Page 58 of My Brutal Alpha

If I had kept my composure and didn’t let him get to me, I could’ve appealed more. I could’ve made a better case for me and Zoe and proved that the bond was substantial.

But I didn’t. Instead, I reverted to my cowardly self and gave up. By letting that happen, I hurt Zoe all over again.

Despite being serious about calling things off between us, I didn’t turn my back on that connection completely. I couldn’t bring myself to, regardless of how angry I was.

Even if I still hurt her, I wasn’t willing to cause that kind of irreparable agony—not in a heated moment like that.

I was driven by pain of my own, but I wasn’t willing to go that far yet.

I had no way of knowing if it was the bond getting in the way and twisting my thoughts in an attempt to preserve itself or if it was a genuine desire of my own, but either way, I wasn’t going to be that heartless.

At the very least, I needed to go to Zoe directly and make that decision together.

While I mostly just wanted to turn my back on the situation and hope it would all go away at some point, I still knew it wasn’t right. At the end of it all, I still cared.

When my phone rang from next to me on the couch, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was Zoe hoping to reach out or Sebastian looking to address what happened. A flicker of hope surged through me at the thought of it being the former.

But when I saw my mom’s number on the screen, I scoffed and let it ring. With each passing second, forced to listen to that grating ringtone, I grew more irritated and just wanted it to stop.

That anger came back in a wave, along with the urge to just smash the phone and be done with it.

After a moment, the ringing stopped, and I let go of a breath with relief.

Usually, Mom would call periodically, then put some time between the next one. But ever since that tumultuous meeting with them and Zoe, the calls had stopped, which made me pause.

Staring at the phone from where it rested on the couch cushion, my eyes narrowed slightly.

It was strange, and recalling Kody’s threat to make my dad pay for not following through with his promise, I couldn’t help the faint sinking feeling in my stomach.

Then, it started ringing again.

That only made my suspicions deepen, along with that dread.

Letting go of a breath, I grabbed the phone, accepted the call, and brought it up to my ear.

“Mom—”

“—Ezra?” The immediate panic in her voice cut through my previous indifference. “Ezra, honey, please—”

Brows furrowing, I subconsciously leaned forward in my place, focusing entirely on the call. “Mom, what’s going on?”

Her voice, tight with fear and pitched higher than usual, reached my ears again. The line sounded somewhat crackled and broken up. “We need your help, Ezra. Someone…I think we’re outside your territory…please—”

There was no ignoring the urgency in her voice or how her throat sounded constricted by panic.

“Mom, are you okay?” I asked quickly, afraid the line might drop at any given moment. “Are you there?”

“Yes, I’m…I’m here…please, just—”

Her voice cut off, making my brows tighten even further. Then, the call dropped, and I was left alone in the silent room again. By then, it was deafening as I looked down at the phone.

I swallowed hard as my heart pounded in my chest, feeling more like it was lodged in my throat.

Even as I sat there, I could hear her terrified voice in my head, replaying again and again. She sounded so scared. Genuinely, truly horrified.

Never once had I ever heard that kind of tone from her, and it only made that guilt within me worse.

Sitting there, I knew I wasn’t responsible for them or their choices. I knew that they caused me harm and trauma that I likely wouldn’t ever fully heal from, but something about her pleas and the desperation in her voice ate away at me.

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