Chapter 423: Chapter 423 Self Doubt

She had leaned on him as her pillar of strength, but now, seeing him weighed down, struggling, left her feeling restless and anxious. She worried about him more than she had about almost anything else. The last time she’d felt this unsettled had been when her twins were sick.

Unlike Zion, who wore his emotions openly when he was with Addison, Addison had always believed Levi to be steady, someone who was a constant source of calm and support. That steadiness was one of a Gamma’s greatest strengths: emotionally grounded and capable of holding up their Luna when storms hit.

For him to feel this low… it meant even his emotional threshold had been shattered. The thought of the damage he must have suffered during the rogue attack made her chest tighten, and she couldn’t even begin to imagine the weight of it.

Addison bit her lower lip, searching for a way to comfort Levi, anything that might help her understand the depth of what he was feeling right now.

She wanted to be there for him just as he had been there for her during the days she doubted herself, when everyone else dismissed her and tore her down. Only Levi believed in her then. Only he stood by her side, telling her she was capable, giving her the strength to keep going.

Levi had done so much for her in silence. Yes, part of it was because he had been her Gamma, but even then, the friendship between them had already begun to bloom. And now that he was her mate, realization hit her with a pang of guilt that she might have neglected him without meaning to.

He had always been her quiet protector, always there, always steady. Perhaps she had taken him for granted… the same way Zion and the Midnight River Pack had taken her for granted when she was still their Luna.

Addison dragged a hand down her face, feeling as if she had failed him in more ways than she realized. She had grown so used to Levi’s quiet presence, so used to his steady companionship, that he had slowly slipped out of her line of sight, even after he became her mate.

He was always so accommodating, so careful around her, that he never once fought for her attention the way Maxwell or Zion did, both of them desperate to monopolize her, to possess her completely. Levi, on the other hand, simply stayed… unnoticed, unwavering, and painfully patient.

“Haist…” Addison released a long, frustrated sigh, not at Levi, but at herself. With everything happening in her life, she had somehow overlooked the one person who had always been her most steadfast companion.

But that sigh didn’t go unnoticed.

Inside the room, Levi had been attuned to her presence the moment she approached. He could smell her scent seeping through the cracks beneath the door, could feel the faint shift in the air when she stopped right outside. And when he heard that frustrated exhale, his gaze immediately dropped, a bitter, self-mocking smile tugging at his lips.

’Of course,’ he thought. ’I must really be that disappointing if Addie is worrying over my incompetence.’

“What are you, a kid? Why are you playing this self-pity game right now? You seriously think this helps?” Levi’s wolf snarled inside him, pacing restlessly in his mind. It wasn’t angry at him; it was anxious.

It feared that Addison might misunderstand, that this moment of weakness would only create more distance between them. But what could it do? Its human counterpart was drowning in self-pity, and no matter how much it pushed, Levi wasn’t hearing it.

The wolf couldn’t fully blame him either. It had only just awakened after being forcefully severed from Levi because of the wolfsbane. Even now, the lingering poison still restrained its strength, but it had instinctively done everything it could to support Levi through it.

Yet here they were, having survived the brink of death, only for Levi to spiral into doubt, guilt, and emotions the wolf could barely understand. Wolves lived through instinct and feeling, not messy human rationality, and Levi’s current turmoil was something even his wolf struggled to navigate.

So while Levi sank deeper and deeper into his darkening emotions, his wolf could only try to pull him back, reasoning with him in the only way it knew how.

“Levi, pull yourself together. We may be weak right now, but we can grow stronger again, just like we always have. Hard work pays off… you know that.”

Even as it spoke, the wolf felt its own spirit sag. It had fought alongside Levi for years, pushing their limits, training relentlessly so that one day, when they finally faced Greg again, they could make him pay for what he did to Addison, and for the torture that had nearly cost Levi his life.

But when they did meet Greg again… they still fell for his dirty tricks. They still couldn’t overpower him. They almost died a second time.

So really… who wouldn’t feel disheartened?

But then again, it wasn’t as if Greg fought them fairly either, not even close. Their defeat had nothing to do with Levi’s strength alone. As werewolves, they upheld honor and pride above everything.

Greg, on the other hand, was a lowlife who would stoop to anything to get what he wanted. Honor meant nothing to him. Pride meant nothing to him. And that was exactly why he had fallen so low.

So for Levi to think so little of himself, after everything he endured, after fighting with integrity when Greg never did, was something his wolf refused to accept.

“Tell me… do you think I even deserve to be with Addie? To be her mate? Or was it all just a mistake, and I was added as nothing more than a backup?” Levi finally voiced the fear gnawing at him.

Addison’s other two mates were both Alphas, powerful ones at that, blessed with bloodlines and strength far beyond ordinary Alphas. And him? He was just a Beta who somehow got tossed into the mix. Even though he had grown stronger over the years, it still felt like it would never be enough.

He had tried to ignore that truth for so long, convincing himself that he would work hard, become worthy of her, prove his place. But now… everything that happened felt like a cruel reminder. A slap that jolted him awake from a dream he had been desperate to believe was real.

“Shut up! Don’t you dare say that!” his wolf snapped, its voice a furious snarl in Levi’s mind. “Are you seriously telling me the Moon Goddess made a mistake? That She just accidentally tied us to Addison? Everything that’s happening, all of it, is part of fate. Things fall into place for a reason. That includes us being her mate. It means she needs us too…”

The anger in its voice gradually wavered, softening despite its attempt to stay fierce. By the time it finished speaking, the growl had faded into a low, aching whine, like even the wolf itself was hurt, forcing strength it didn’t truly feel, trying to hold the pieces together for both itself and Levi.

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