TWINS OF ZETA

CHAPTER FIVE

The words hit her like a slap, and for a moment, she couldn’t breathe. “What?” she gasped, stumbling back. Her hands trembled, her entire body shaking from the shock.

Zander’s gaze was like ice, his eyes hard and unyielding. “You’re not what I need, Laina. You’ve never been what I wanted.”

Laina’s heart shattered. The warmth that had consumed her moments ago was replaced with a cold emptiness that spread through her chest, consuming her from the inside out. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came.

“No, Zander. You don’t mean that,” she choked out, her eyes filling with tears.

The words hit her like a slap to the face, sharp and cold, and for a moment, she couldn’t breathe. Everything around her blurred as the weight of what he’d just said crashed into her chest. Her heart thudding erratically in her ribcage. Her hands trembled violently, her fingers numb, as if the world itself was slipping away from her grasp.

Her entire body shook, the cold emptiness of his rejection creeping into her bones, sinking deep into her soul. “Zander… not what I need? What I wanted?”

She staggered back a few steps, her legs giving way under the strain of the shock. She felt like she was falling, spiraling into something dark and suffocating, as though the very earth was pulling her into an abyss. His gaze, so cold and unfeeling, cut into her like an icy blade. There was no warmth there, no trace of the bond they had shared just moments ago.

The silence between them grew heavy, suffocating. Laina’s breath came in shallow, ragged gasps, her chest tight, the words she had always dreamed of hearing,the sweet confirmation that they were meant to be,now nothing more than an impossible dream. Her world, which had been filled with light only minutes ago, was now drowning in a suffocating darkness.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. Her throat felt like it was closing up, choking her on the sorrow that was welling inside her. This can’t be happening,she thought desperately. Please, it’s a mistake, it has to be.

She wanted to scream, to beg him to take it back, but she was frozen, caught in the grip of a pain too sharp, too consuming. She wanted to reach out, to hold him, to make him understand how much she needed him, but her body betrayed her. She was too small, too weak, too broken.

“No, Zander. You don’t mean that,” she whispered hoarsely, the words barely escaping her lips. Her voice cracked, splintering with the rawness of her pain. Her eyes searched his, looking for any sign of the kindness he had once shown her, any flicker of the love she had thought they shared. But there was nothing,nothing but coldness and cruelty.

Tears welled in her eyes, blurring her vision, but she didn’t wipe them away. She didn’t care. She let them fall freely, each drop a testament to how deeply he had cut her, how deeply she had trusted him only to be betrayed. How could he do this to me?she thought, but the question didn’t even feel real. It was like the world had suddenly gone out of focus, as if everything she had ever known,everything she had ever wanted was now slipping through her fingers.

Her chest ached, a hollow, gnawing ache that felt as if it would devour her from the inside out. I love him. I love him so much… Why can’t he see that?

But Zander, the boy she had adored since childhood, the one she had thought was her mate, didn’t even look at her with pity. He didn’t soften, didn’t even flinch at the tears streaming down her face. His eyes were hard, unyielding, as though she was nothing more than a fleeting nuisance, a distraction he had no use for. The cruelty in his words pierced deeper than any physical wound could.

“You’re weak, Laina. You never even transformed. You’re not worthy of me.”

His words tore through her like a blade, each syllable a deeper cut than the last. Not worthy? The very core of her self-worth seemed to fracture and crumble under the weight of his rejection. I’m weak?

Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground with a soft, strangled sob, unable to stand, unable to breathe. She felt like she was being ripped apart, as if the very air around her had turned to thorns, suffocating her, pressing her into the earth.

She managed to choke out another plea, her voice barely more than a whisper, “No… please…” But it was too quiet, too broken, too insignificant. It wasn’t a plea he would ever hear.

“I love you,” she whimpered, her body trembling with the intensity of the confession, the words spilling out in desperation. She hadn’t meant to say it like this, in front of him, in front of everyone. She hadn’t wanted to expose herself like this, but she couldn’t stop it. It was all she had left.

Zander’s eyes flicked to the gathered members of his pack, and with a cruel laugh, he spoke again. “She’s not my mate. She’s just a pathetic girl who hasn’t even earned her wolf yet. She’s nothing.”

The pack members murmured, their whispers like daggers in her ears. Laina looked around, her eyes wide, pleading. She saw only cold faces staring back at her, some with pity, others with disgust. It was as if the whole world had turned its back on her in that one instant.

Zander looked at her and said “You’re nothing,”. He didn’t offer comfort. He didn’t even acknowledge the pain he had just caused her. Instead, he laughed and then turned away, walking off without so much as a glance at the broken girl he had discarded.

“You’re nothing,” he had said, and the words rang in her ears long after he was gone. She stayed there on the cold ground, unable to move, unable to stop the tears that streamed down her face.

Her chest felt like it was caving in, each breath harder to take than the last. She had given him everything, trusted him with her heart, with her hopes, and in return, he had crushed it all.

Her body shook uncontrollably, her heart hammering in her chest. She wanted to scream, to lash out at him, but there was no strength left in her. Why had she allowed herself to be so vulnerable, to love someone who never truly cared?*

The harsh reality settled in, and it felt like the world had turned its back on her. She wasn’t his mate. She wasn’t anything to him.

In a daze, Laina stumbled to her feet, her legs weak beneath her. She didn’t know where she was going, didn’t know what she was doing. She just knew she needed to get away, away from the cruelty, away from the rejection, away from the suffocating weight of feeling so utterly alone.

Her breath was ragged, her chest tight, but she couldn’t stop herself. She ran.

Through the trees, through the darkness, her heart breaking with every step. She didn’t care where she was going. She just needed to run, needed to escape the unbearable pain. The world around her blurred as her vision grew clouded by her tears.

And the one thought that kept echoing in her mind, over and over, like a cruel refrain was: “I’m nothing.”

Tears streamed down her face as she fled, her legs unsteady beneath her, her breath ragged and broken. She ran blindly, the world around her blurring in her panic. The forest was dark now, the moon high in the sky, and still, she ran. Her body burned with exhaustion, her heart aching with every breath.

Laina didn’t know how long she ran. Hours, maybe. She felt as though she was being torn apart with every step, as though the world itself was unraveling at the seams. She had given him her trust, her love, her heart and he had shattered it all.

Eventually, her legs gave out beneath her. She collapsed to the ground, her body crumpling like a ragdoll. She lay there, trembling, gasping for breath, feeling the cold ground beneath her and the weight of her broken heart. Her vision blurred, and for a moment, everything went dark.

And in that darkness, Laina let go. She let herself fall into the oblivion of unconsciousness, the pain too much to bear.