Chapter 160

Simon POV Her words hit like a blade driven straight into my chest. They have been hunting me all along. For a heartbeat, the forest disappeared. The shadows, the whispers of pursuit, even the scent of danger, none of it mattered. All I could hear was her voice, raw and trembling, confessing the one thing she had hidden from me all this time. Aisha. My mate. My equal. The one I thought I finally understood. And yet, she had been carrying this alone. The betrayal wasn’t in her admission,it was in the silence that had stretched for so long before it. How many nights had I laid beside her, believing there were no more walls between us? How many times had I sworn to her that she was safe with me, that she didn’t need to hide? And still, she did. I forced air into my lungs, but it burned going down, thick as smoke. The weight of my role pressed hard against the fury rising inside me. I couldn’t afford to crumble, not here, not now. The pack needed me steady. She needed me steady, even if sh