Contractually Yours Alpha (Riley) novel Chapter 174

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Four 

It wouldn’t make sense for Thane to come here after everything. Yet, maybe I’ve been wrong all along; perhaps, just like me, he couldn’t stay away. 

I never bothered to think about the fact that Gabriel wouldn’t refer to the Alpha King as someone‘, I didn’t want to think, my heart seemed to have a mind of its own. I followed Gabriel down the stairs, and all the while, I imagined scenarios of what it would be like to see Thane again. Would he be sorry for what he had done to me? Would I forgive him? 

The answer was; Yes. Call me pathetic and foolish, but I knew that would be my answer if he pleaded genuinely. A part of me knew he would come–for me, and that part of me ‘waited‘ each day for him. 

Was it possible to hate and love a person? 

Yes, it was. I hated Thane, but also I loved him. 

Finally, I walked into the living space, and there I noticed… 

There was no Thane. 

For some reason, that hit me so hard. I should have known better, but I didn’t. 

I never realized how hopeful I really had been to see him again until now, and… I felt so disappointed. 

“These peo 

people are here to see you; do you know them?” Gabriel asked, and Nick, who had waited down stairs with the visitors, also waited to hear what I had to say. 

No. 

No. None of them looked familiar to me. Not the aged man, not the woman by his side, and definitely not the younger man who stood behind them. 

It wasn’t Thane and Axel‘. 

I felt furious–the emotion wasn’t directed at them, but at myself, at my very desperate self for thinking he was going to come find me, for so easily forgiving him even after everything. I felt even more furious at him for not being here. 

I had been silent for way too long. 

“Are you okay?” Nick questioned, and it took me a moment to respond. 

“Yes. I am,” I say, approaching the strangers. 

“Do you know them?” Nick asked, watching me. I didn’t like the way he watched me; I feared. he would see it on my face–the hope, the disappointment, the anger, and the hurt. 

“No, she doesn’t,” the older man answered. “We came here to seek your help,” he said to me, his voice quavering. I could tell this was a high–ranking wolf, and yet he stared at me like I was 

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Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Four 

his salvation, an answer to all their problems. He wasn’t the only his face; the woman by his side too had that similar look. 

one with that expression on 

Now that I did finally look closer, I noticed the limp to the younger boy’s movement; he couldn’t be more than sixteen of age, and the wothan also had scars on her arm–fresh scars she tried to hide. 

“What do you need my help for?” I questioned, still studying them. 

“Would you like to sit?” the man asked, and I complied. 

He began; 

“Three days ago our pack faced an attack; you see, we are a peaceful pack, and so it caught us all off guard; we had no idea what we did wrong, and of course, nothing was discussed before the full–out war. We lost many of our members there,” he finished. 

“I empathize with your loss, and I am so sorry, but… how exactly did you think I could help you?” I asked, confused. 

“You see, we had discovered where the attack came from–this was done by the Nightshade. pack.” 

“That is impossible,” I blurted out..Thane didn’t start wars; he had other better things to do, and he wouldn’t go after a pack that did nothing to him. 

But then did I know Thane? 

I knew him well enough to know that this wasn’t his doing. I also knew that Axel would never agree to go through with this. 

The man tossed a piece of torn clothing on the floor like it disgusted him to touch.