Desired By Three Alphas; Fated To One novel Chapter 273

DANE'S POV

For two days…

Just two days…

But it felt like two years inside my chest.

Ever since Hailee ended things with me, nothing inside me has felt right.

Nothing in my head, nothing in my heart, nothing in my damn body.

Two whole days.

Two days of replaying her words over and over in my mind.

"I choose Nathan."

The moment she said it, something inside me broke quietly.

No explosion.

No yelling.

Just a soft, painful crack deep under my ribs.

I didn't fight her.

I didn't argue.

I didn't beg.

What was the point?

A person can't force another person to love them.

The night after our conversation, I sat in my house alone, staring at the wall with a bottle of whiskey in my hand.

And then another.

And then another.

I wasn't drunk.

I wished I was.

I wanted the alcohol to numb it, to blur it, to erase her face from my mind for even one damned second.

But nothing worked.

Her smile stayed.

Her laughter stayed.

Her scent stayed.

Hailee stayed.

Even though she had already walked away.

By the second night, I sat on the floor of my living room, back resting against the edge of the couch, staring at nothing.

My wolf paced inside me—restless, hurting, but silent.

He didn't blame her.

He never blamed her.

He blamed me.

For hoping.

For dreaming.

For wanting something that was never mine.

By the morning of the third day, something inside me changed.

Something settled.

Something accepted it.

Not fully…

But enough for me to stand up again.

Enough for me to shower, shave, wear clean clothes, and breathe without feeling like someone stabbed me.

Enough to live again.

Enough to move forward.

Even if my chest still hurt.

Even if her name still made my heart twist.

Even if Ozzy's face looked too much like hers sometimes, making my chest tight.

I got into my car, deciding to drive around the territory to clear my head.

Wind calms me.

The road calms me.

And I needed calm.

I turned out of my driveway, drove down the long gravel road, passed the old training field, passed the creek, and passed the long bend near the woods.

I took a deep breath, resting my arm on the window.

"I'll let her go," I murmured to myself.

"I'll let her be happy. Even if it's not with me."

My wolf whined but didn't argue.

I pressed my foot down lightly on the pedal—

And then—

THUD.

The car jerked forward violently.

I hit the brakes instantly.

"What the—?"

I looked up, and my heart slammed painfully against my ribs.

A woman.

A woman was standing directly in front of my car.

Not someone crossing the road.

She looked as if she had run out of the forest—clothes torn, hair messy, face pale, chest rising and falling like she had been running for her life.

My wolf pushed to the surface so fast I gasped.

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