The Independence My Alpha Regretted - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Ronan used to disappear the moment a dinner ended. If I followed up, he'd always ask, "Don't you have anything to do besides wait for my messages?" I didn't need anyone to report to me anymore. Still, the few seconds Ethan spent explaining where he'd been settled like warmth in my chest. [It's fine. Finish your work.] "Typing..." appeared almost immediately. Then a longer message came through. [No one is too busy to give a heads-up to someone they care about. It takes seconds to say, "I'm going into a meeting.

I'll call later."] [The people who matter deserve an answer.] {I hope that one day, you'll let me be that person for you.] I stared at the screen for a long time without responding. That afternoon, I left the office early, partly fora follow-up appointment and partly because I wasn't ready to face Ethan. But the man waiting outside the building was Ronan. He held a bouquet of deep red camellias. Snow drifted through the streetlights and settled on the shoulders of his black coat. "I want to prove I can change," he said, his breath clouding in the cold.

"Everything you once did for me, I'll do for you. I'll check in first, call first, and remember every date that matters." I watched him quietly. "You wouldn't do any of that when we lived under the same roof. Why would another country make it easier?" His expression flickered. "It won't stay another country. I've asked the council to accept my resignation. Kyle will take over as Alpha of Silver Ridge. I'll stay in London and start over with you and the baby." I shook my head. "You still don't understand. I never wanted you to abandon an entire pack as penance.

I've already started a new life, and there's no place for you init." Ronan frowned. "What does that mean?" After a brief hesitation, I told him. "I've met someone else." He stared at me as if he couldn't make the words fit together. "No. It can't happen that fast." "T think it can," someone said behind me. Ethan walked through the light snow toward us, perfectly composed, as though he'd been listening for awhile. He took the camellias out of Ronan's hands and inspected them. "Good choice. But you can leave now, former Alpha." Ronan didn't move. For several long seconds, he only looked at me.

Then asmall, exhausted smile crossed his face. "'So I really was too late." Neither of us answered. Ethan took my hand and laced his fingers through mine. We turned away together, leaving Ronan alone in the falling snow. A snowflake landed on my lashes. When I blinked, a distant memory suddenly came into focus. Years ago, on another snowy afternoon, Ethan had looked at me with the same teasing expression and asked, "You really don't remember me at all?" I stopped and turned to him. "You were the boy in Hyde Park?" His mouth lifted. "Finally.