Jade’s POV

The kiss shouldn’t have happened.

It was reckless, impulsive, and born from too many emotions colliding at once, fear, relief, longing, and the raw aftermath of almost dying. The moment my lips touched Renzo’s, the world seemed to tilt, rain crashing harder around us like it was applauding my stupidity.

We melted into each other’s arms and it felt just really right.

When our lips finally separated, we were note panting under the showers of rain.

The rain slid down his lashes, his dark eyes locked on mine, intense and unreadable. For half a second, I thought he would be angr, that he was going to regret kissing me. Another second, and I thought he would laugh, maybe he would find this moment funny. But he did neither.

He just stared.

The silence stretched, thick and electric, humming with everything we hadn’t said in a long, things. we couldn’t say with words.

“I....” I started, then stopped. My throat felt tight. “That wasn’t supposed to happen, I shouldn’t have started it first, I am sorry.”

I was actually sorry.

Sorry for kissing him.

Sorry for wanting more.

Sorry for existing in his space at all.

Renzo’s jaw tightened. His hand, still hovering near my waist from when he’d pulled me towards him for a kiss that stole my senses after I had kissed him first, slowly dropped to his side.

“You don’t have to apologize, I kissed you back after you kissed me, we both made a mistake” he said quietly.

A mistake.

He actually agreed it was a mistake.

That somehow made it worse.

The rain soaked through my clothes, but I barely felt the cold anymore. My wolf paced restlessly inside me, confused and restless, tugging painfully toward him. Toward our mate. Toward the bond I kept trying to pretend didn’t own me.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” I said instead, forcing my voice to steady. “I don’t know why I did.”

Renzo took a step back, putting distance between us, and that small movement hurt more than anything ever could have.

“Maybe it’s the bond,” he said, a little too quickly. “It messes with your head.”

There it was.

The wall.

He has no feelings for me, neither does his brothers.

There’s no true feelings involved here, just the bond forcing us to feel things.

I nodded, even though something inside me cracked. “Yeah. Probably.”

The rain softened slightly, but the tension between us only grew heavier.

For a moment, neither of us spoke. We just stood there, drenched and breathing the same air, caught between what we felt and what we believed.

Then I made the mistake of saying her name.

“Linda wouldn’t like this, us kissing and being this close” I muttered, more to myself than to him.

Renzo’s eyes sharpened instantly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I looked at him, disbelief rising in my chest. “You really don’t see it, do you?”

“See what?” he asked, his tone defensive now.

“She’s not what she pretends to be,” I said, emotion spilling over before I could stop it. “She manipulates everything. She enjoys humiliating me. She planns my dowfall, Renzo.”

“That’s not true,” he snapped. “Linda wouldn’t do that, I agree she had probably made some mistakes but she is genuinely a good person.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “You’re still protecting her.”

“She’s been there for us,” he shot back. “When everything fell apart. When we lost you....”

“You didn’t lose me,” I interrupted, my voice breaking. “You guys abandoned me.”

The words hit the space between us like thunder.

Renzo flinched, just barely.

“I agree on that, but Linda cares about you, she’s the reason we get wedded cause she told my father, she gave her all for your mating ceremony and she left her house to stay with us just so she could make sure you are fitting in fine, so I don’t think you should be accusing Linda of being evil just because some mistake happened and things didn’t go your way,” he said coldly. “Cause that would be you just being bitter and ungrateful”

I’m being bitter? I scoffed.

“So now I’m ungrateful too?” I whispered. “After everything she’s done to me?”

“She’s done more for this marriage than you ever have,” he said, anger bleeding through. “She didn’t have to help you and be here for you but she still did”

Help me?

My chest felt tight. “She took my mates wedding night,” I said quietly. “And you let her, you and your brothers went with her like it meant nothing"

His lips parted, but no words came out.

The silence that followed was heavy.

I saw it then, clear as day.

He believed she was really good, and I was never going to be able to change his mind.

And just like that, every fragile hope I’d built shattered.

“I get it,” I said softly, stepping back. “You hate me. You always have.”

“That’s not....”

“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” I said, my voice trembling now. “I forgot my place for a moment.”

I turned away before he could say anything else.

The rest of the walk back to the Alpha estate passed in complete silence. Rain soaked through my hair, my clothes, my skin, but none of it hurt as much as the ache in my chest.

I’d been foolish to hope.

Ronan’s POV

Ryder, Linda and I arrived home about an hour ago.

The rain was still falling heavily..

And still, there was no sign of Jade or Renzo.

I told myself not to worry. Renzo could handle himself. He always had. But Jade... Jade was fragile in ways she didn’t let anyone see.

Linda sat beside me, her posture calm, her voice gentle. Too gentle.

“She’s probably fine,” she said soothingly. “Jade has always liked wandering off when things get overwhelming.”

Linda sighed softly. “She’s always been reckless. She doesn’t really think about how her actions affect others.”

The words bothered me more than I wanted to admit.

Before I could respond, the door opened.

They walked in together, soaked, tense, and visibly upset.

Ryder immediately stood. “What happened?”

Neither of them answered.

Jade avoided everyone’s gaze, her shoulders stiff. Renzo’s expression was closed off, dark.

Just as Renzo turned to leave, Father entered the living room.

“I see you’re all here,” Alpha Ashford said, his voice firm. “Good.”

My stomach dropped.

“I’ve made arrangements,” he continued. “A honeymoon trip. For you three and your mates. You’ll leave tomorrow morning.”

Jade froze.

Renzo turned slowly. “What?”

“You need time together,” Father said. “To settle into your marriage. To ease the tension, and there is no arguing my decision cause my mind have already been made and they preparations have been done.”

Then moved towards Jade and whispered into her ears and whatever he said to Jade must have been really dire cause her expression immediately changed, her shoulders stiffened and her jaw tightened.

I heaved a deep breath.

All three of us being around Jade all the time wasn’t going to fix anything.

If anything, it was going to tear us apart more.