Their Secret Obsession by Pippa Moon

Chapter 0352

Adam POV

I had never thought I would see another day when the fear of losing my family could crush me the way it did then. Yet it was happening all over again--like fate had a twisted sense of humour, dangling happiness in front of me only to snatch it away at the first opportunity. I couldn't help thinking about Emma and our daughter. I had done everything I could to protect them, but it still hadn't been enough.

Emma had been cruelly killed, and my little girl... she never even had the chance to grow up. The fire had taken her so quickly that I hadn't been able to save her. That memory haunted every waking moment, and I prowled through each nightmare, a constant reminder that those I loved could be torn from me in an instant.

Now, I watched Lottie--my sister by blood--raging in her anger and fear, and it felt like a terrible déjà vu.

"Alpha Leigh and Sebastian orchestrated half this madness, and we're letting Selene collect her payment. It makes no sense!" she seethed.

I stayed silent for a moment, letting her words echo in my mind. It truly made no sense. Why should the goddess demand such a cost from Liam and Chase--two of the only people who had ever truly understood me?

We had banded together through blood and tears, forging a family of our own. Yet, because of some vile debt, they were about to be taken from us.

the greater good. I had never liked that phrase. It felt cold, dismissive of personal suffering. But if Selene truly watched over us, how was I supposed to refuse the greater good? A lump formed in my throat, and I struggled to swallow. Long ago, I had vowed never to let myself feel helpless again, but that vow did little good now. Had I been in Liam's or Chase's place, I would have done precisely what they had done--made any bargain needed to protect Lottie. My quietness wasn't due to anger with them. It was because I was proud, even if I

my brother's eyes, and my heart twisted

their actions. "And

go, Lottie. You'll be settled at home, where you belong, with your mates by your side. That's what matters. We can't risk your life--or the babies'--any further." Chase nodded, supporting Liam's

attention--Kane, shifting uncomfortably, his expression torn between approval and horror at their actions. I noticed his jaw clench. There was a flicker of respect in his eyes, perhaps because he recognised the devotion that led Liam and Chase to sacrifice

Knox muttered, his voice low. "I should be the one to go in their place." Liam actually laughed, though the

striving for levity. "She and those babies need a bit of havoc-crazy in their lives, but not that sort of risk. We're the ones who struck the bargain. It has to be us." "Let me do it," Kane insisted, his voice heavy as his gaze

barely stable as it is." Chase smirked and pointed

words struck me like

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and grief coil within me. Lottie's expression flickered from anger to heartbreak, and I knew she felt it, too. For a moment, she seemed to realise that,

nearby, anxious to soothe her. For a second, I saw relief cross her face--relief at the notion that her future might be free from constant danger, that

looming over her. In the wake of

Sou