“A pack meeting?”
I frowned at the unexpected announcement, blinking up at Patricia as she leaned against my dorm room door with her usual warm smile and a steaming mug of tea in hand. I had only been in Florence for a 8 months now, and while I was slowly adjusting to the rhythms of my new life–classes, work at the library, and quiet evenings spent sketching or walking through the old stone alleys–the word pack still made something inside me flinch.
Patricia must’ve seen the hesitation on my face. “It’s a memorial gathering,” she explained gently. “Today would’ve been the Luna’s birthday.”
“Oh,” I murmured, unsure what to say.
Wait a minute…
“The Luna… was dead?”
The pain in her expression told me all I needed to know. Patricia nodded, her eyes distant with the weight of memory. “She died years ago. The Alpha’s
mate.”
That caught my attention more than anything.
I’d never heard of an Alpha surviving after the death of.their fated mate.
Every story, every whispered warning, always ended with the same conclusion: death followed.
It was a bond too sacred to be severed without consequence. Fated mates were life itself. When one half died, the other didn’t last long. They couldn’t.
But apparently, he had.”
“Alpha Francesco Totti Lycaon,” Patricia added quietly, her voice laced with something that felt like reverence and pity. “He hasn’t been seen by the pack
in almost a decade.”
I tilted my head in confusion. “So… who runs everything?”
“The Beta. Alfonso,” Patricia answered. “He’s the one you met when you arrived. Most days, he’s the only one allowed near the Alpha’s quarters.”
I remembered the tall, commanding man with kind but tired eyes who had welcomed me upon arrival and explained the basics of my stay. He’d felt like a leader, not a placeholder.
But now it made sense.
A shadow passed through the room as Louis stepped in, carrying a basket of fruit and bread like he always did when Patricia visited. His gray–streaked beard twitched slightly as he snorted. “You’re coming to the gathering, El. No one skips the Luna’s birthday.”
“But “I hesitated, unsure if I had the right to intrude. I was still new. Still unknown. “I barely know anyone. Do I even have to go?”
“You’re a wolf. You live in this territory. You have to,” Louis replied, setting the basket down on my small wooden table with a gentle thud. “Besides, it’s good for you to be seen. And you should hear the stories. Everyone needs to know who she was. Who they were.”
The reverence in his tone made my curiosity burn hotter.
I sat down slowly. “So the Alpha… hasn’t spoken to the pack since… she died?”
“He tried to die with her,” Patricia whispered, not looking at me. “But he couldn’t.”
My brows drew together. “Why not?”
Louis looked at me as if the answer were obvious. “Because he’s not like us. He’s not just a wolf.”
1/4
Chapter 5
I blinked. “He’s a Lycan?”
The words felt foreign in my mouth. Ancient. Powerful. Dark.
I never knew it still exist.
Louis nodded, and I saw Patricia cross herself unconsciously, as though just speaking the word invoked something sacred-
-or cursed.
“He’s the last,” Louis murmured. “A descendant of the old bloodlines, Lycaon family. From the time when Lycans ruled the forests and bathed in war. Ruthless. Unforgiving. More beast than man.”
“But I thought… Lycans couldn’t have mates?” I asked softly, struggling to reconcile the stories I’d grown up with.
“They weren’t supposed to,” Patricia replied. “The moon goddess never intended it. Lycans were born from chaos. From war and death. She only gave mates to werewolves. But somehow…” She looked up at me with a tremble in her voice. “He found her. His one.”
I sat back, stunned.
A Lycan who found love. And then lost it.
What kind of torment must that be?
“They say he went mad the day she died,” Patricia continued. “He tore through the woods for days. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t eat. When they found him, he had nearly torn himself apart. But he wouldn’t die. His blood was too strong. His beast wouldn’t let him go.”
I swallowed hard, feeling something tighten in my chest.
Pain recognized pain…
No, my mate hadn’t died. But Ruben might as well have. He’d chosen someone else. Rejected the bond. Abandoned me.
And though I was still standing, my soul had splintered.
I hadn’t seen Mika since that day. The ceremony. The vow. The moment the bond snapped and took my wolf with it.
I still felt her, faint and aching. Like a whisper in a hurricane.
But she never spoke anymore.
And now I was here, in a land far from home, learning that even an Alpha, even a Lycan–something more powerful than anything I’d ever known- couldn’t escape the agony of losing their mate.
“Okay.. I’ll go,” I said quietly. “To the gathering.”
Patricia gave me a small smile. “Good.”
That evening, the pack house grounds were filled with soft lights and murmuring voices.
Wolves from all parts of the territory had gathered, dressed in modest finery, carrying flowers or trinkets to place at the memorial altar near the old tree at the heart of the compound.
But I didn’t see or sense the Alpha. Didn’t he supposedly here?
I stood alone near the back, a simple black dress hugging my frame, my fingers nervously toying with the edge of a scarf Maria had given me before I left.
I felt out of place.
I always did.
10:49 Sat, 120
Chapter 5
TGO
No one here knew my story. No one knew the reason I couldn’t bring myself to smile or why I flinched at the sound of vows and laughter
And I wanted to keep it that way.
I didn’t need their pity. I didn’t want their sympathy.
Ruben Black had already taken everything from me, and still, I had survived.
They didn’t know that. And I liked it that way.
The Beta stepped forward to speak, his voice deep and calm. He told stories about Luna Anastasia–how kind she’d been, how fierce she’d fought beside her mate, how her laughter had filled these very halls with light. He spoke of the day she died, and how the Alpha had never spoken a word tince.
I listened, silent tears streaming down my cheeks.
Grief was universal, it seemed. Whether by death or betrayal, loss hollowed out the soul the same way.
After the speeches ended, people began to place their offerings by the altar.
I didn’t bring anything. But I walked forward anyway,
As I approached, I looked up at the tree. It was tall and wide, its bark old and gnarled, as though it had been here long before even the pack itself. A silver plaque sat at its base:
Luna Anastasia Vallery Lycaon
Beloved. Remembered. Eternal.
I reached into my coat and pulled out a small folded sketch.
A drawing of a pair of wolves–one with wings, the other with eyes full of sorrow.
It was the first thing I’d drawn after the ceremony. After losing Mika. After losing everything.
I placed it gently on the ground.
“I hope you find her again someday,” I whispered, not sure if I was talking to the Alpha… or myself.
As I turned to leave, I felt something.
A shift…
A presence.
My breath hitched as I glanced up toward the pack house windows.
And there he was.
A figure standing in the shadows of the upper balcony. Tall. Broad. Still as stone. But his eyes–gods, those eyes—burned with silver fire.
Francesco Totti Lycaon.
The Alpha…. The Lycan…
He’s alive… And watching.
Our eyes met for just a second.
And in that second, I felt something stir deep in my chest.
16:49 Sat, 1zZJU
Chapter 5
Not a bond. Not love. But recognition.
I could see that he was broken.
Just like me.
料理
