Chapter 250: Chapter 250

I slammed the door behind us, and it sounded too loud in the small chamber. Rowan let out a breath like a sob and dropped onto the bench. I stood there for a long time, looking at the stone walls, feeling wrong in my own skin.

"Kael," Rowan said finally, voice small. "We... we were fools."

"We were monsters," I said. The word left my mouth like a blade. It cut me open to say it. "We let her suffer. We didn’t listen. We blamed her."

Rowan stared at his hands. "I keep seeing her face," he said. "That night....her eyes. She begged," He couldn’t finish. His throat worked.

"I know," I said. My voice came out rough.

"We should be," Rowan whispered. "We should be on our knees before her."

I slammed my fist against the wall. The noise startled both of us. "No," I said, and the anger rose fast, sudden and hot. "Kneeling isn’t enough. They will pay."

"Uncle," I said, teeth clenched. "Belinda." I could taste bile in my mouth as I said the names. "They’ll pay for what they did to Lisa."

Rowan let out a bitter laugh. "If we catch them..." He stopped, closed his eyes, and shook his head. "They’ll pay in a million folds, Kael. I swear it."

"Good." I wanted to break something. I wanted to hurt something so the anger would go away. "Find them. Tear them apart if we must."

We stood there in the thin light and talked like men who had been awake too long. The guilt sat on my chest like a stone. I could not breathe right. I could not let the sound of her crying leave me. I kept thinking of the things we had done, the betrayal, the way we had treated her like she was nothing. I kept thinking of how we had seen her as convenient, as an object to use. I kept thinking of how we had ignored her when she tried to tell us the truth.

"We raped her," Rowan said suddenly, the words falling like a curse into the room. He didn’t try to hide them anymore. He said it plain, and they hit me like a slap.

I felt the ground tilt. "Yes," I said. "We raped her. We took what we had no right to take. We took her voice, and we stole her body. And then told ourselves it was nothing." My hands shook. I wanted to put my head through a wall.

Rowan put his hand on my shoulder. "Belinda misled us. "But that is no excuse."

"There is no excuse," I said. The room felt too small. My chest hurt like I had been beaten. "No excuse at all."

Rowan’s face went hard. "We have to make it right. Even if we can’t undo what we did, we have to protect her now. We have to stand with her."

Rowan’s eyes filled. "Actions. Not words."

We were quiet for a moment, and in the quiet, I felt small and ashamed. I thought of her face, of the way she had been treated, of the long walk she had taken alone. How could we have been so blind? How could we have turned away?

"We need to send someone to the clinic. To see if she’s awake, if she needs anything. Quietly."

Rowan nodded and called for a guard himself. He gave the order like a man giving his own punishment. The guard bowed and left, moving like a shadow.

When the door shut, we were alone again. I flopped down on the bed and pressed my face into my hands. Everything inside me felt heavy: my chest, my thoughts, my heart. I wanted to scream until the walls cracked. I wanted to tell the world how wrong we had been. I wanted to run to Lisa, fall to my knees, and beg her to forgive us, even though I knew I didn’t deserve it.

"You think she’ll listen?" Rowan asked quietly. His voice was rough, almost like he had been holding back tears.

"I don’t know," I said honestly, my hands still covering my face. "But we have to try. We can’t just sit here pretending this can go away. We broke her, Rowan. We let everyone hurt her while we stood there and watched."

He didn’t say anything at first. Then he sighed and sat beside me, his head bowed low. "Maybe all of this happened because we were cowards," he said in a whisper.

That word hit me deep. Cowards. It felt like a knife to my chest because it was true. We were supposed to be Alphas, protectors, leaders, men others looked up to. Yet we couldn’t even protect one woman who trusted us. We turned against her because it was easier than facing the truth.

"I can’t forgive myself for what we did," I said quietly. My voice trembled, but I didn’t care anymore. "We treated her like she was nothing. We talked down to her, doubted her every word, and still....still, she looked at us with hope, thinking maybe we’d believe her." My throat burned as I forced the words out. "We used her, hurt her, and crushed her spirit. And she..." I swallowed hard, feeling the sting behind my eyes. "She was innocent all along. We punished the one person who didn’t deserve it."

Rowan looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe Damon can help," he said after a while. "He’s close to her. If anyone can convince her to talk to us, it’s him."

I hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. You’re right. He is the only one she’ll even listen to."

The silence returned, heavy and cold. The room felt too small for all the guilt and anger choking us.

A knock came at the door. Rowan straightened immediately, and I barked, "Enter."

A guard stepped inside, bowing his head respectfully. "Alpha Kael, Alpha Rowan."

I didn’t waste time. "What is it?"

He kept his head low. "I was sent to check on Lady Lisa, as you ordered. She’s awake now, my lords."

Rowan and I both froze. For a second, I didn’t even breathe. "She’s... awake?" I repeated.

"Yes, Alpha," the guard confirmed. "She woke a short while ago. I haerd that she’s still weak, but she’s conscious."

Rowan and I exchanged a look, part relief, part fear. My heart was pounding. I didn’t know what to say, or what she would say if she saw us. But I knew one thing, we couldn’t stay here hiding behind guilt.

I stood up, straightening my jacket, even though my hands were shaking. "Let’s go," I said.

Rowan nodded, standing beside me. He looked nervous, his throat working as he swallowed. "Kael..." he said softly. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚫𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦⚫𝘯𝘦𝘵

"What if she doesn’t want to see us?"

I paused, staring at the door. My heart twisted. "Then we’ll accept it," I said quietly. "But we’ll still go. We owe her that much."