadable, his hands clenched at his sides. But through the bond, I could feel everything-his shock, the anger that

and brittle as it was, it was

through our link. “Whatever you decide, I’ll stand

that empty corridor as Edwin pondered

beyond his father’s

Then…

“No.”

single word had struck him,

you have any idea what you put me through? What you put all of us through? You do realize that what happened

mouth to respond, but

and expect me to forgive you just because you’re scared of what comes after death.” His

from

You lost the right to call me that a long time ago. And I’m under no obligation to forgive the people who made

brief moment before adding, “Especially not if they’re my

of calm. But inside, I was utterly more

moments, my mind wandered back to my graduation, when my adoptive parents had come slinking back in search of so-called ‘forgiveness’ in the form of monetary benefits. This was no

shit if Edwin

Trying to make himself feel better so he wouldn’t

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to him. Abusers didn’t hold some kind of special ‘right’ to forgiveness. Even if he had apologized a thousand times

his voice barely audible. “I’m