The Witch and Her Four Dangerous Alphas

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Where Forgiveness Hurts

Two simple words. But gods, they landed like thunder. Not because they were unexpected. because they came from him.

Selene’s breath hitched. Her shoulders trembled.

It wasn’t the dagger or the blood or even the weight of the truth that finally broke her—it was those words. That apology from the lips of the man who had caused her the most pain. The one who had used her, marked her, and degraded her without pause.

And now he said sorry?

Something in her chest cracked wide open.

Her legs gave out beneath her.

She collapsed to her knees beside him, one trembling hand bracing against the blood-soaked ground as her other hand clutched her chest—like she was trying to hold herself together, like the apology had reached into her very ribs and shattered something that was already too close to breaking.

"I didn’t want this," she whispered, her voice hoarse, eyes blurred with unshed tears. "I didn’t want any of this."

Could a simple sorry really heal what had already been broken beyond repair? Could two trembling words erase the nights she spent curled on cold stone floors, praying for a death that never came?

Could they take her back—back to the girl she was before the chains, before the shame of being stripped, exposed, and surrounded by men who saw her body as nothing more than a battlefield to conquer?

Could they undo the voices that laughed while she cried? The stench of blood, the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in terror while no one came to save her?

that screamed to the world she has no identity of her own? Could they make her forget the

it even possible to forgive men who only saw the scars after

didn’t move. Still, he let the blade rest

"I know," he rasped.

suddenly the silence between them was

the stench hit them, pungent, filthy, and thick with blood and death and

Rogues.

head snapped up instantly, his wolf roaring to the surface so hard

sounds came one after another like a broken dam. And in

of the forest, from the very fog that clung to the forest’s breath—rogue wolves emerged like ghosts, their eyes glowing feral, their fangs bared, their bodies low and tense and ready to

they had wandered too close to the border of the Silver Dawn pack. But even within the boundary lines, this place was anything but safe. Rogue attacks were constant here—ruthless, unpredictable, and always hungry

than it was today. In that exact moment, when everything was already on edge, they found themselves encircled. Not by

gripped all of them as the howls echoed. The sound of death. Selene’s breath caught in her throat as she stared ahead, stunned by the sheer number of rogues

had already gone blank. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t move. It was almost laughable—how every time she tried to escape, chaos followed. As though the universe itself were mocking

heart pounding, but there was no comfort to be found. Not in herself, not in the odds. Could she even survive this? Let alone escape? She had no wolf. No power. No defense. Just a weak, broken human body

meat in

knew too well what rogues were like—how they attacked relentlessly, abducting she-wolves or venting their madness on anyone who dared live a better life than them. And right now, she was the

it seemed the four

next moment,

shifted first, bones snapping, his black wolf erupting forward in a blur of pure muscle and rage. Luca followed with a