Free Web NovelChapter 95: Chapter 95 Anchor in the Storm
Hugo’s POV
That afternoon, Camilla remained by my side in the dense woodland, never once leaving me alone with my torment.
Even when my body began the violent shift and she witnessed my wolf emerge in all its terrifying glory, larger and more brutal than any normal shifter, she held her ground without a tremor of fear.
Rather than flee, she shifted alongside me, her smaller wolf keeping pace as we tore through the underbrush together.
It struck me as bizarre. All this time, I had painted her as the villain in my mind.
Everything I believed about Camilla came filtered through Bella’s bitter words and twisted perceptions.
After we both shifted back to human form, I pulled on the spare jeans and black t-shirt I kept stashed, then collapsed onto the cracked asphalt of the forgotten road that bordered the forest.
This stretch of highway had been abandoned for years. Traffic was virtually nonexistent here.
"Alright, I raided the emergency stash in my car, and I apologize if these belonged to someone else, but I figured you could use them right now," she announced, approaching with her arms full.
She settled cross-legged in front of me, arranging chocolate bars, fruit juice boxes, and energy drinks in a neat semicircle.
"Please eat something," she insisted, her voice carrying genuine concern.
I reached for a chocolate bar, knowing my body desperately craved the sugar rush after such an intense transformation.
Yet every attempt to push past the anguish brought fresh waves of Bella’s cruel laughter echoing in my memory, her mocking words slicing through me like silver blades.
The emotional devastation made swallowing nearly impossible.
I noticed Camilla had helped herself to the chocolates as well.
"I hope you don’t mind the company," she said with a tentative smile. "Your wolf, though—"
She hesitated, and I gave her an encouraging nod.
"It’s a monster," I stated flatly.
But she immediately shook her head with surprising vehemence.
"Absolutely not. It’s magnificent. I’ve never witnessed a wolf with such raw power and presence. God, you must feel incredible when you shift."
Her genuine admiration for something I considered my greatest curse left me completely speechless.
She seemed to find nothing disturbing or wrong with my wolf form. If anything, she appeared mesmerized by what others found terrifying.
Multiple times throughout that evening, I considered making excuses to escape her presence.
Something about being near her felt like a betrayal to Bella, despite everything that had happened, but then the memory of Bella’s devastating words would crash over me again.
The realization that Bella had shared intimate details about my darkest secrets with others meant she had already put me in serious danger.
I wasn’t prepared to discuss any of it. Her betrayal had shattered something fundamental inside me.
If anyone else had approached me claiming Bella spoke about me that way, I would have dismissed them as liars without hesitation.
But I had witnessed it myself. I had seen her animated face as she entertained others with stories of my humiliation.
Continuing to defend her now would make me look like a complete fool.
Once Camilla had successfully helped me regain some measure of composure, she absolutely refused to let me walk back to pack territory alone.
She offered no complaints about the long drive, and I was too emotionally drained to ask how she planned to get home afterward.
Only after she had dropped me off and disappeared into the night did it occur to me that I should have inquired about her return journey. Would she have to take public transportation?
How dangerous would that be for a young woman traveling alone at night?
Unfortunately, she had already vanished, and I realized I didn’t even possess her phone number.
Over the following days, she continued to astound me with her persistence.
Somehow, she managed to track me down repeatedly, always arriving with bags of food whenever I retreated to the woods.
I must have mentioned during one of our conversations that stress drove me to seek solitude in the forest, because that’s where she consistently located me.
She would travel all the way from her own territory just to ensure I was eating properly and taking care of myself.
Her dedication forced me to acknowledge how foolish I had been to base all my judgments solely on Bella’s biased opinions.
After all, if Bella had judged me so harshly and unfairly, how could I trust her assessment of anyone else?
As weeks passed, my friendship with Camilla deepened considerably.
Then came the day Bella appeared before the alpha council to discuss her supposed pregnancy, and every rational thought I’d gained instantly evaporated. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Watching the other alphas’ panic-stricken reactions sparked a desperate hope that maybe, just maybe, if I stepped up as her protector now, she might reconsider her feelings toward me. freewebnovel.cσ๓
My brain concocted what seemed like a brilliant strategy. I told her, ’I know someone who can help you terminate the pregnancy.’
The truth was far more complicated. I planned to meet her privately the following day.
I would convince her to come with me under the pretense of seeking abortion assistance, but once we were alone together, I intended to propose marriage.
I would declare my love and beg her to keep the baby, promising to accept full responsibility regardless of the biological father.
I simply couldn’t bear to make such declarations in front of the others, because every previous attempt had resulted in hostile competition and aggressive territorial disputes.
This time, I convinced myself I was being strategic.
I wasn’t repeating past errors by announcing my intentions and allowing others to sabotage them.
However, when I sent her that message the next day, her response felt like a physical assault.
After she announced her period had arrived and walked away from us, instinct told me she was creating deliberate distance between herself and all of us.
Something deep in my gut screamed that I needed to confess my feelings immediately, before it was too late.
Once she left the meeting, I maintained my composure briefly, then grabbed my phone with trembling fingers.
Me: Just so you know, if you were actually pregnant, I would take complete responsibility.
I sent the message and sat in my bedroom, leg bouncing frantically, staring at the screen with desperate anticipation.
I knew how pathetic this made me appear, especially after her devastating betrayal, but love makes fools of us all.
Then I typed another message.
Me: Even if the child belonged to one of the others, I would still take responsibility.
I hit send again, completely losing control as I bombarded her with messages, detailing everything I would sacrifice for her, every way I would accept and cherish her.
I offered her my entire world on a silver platter.
But then her reply arrived like a dagger to my heart.
Bella: If it was your baby, trust me, I would have already gotten rid of it. But thankfully, there is no baby. And since the others have rejected me, I want nothing from anyone, especially not you.
I forced down the tears threatening to spill and set my phone aside with shaking hands.
Finally, her complete rejection had penetrated my thick skull.
She clearly felt nothing for me, and I was pathetically chasing someone who found me repulsive.
The fact that she had written mere sentences about having feelings for me while composing novels about the others should have been my first clue about where I truly ranked.
After that crushing exchange, I never contacted her again, and weeks later discovered she had fled entirely.
But by then, Camilla had become my anchor, and our bond had grown into something genuinely meaningful.
