Chapter 19: The Final Choice
1492 Words
Ruby's POV
Carter's silver eyes: so raw, so open,were locked onto mine.
Waiting.
Begging.
I could see it, the desperation in his stance, the way his chest heaved, the silent plea in his gaze.
"Choose me."
My throat tightened.
He had spent years pushing me away.
Years convincing me that I had never mattered.
Years tearing me apart.
And now, standing here before me, his voice cracking with regret, his entire soul laid bare for the first time in his life
He was asking me to believe him.
I wanted to.
God, I wanted to.
But it was too late.
It had to be too late.
Because if it wasn’t, then I had just spent the past few weeks walking straight into a nightmare.
I swallowed hard, my hands trembling as I forced the words out.
“You’re drunk, Carter.” My voice came out thin, uneven. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
Pain flashed across his face, sharp and undeniable.
Jake shook his head, his hands trembling at his sides. “You know that’s not true.”
I swallowed hard, my nails digging into my palms.
I needed him to leave.
I needed him to stop looking at me like that.
Because if I turned and ran, I wouldn’t just be choosing Carter.
I would be choosing war.
My breath came out shaky.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” I whispered.
Carter took a staggered step forward, his expression twisting. “I had to.” His voice cracked. “I couldn’t just...just let you do this.”
The ache in my chest deepened.
Because he was too late.
Because this moment,this conversation,should have happened years ago.
Not now.
Not when I was trapped.
Not when choosing him meant condemning him.
I exhaled sharply. “You don’t understand—”
“Then tell me.” His voice was desperate now, pleading.
He reached for me, just slightly, like his body was acting before his mind could catch up.
Jake's fingers tightened around mine.
My breath hitched.
Aria whimpered.
Jake let out a sharp exhale.
And then,his fingers tightened painfully around mine.
The grip wasn’t comforting.
It was a reminder.
I stiffened.
Jake had been patient.
Had let Carter have his little outburst.
Had let me hesitate.
But he wasn’t going to let me hesitate anymore.
I felt him shift closer, his voice low enough for only me to hear.
“Ruby,” he murmured, his tone calm but firm. “This is getting embarrassing. End this.”
I swallowed hard, my nails digging into my palms.
I could still feel Carter's gaze on me.
Could still feel the weight of his confession pressing against my ribs.
But I forced myself to breathe.
To let it go.
To do what I had to do.
I turned my head slightly toward Jake.
And I spoke the words that would destroy us both.
“I accept this bond.”
The wind howled through the trees, as if the entire world had felt the exact moment my heart split in two.
The pack stilled.
The weight of my words hung in the air, suffocating.
I couldn’t look at Carter.
I couldn’t.
But then,he moved.
His footsteps were unsteady, frantic.
“No.” His voice was ragged, on the edge of breaking. “No, you don’t mean that.”
His breath came hard and fast, his hands curling into fists.
"Ruby,look at me.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
"Don’t do this. Don’t say those words."
"Please."
Jake exhaled slowly beside me.
His grip remained firm.
Unyielding.
And then,his voice, smooth as steel.
“She’s already said them, Blackwood.”
Carter snapped his gaze to Jake, rage flickering behind his devastation.
“Shut the hell up,” he snarled.
Jake just smirked, completely unbothered.
Carter turned back to me, his hands shaking.
“Tell me it’s not real.” His voice was soft now, pained.
His silver eyes, so full of everything I’d ever wanted from him, begged me to take it back.
I felt something crack inside me.
Because I couldn’t take it back.
Because if I did, Carter wouldn’t make it out of here alive.
Jake's grip tightened just slightly, a silent reminder.
My chest burned.
I forced my lips to part, my voice hollow.
“It’s real.”
Carter staggered back.
Kale let out a guttural snarl, snapping his teeth in Jake’s mind.
I could feel it.
The exact moment I had broken him.
The exact moment he realized this was really happening.
That he had lost me.
