Chapter 7
When Kaelan’s call came through, I was already standing in line at the departure gate, my wolf restless and aching in my chest.
Freya’s sobbing was tearing me apart inside.[]
Every time I turned to comfort her, the ringtone would slice through the moment like a blade.[]
I finally just turned off my phone–I couldn’t handle hearing his voice right now.
“Alina, sob sob, your wound barely got disinfected–they didn’t even bandage it properly! When you land, you have to go to a pack doctor right away, waaaah-“]]
We held each other and cried, and I gently wiped away her tears, my own heart shattering with each of her sobs.]
The gate agents kept urging us to board. I finally had to let go, my soul feeling like it was being ripped in half as I walked further and further away while she watched through her tears.]
The truth was… I was running away, and I knew it.
Like some kind of survival mechanism, I was deliberately numbing the emotional agony, forcing myself not to think about those people and what they’d done to me.]
It wasn’t until I boarded the plane and saw the pitch–black night outside the window that the reality hit me like a physical blow–I was really leaving The Howling Vale, the only home I’d ever known.
I was really going to live my own life, completely alone, in a future that terrified me.]
My wolf whimpered, curling up small and wounded inside me as I pressed my face against the cold window and finally let myself cry.Л]
…0
Meanwhile, outside a hospital room in The Howling Vale, Alpha Kaelan stared at his phone’s busy signal, his wolf pacing anxiously as his frown deepened.[]
This was the tenth call he’d made to Alina.[]
No matter how badly they’d fought before, she’d never gone completely silent like this. His wolf was starting to panic.
He ran his hand over his face in frustration. “Damn it! Causes all this trouble and won’t even answer her phone!“]
His words were harsh, but the worry in his eyes was growing heavier by the minute.
The way Alina had looked at him when she left the ceremony–like he’d betrayed everything they’d ever been to each other—it made his chest ache just thinking about it.[]
She… had she taken her anger with him out on Zaria?
He’d definitely lost control today. No matter what, he shouldn’t have picked up that wine glass…]
Chapter
“Still can’t get through?“]
“No.”
“Don’t worry. When we left, she seemed… fine.”
Lucian’s words grew less confident as he spoke, his own wolf growing agitated.]]
Fine?
Something felt off. Like he was missing some crucial detail that his wolf was trying to tell him.
Like… the sharp intake of breath Alina had made when he pushed her away.
He’d noticed it at the time.]
had always been like that–wherever Alina was, she drew his attention first, always. His wolf recognized her before his brain even processed her presence.[]
Even when the situation told him there were more important things to do, more urgent people who needed him.
But he’d still unconsciously keep part of his mind on her every move, his wolf instinctively protective.[]
Today Alina had been acting completely wrong, and he hadn’t bothered to ask why!
Alina’s furrowed brow, the tears gathering in her eyes, and that look–one he hadn’t seen in years–of desperate dependence on him…]
That heartbroken, utterly hopeless tone:]
“Lucian, you believe me, please believe me!“]
“Shit-”
Something sharp twisted in his chest, and Lucian pressed his hand over his heart as his wolf howled in distress.
“Kaelan, the pack doctor said Zaria didn’t fracture anything–probably just bumped herself when she fell. You stay with her. I’m going back to check on Alina!”
“Wait, I’m coming too.”
“You stay with Zaria!“]
For some reason, his wolf absolutely didn’t want Kaelan coming with him, and he definitely didn’t want to wait for Zaria’s examination to finish.
He was starting to feel like something was spinning wildly out of his control, heading in a direction that made his wolf bare its teeth in warning.
He couldn’t figure out what exactly, but he knew one thing with crystal clarity–he needed to see Alina. His wolf was practically clawing at him to get to her.
Chapter 7
As soon as he saw her, he’d apologize![]
It was just a mating ceremony, right? They’d have one. He’d arrange it himself, make it perfect for her.
“Then Alina won’t be angry anymore…“]]
He muttered to himself, running into the endless night as his wolf urged him faster, faster, something was wrong, something was terribly wrong.
