How To Lose Your Billionaire Alpha Husband In 365 Days (Or Less)!-Chapter 89: Stubborn As Always...

~Jasmine’s POV~

By the third night, Aiden tried to lock me out.

I stood in the hallway, looking at his door with my fists clenched at my sides. I could hear the locks clicking one after another, each sound marked by the heaviness of his voice.

"I’m done dragging you into this," his voice came from the other side, sounding clipped and controlled, but it was a lie. The tremor beneath his words gave him away.

"I can’t..." His voice cracked. "I can’t keep doing this to you."

I took a step closer, resting my palm flat against the cool surface of the door. "Aiden, open the door."

"Go to bed, Jasmine."

There was a muffled growl. It was low and vicious, followed by a heavy thud that rattled the hinges. My pulse spiked.

"Aiden..."

Then came the unmistakable shatter of glass... again. The same pattern every night. But this one sounded worse. Closer, like, he’d hit the mirror with more than just his fist this time.me.

I stepped back, heart hammering, and kicked the door just above the lock. The crack echoed down the hall, but the door held.

"You know I’m stubborn, right?" I muttered under my breath.

Another kick.

The frame splintered, and the door swung open.

He was on the floor, curled into himself, half-shifted. His claws were fully out, dug into the wood, and his spine was arched in a way that looked painful and inhuman.

His skin rippled with the strain of the shift, patches of fur flickering in and out like static. His breath came in broken gasps, his body trembling, not from cold, but from the war waging inside him.

The moonlight streaming through the shattered window cast pale ribbons across the room, bathing him in silver, making the blood at his knuckles gleam.

He didn’t look at me or tell me to go away. I stayed quiet; I knew words wouldn’t help tonight.

I dropped to my knees and crawled across the broken glass and splintered wood. It didn’t matter to me. I settled next to him, wrapped my arms around him, and pressed myself against him like a second skin, like a shield.

He tensed at first.

But he didn’t fight me.

His breathing hitched, a soft, ragged sound escaping his throat as his claws retracted, slicing slightly along the floor before dulling back into fingers.

His body sagged against mine, muscles still twitching, but the fight... the wild, desperate thrashing... it stopped.

"I’ve got you," I whispered against his shoulder, tightening my hold. "I’m not leaving you."

He pressed his forehead to my collarbone, shuddering.

We stayed like that for hours.

No words. No requests. Just me holding him together while his body tried to pull him apart.

Lyra was quiet in my head. No snarky comments. No teasing jokes. She was just there, always watching, as if she knew this was too much for words.

I could feel his heart beating wildly and erratically, but as the night went on, each beat got less frantic. My legs went numb, but I didn’t move.

By dawn, he was human again.

I felt it before I saw it, the way his body softened against mine, the way his breath finally came without a stutter.

His skin, though still fever-warm, had lost that inhuman shimmer. His fingers, now blunt and bare, clung to the hem of my shirt like a man clinging to a lifeline.

He didn’t speak.

But when I leaned back slightly, brushing his hair from his damp forehead, his eyes met mine.

They were hollow and gutted.

"Please," he whispered, voice raw and so small it cracked something inside me. "Don’t tell Kaiden." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

It wasn’t a command. It was a plea.

I kissed his forehead, lingering there for a breath, feeling his skin burn against my lips. "Alright," I said softly.

—

Two more nights passed.

Two more nights of Aiden thrashing, suppressing Ace, and begging me not to speak.

Silence can be heavy. It holds you down, wrapping around your chest until it becomes hard to breathe. Aiden tried to deal with this weight on his own, but it was starting to affect me as well.

It wasn’t just watching him twist in agony, teeth bared, fingers clawing at the floor like he could dig his way out of his own skin. It was more than the bloodied knuckles and the quiet apologies that came at dawn.

It was the way I could feel it now.

Last night, when he collapsed, I felt the sharp sting lance through my own ribs, a phantom ache that wasn’t mine.

A tearing sensation across my shoulder blades, as if my body was trying to sync with his torment. Lyra had gone rigid inside me, pacing like a caged animal, whispering words I didn’t understand.

The bond was deepening.

And if he drowned, he’d take me with him.

So, that morning, as the first hints of daylight crept through the mansion’s vast windows, I made a decision.

I called Kaiden, and he arrived within the hour.

His suit was impeccable as always, but his expression was a warning in itself. He knew there must be a reason why I called him over... and from the way I sounded, it was definitely not a good reason.

"What’s going on?" he asked the moment I met him at the front entrance, his sharp gaze scanning me as if trying to gauge what was going on.

"A lot," I said, leading him toward the study. "And you’re not going to like it."

He followed in tense silence. Once inside, I closed the door behind us with a soft click, sealing us in.

Kaiden stood by the desk, arms folded, waiting.

I told him everything.

From the first night Aiden overdosed on wolfsbane, to the shattering mirrors, to the nights of fighting himself into exhaustion. I laid it bare. I didn’t sugarcoat it, didn’t soften the edges. Kaiden wasn’t the type to appreciate half-truths.

With every word, his face darkened. His jaw clenched, the muscle ticking sharply as I mentioned the injections. But it wasn’t until I said Aiden had begged me not to tell anyone that Kaiden’s composure cracked.

His fist hit the wall... hard.

The impact vibrated through the floor, a crack spiderwebbing across the plaster.

"Where is he?" Kaiden’s voice was low, dangerous, but controlled... barely.

"In his room."

He didn’t wait for more.

He walked out in a hurry, clearly angry. I followed him, feeling the tension in the air as he marched down the hallway.

The shouting started before I reached the door.

"I told you not to tell him!" Aiden’s roar shook the walls as I stepped into the room.

Aiden stood by the window with his back turned to us, his fists clenched at his sides. The shards of glass from last night’s mirror incident sparkled on the floor, still untouched.

"You told me not to save your life," I said calmly, arms crossed. "I ignored that too."

He turned, eyes blazing, but Kaiden was already between us, like a referee.

"You’re spiralling, Aiden," Kaiden said sharply, ignoring the Alpha title. "If you were anyone else, I’d call it suicide."

Aiden’s laugh was humourless. "Then strip me of my title, Kaid. It’s as simple as that?"

Kaiden’s eyes narrowed. "Don’t you dare twist this. You’re not a martyr, Aiden. You’re being reckless."

"I’m doing what needs to be done."

"Injecting wolfsbane into your bloodstream is not leadership. It’s a death wish."

"I’m keeping Ace in line."

"You’re killing yourself."

"I can handle it."

Kaiden advanced a step, tension rolling off him. "No, you can’t. You’re drowning, and you’re too damn proud to admit it. You think I haven’t seen this before? You think I don’t know what it looks like when a wolf fights itself to death?"

Aiden’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond.

"You’re not infallible, Aiden. You’re not made of stone." Kaiden’s voice softened, but it didn’t lose its edge. "You’re allowed to ask for help. Even as an Alpha."

Aiden stared at me, and I could see something behind his anger: guilt, shame, and something deeper than anything I’d noticed in days.

"You should’ve stayed out of this," he said quietly.

"I’m your mate," I shot back, stepping around Kaiden. "There is no staying out of this."

The room went still.

The silence stretched until it was almost unbearable. Then Kaiden sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "You’re not going to listen to reason, are you?"

"Not if it sounds like surrender."

Kaiden shook his head. "Stubborn as always."

Before anyone could respond, a soft knock echoed from the doorway.

We all turned, and our eyes landed on Aiden’s pack healer... Alara.

"You called her, too?"