Promised To The Alpha Twins
Chapter 59

Aly’s anger slammed into me like a tornado. Shards of glass scraped and cut my skin as I reached out and grasped the emotion, but it slipped through my fingers. An invisible wall crashed between Aly and me, severing my connection to her emotions. I took a shaky breath, trying to calm my own nerves before opening up again.

Instead of forcing it, I let each sensation brush against me, allowing each one to pass in turn. Aly’s whirlwind of anger resumed, swirling around strands of my hair and between my fingers. I allowed the anger to invade me, going deeper. Beneath the anger lay the distinctive and sharp sting that reminded me of pain. I scolded myself for a moment.

Of course, she was hurt; I had left without saying a word, leaving the phone she had given me on the bed. Aly had been my first friend in a long time, and I repaid her by constantly refusing to trust her. Hidden even deeper was an emotion I hadn’t anticipated: understanding. While her anger was like a blazing fire, the understanding she felt was like the ocean: cool and crisp waves that countered the heat of the flames. She stopped a few feet in front of me, her chest heaving with emotion. I could see each one of them in her eyes, clenching her teeth against the wave of exhaustion that settled in my bones. I noticed Liam and Ethan taking a few steps away from us, neither daring to interrupt what Aly was about to say. Her face was as red as a beet, her mouth opening and closing, but the words refused to form.

“You…” she muttered, her disbelieving eyes shifting from me to Liam and Ethan. Giving me one last emotion-clouded look, she turned her eyes back to the twins. “You brought her back.”

“She chose to come back,” Liam murmured, and I couldn’t help the grateful glance that crossed my face. “We would never force her.”

“So, you chose to come back?” Aly snorted, putting her hands on her h**s in her typical fashion. I had seen this expression on Aly’s face when she scolded one of Chloe’s friends for bullying me. “That’s ironic considering you decided to leave in the first place. Do you have any idea how that made me feel? We had no clue what happened to you! I thought we were friends, Sussan. You could have trusted me.”

Aly’s anger in her voice quickly gave way to hurt, masking that underlying tone of understanding. Through those three emotions, I knew Aly would forgive me. She would undoubtedly make me grovel and earn her forgiveness, but she understood why I left. I could feel the twins’ discomfort at Aly’s anger in their emotions, but neither intervened. I appreciated that they kept their distance, knowing I needed to fix this myself. If I was meant to have this great destiny, I couldn’t let Liam and Ethan step in to solve all my problems. I made this mess, and it was time I owned up to it.

Aly, Liam, and Ethan were the most important people in my life right now. I had hurt each one of them, and I would pay the price to fix that.

“I wasn’t thinking clearly. I wasn’t thinking about who I’d hurt, I just needed to go,” I sighed, feeling nothing but guilt as her emotions hit me.

Even with the blinding anger she felt, she still cared about me. I knew that if I allowed myself to delve into her emotions, I’d feel the slightest hint of happiness. She was glad I had come back, found my way, and decided to stay with Liam and Ethan. I had no idea what this meant for our friendship, but I wasn’t willing to give up just yet.

“Everything, everything came crashing down on me. First Lia and Dub, then Chloe, and then Axel dropped the biggest bomb of my life. I didn’t believe you at first when you told me what I was. I had no idea you could actually help me, Aly.”

“I know you didn’t, Sussan,” Aly sighed, letting out a heavy sigh. “I understand why you left, I do. But just because I understand doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. Anything could have happened to you out there! You could have been caught by someone other than Liam and Ethan. You might think you don’t have people who care about you, but you do.”

“I almost got caught,” I admitted, ignoring the cautious glances I received from Liam and Ethan. I wanted to trust Aly, rebuild the bridge I had nearly destroyed. Trust didn’t come naturally to me, but it was something I was willing to work on. I had no immediate family I could trust, but I knew the family I chose would be much stronger than shared b***d. I trusted Liam and Ethan without even noticing the change in my emotions, and I wanted to do the same for Aly. “If it wasn’t for the first change, well, I wouldn’t be here now. Liam and Ethan found me just in time, but I learned my lesson. I let people scare me instead of trusting the three of you. It’s a mistake I won’t make again.”

The happiness radiating from the twins was enough to cleanse the sting Aly’s anger had left behind. I could taste Ethan’s curiosity and concern, as if he still found it hard to believe I had returned. Liam felt the same random bursts of awe coursing through him as he looked in my direction. I could feel Aly’s anger diminishing, leaving behind a dull throb that extended across my forehead. Although her anger was beginning to fade, she remained cautious. She wanted to trust me, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I wasn’t sure how the twins managed to trust me, but I had a feeling the mate bond was coming into play.

Upon mentioning my near-capture, Aly’s face hardened. A fierce surge of curiosity and concern bubbled through her, mingling with the understanding and happiness she felt.

“You almost got caught?” she muttered, turning around to face Liam and Ethan. “Why didn’t you tell me about this? Do you have any idea who did it or what they wanted?”

“We have one of them locked up in a cell,” Ethan raised his hands in surrender. “We were planning to interrogate him tomorrow, but if you want to take the reins…” “You’re not helping,” I muttered to Ethan, blushing at the sly smile that formed on his face. “Just saying. With that anger, you might get some answers out of the guy.”

Ethan chuckled under his breath, causing Aly to scoff and roll her eyes. Although Ethan managed to take some of the fire out of Aly’s eyes, she refused to back down. How Aly managed to stand her ground with not one but two Alphas was beyond me. However, she didn’t flinch as she looked into Liam and Ethan’s eyes.

“Maybe you should tell her, darling,” Liam shrugged, giving me a look that made my legs weaken. His gaze was one of absolute trust, one that told me he and Ethan would follow me to the ends of the earth if I asked them to. “Whatever you choose to do, we’ll stand behind you.”

Liam’s words left me enough room to choose what I wanted to tell Aly. I could easily tell her that a pair of masked men had tried to kidnap me, but I had learned the lesson of not trusting her. I wanted to repair that bridge, to regain the friend I had almost lost. Keeping more secrets from her would only prove that I didn’t trust her. If I was going to do this, I had to be all in.

“It’s a long story. One I’d prefer not to share in public, but if you’re interested, I wouldn’t mind explaining everything to you,” I said, hoping she could feel the sincerity of my words and the weight of what I was willing to tell her. Aly seemed to pick up on my understanding as a determined look crossed her face, and the thick guard she held around herself lessened.

“Alright,” Aly exhaled, and I could visibly see her shoulders relaxing. “Come to my house tomorrow, around noon. Dad and Mom are visiting my aunt, so they won’t be hovering around. If I don’t see you tomorrow, I’ll hunt you down, Sussan. Not even Liam and Ethan will stop me. Besides, this is still yours.” Aly placed something cold in my hands, and I saw the cell phone she had given me a couple of months ago. The battery was full, and I wondered why she had kept it. I could see the reluctance in her eyes as she walked away, resuming what she had planned for the day.

When Ethan wrapped his arms around my waist, and Liam placed a lingering k**s on my forehead, I realized something. Liam, Ethan, and Aly were the first people who cared about me in so long, and I knew that if I allowed it, the three of them would become the family I never had.