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"It reveals everything I've ignored about you," I said, my voice low but cutting. "Every shadow I explained away. Every doubt I silenced. I see them nowālaid bare in the wreckage. The trust is shattered, Veronique. Irretrievable."
Her eyes widened, wet with sudden desperation. She shook her head, hair falling loose. "No. I am not working with themāI never could. They are monsters. They have slaughtered Marked Hybrids before; I know their history. You know I would neverā¦"
"Would never?" I echoed, raising a brow.
Her lips trembled, and then she tried a different tack. "It was Lilith. She triggered meāinsulted me. She told me that two Alphas wanted her. That you wanted her. Minutes after you carried her out of the wreckageāwhile you left me to bleed, weakened. In another life, you would have carried me."
My gaze sharpened, but I didn't correct her. I let her speak. Let her dig deeper.