No Longer Mine to Hold - Chapter 5

Leah’s name finally brought Anderson back to his senses. He forced himself to appear happier, tearing his gaze away from the filthy gift box.

He followed Rhys to Leah’s residence with an occupied mind.

On the way, Rhys told him to buy a bouquet of roses, eagerly anticipating the delighted smile on Leah’s face.

As they approached the house, a dangerous scent hit them.

Through the slightly open door, they saw Leah, who claimed to be weak and poisoned by wolfsbane, drinking strong liquor while twirling a forbidden item in her hand, a stalk of wolfsbane.

Across from her, her parents looked smug.

Maryanne, who was also Irene’s stepmother, wore a greedy smile as she counted the treasures Anderson had sent.

“No one in the world is smarter than you,” she said. “All you had to do was claim you were poisoned, and Anderson would agree to anything you asked for.”

“An Alpha so blind that he didn’t even realize the poisoning was fake… Should I say you’re too brilliant, or he’s just that stupid.”

Anderson froze, the roses slipping from his grip and scattering onto the floor. The room seemed to tilt, his pulse roaring in his ears. He replayed every moment of Leah’s supposed suffering, every decision he had made because of her frailty. Had he really been that blind?

Rhys grabbed his arm, steadying him. “Anderson—”

But Anderson shook him off, his body moving before his mind caught up. He pushed the door open with enough force to slam it against the wall. The impact startled Leah and her parents, their laughter dying as their heads snapped toward him.

Leah blinked, then—remarkably—smiled. “Oh, darling, I didn’t hear you come in.”

Her voice was smooth, but there was a flicker of calculation in her gaze, a flash of something cold before she masked it with false warmth.

Anderson’s hands curled into fists. “You lied.”

Leah exhaled dramatically, setting the wolfsbane stalk down with a lazy flick of her wrist. “Come now, Anderson. Don’t be so dramatic.”

“Dramatic?” The word felt like acid on his tongue. “You pretended to be dying! You manipulated me into—” He cut himself off, the weight of his own gullibility settling over him like a suffocating fog. “Was any of it real?”

Leah’s smirk deepened. “What does it matter? You got what you wanted, didn’t you? A weak, helpless mate to protect. A perfect damsel in distress. Isn’t that what Alphas love best?”

Maryanne laughed under her breath. “And now look at you. Standing there like a lost pup.”

Anderson felt something in him crack—something fundamental. He had been so sure, so certain of his choices. But now, standing in front of Leah’s cold amusement, the weight of his betrayal against Irene struck him like a blow. The woman he had cast aside, the woman he had treated as unworthy, had never once deceived him. And yet, here he stood, humiliated and played like a fool.

“Irene was right about you,” he murmured, the words surprising even himself.

Leah’s expression darkened. “Excuse me?”