Beneath the Alpha's Moon

Mai~

The tension between Liam and me had always been strong, but that moment—when I finally said the words I had been holding back for weeks—changed everything. My heart beat painfully in my chest as his sharp blue eyes flicked to mine. His voice—when it came—was like ice. "Bullshit."

It felt like a slap.

Liam’s lips curled into a bitter sneer. "You think any of this is going to fix anything? You think a couple of notes and punching a few assholes for me is going to change what you did? You’re the reason I’m in this mess, Mai. The scars on my face? The years of therapy? That’s all your fault."

Each word was like a blade cutting deeper, shredding something inside of me that I wasn’t prepared to lose. I’d hurt him. I knew that. But hearing it, hearing him lay it out in such a raw, unforgiving way, it struck a place in me I didn’t even know existed. My chest tightened, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

Liam’s voice rang out again, louder, almost desperate. "You ruined my life. You destroyed me, and now you think showing up with little notes and pretending to care will change that?"

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. For the first time in my life, I was speechless, and it wasn’t because I didn’t know how to respond—it was because I couldn’t feel the usual surge of anger, the need to lash out. No. It was different. This wasn’t just about me being the Alpha’s daughter or about him being the scarred, awkward kid I’d tormented. It was deeper than that.

The truth was, I was the one who was wounded now.

I stood there, paralyzed by a truth that had never hit me so hard before: Liam’s anger wasn’t just justified, it was earned. I was the reason for his pain, and no matter what I did, nothing would ever make that go away.

I don’t know how long I stood there. Minutes? Hours? But when I finally looked at him again, his eyes were already off me, staring into his locker, his posture hunched as though he couldn’t even stand to be in the same space as me. His words echoed in my head, bouncing around like a broken record.

He was right.