Ryan's POV
I stared at Diana, her ultimatum hanging between us like a blade poised to fall. Her amber eyes were hard, unyielding, waiting for a confession to a crime I never committed. The anguish of that night crashed over me again – my brother's blood on my hands, his dying breaths, the terrible choice that led me to sacrifice the woman I loved.
"Say it," Diana repeated, her voice sharp with five years of accumulated bitterness. "Admit you killed your brother. Say the words."
I'd been holding this truth inside for too long, carrying it like a stone in my chest, crushing me slowly with its weight. My pack was dying. Diana was my only hope. And yet, the confession she demanded was a lie.
"I can't," I whispered, the words escaping before I could stop them.
Diana's face hardened. "Then