His breath shook.
And then, his hands fell to his sides.
Defeated.
Shattered.
Lost.
Jake let out a slow exhale, like he had just won a battle.
But it didn’t feel like victory.
Jake exhaled slowly, his grip on me easing, but not releasing.
His lips curled, just slightly.
Then he leaned in, his voice smooth.
“I knew you’d make the right choice,” he murmured.
My stomach twisted violently.
It didn’t feel like the right choice.
It felt like chains tightening around my throat.
But the moment I spoke those words, everything inside me went numb.
The elder stepped forward.
"The bond shall be sealed before the pack," he announced.
I barely heard him.
The world was a distant hum.
I couldn’t focus on anything except the man still standing in front of me.
Carter.
He was shaking.
His silver eyes,nce so full of fire,were empty.
Hollow.
Like the light had finally, completely gone out.
I had broken him.
And yet,he was still here.
Still watching.
Still waiting for me to take it back.
I clenched my fists, forcing myself to turn away.
Jake shifted beside me.
"We should finish this," he murmured, his voice silk and steel.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to run.
But instead, I nodded.
Because this was my fate now.
And it was too late to change it.
I had known this moment would come.
I had prepared for it.
But nothing could have prepared me for the way my body rebelled.
For the way Riley snapped her teeth, refusing to be silenced.
For the way my soul screamed that this was wrong.
Jake turned toward me, his expression smooth, controlled.
Like he hadn’t just threatened the man I loved.
Like this was just another ceremony.
Another step toward power.
The elders circled us.
The pack waited.
Carter was still there.
Still watching.
Still breaking.
Jake saw the panic.
The regret.
And he didn’t care.
He reached for me again, his fingers grazing my wrist.
My pulse spiked.
Riley snapped her teeth inside my mind, snarling.
Jake's lips curled slightly.
He leaned in, his voice low, unyielding.
"Give me your neck, Ruby."
The nausea surged.
I wanted to run.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to throw my head back and howl to the moon for the mate I had just lost.
But I did none of those things.
Because I was trapped.
Because this was what I had chosen.
Riley snapped her jaws. No.
But I had no choice.
So I tilted my head to the side.
Exposing my throat.
Exposing my surrender.
Liam’s lips curled slightly.
Then he struck.
His teeth sank into the curve between my neck and shoulder, piercing deep.
A sharp, searing pain shot through me.
I clenched my jaw, refusing to make a sound.
But Riley screamed.
The sound tore through my mind, a raw, broken scream of betrayal.
Because this bond was wrong.
Because my wolf,my soul,was rejecting it.
But it didn’t matter.
The pack cheered.
Jake pulled back, his lips stained red.
His claim burned.
A thread of energy,thin, fragile, unwanted,flickered between us.
A connection that shouldn’t exist.
I barely felt it.
Because Carter was supposed to be the one standing here.
Not Jake.
Never Jake.
I exhaled shakily, blinking against the sting of tears.
Jake studied me carefully, his eyes flickering to where his mark now rested.
His smirk returned.
“Perfect.”
A violent shudder ran through me.
Because nothing about this was perfect.
Nothing about this was right.
And I felt nothing.
Nothing,except the eyes that still burned into me from across the clearing.
Carter.
I turned, almost against my will.
And the sight of him broke me all over again.
He was trembling.
His breath was ragged.
Kale let out a low, wounded snarl.
And then, Carter turned and walked away.
My heart stopped.
He didn’t fight.
Didn’t stay.
Didn’t say another word.
He just,left.
And for the first time in my life, I realized
Some wounds don’t heal.
Some choices can’t be undone.
And some love stories end in ruins.
I clenched my fists, my breath shallow.
Because I wanted to call out to him.
To tell him I didn’t mean it.
That he was still the only one I wanted.
But I didn’t.
Because the moment his back disappeared into the forest
I knew.
I had just lost Carter Blackwood forever.
- Writer
