Chapter 16
“I can see why they gave you the scholarship,” Alpha Francesco said after a moment, his voice low but sincere.
let out a soft chuckle, brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.
“It was a way to run, really,” I admitted. My gaze drifted upward, drawn to the moon hanging high above us—full and luminous, a silent witness to my truths. “A chance to disappear and not be questioned.”
He didn’t respond, not right away.
When I turned back to him, I found his eyes already on me, unmoving and unreadable.
I should’ve been nervous under that kind of scrutiny, but somehow, I wasn’t.
He wasn’t judging.
He was… observing.
‘Young but hurting, he thought to himself.
And beautiful‘, Lucas–the wolf within–added with uncharacteristic softness.
“I know what it means to run,” he finally said. “And what it costs.”
The words felt heavier than I expected. And real…
(+28)
“I’m sorry,” I said softly, not even sure what exactly I was apologizing for–his past, his pain, or the way my own scars were showing more than I intended.
He gave a slow shake of his head. “Don’t be. Some of us only find clarity when we’re far away from everything.”
I let out a shaky breath and look up to the sky, trying hard not to cry, not in front of him. “I came here to heal. But healing isn’t… linear. Some days I feel like I’m getting better. Then other days… one nightmare and I’m back where I started.”
“Nightmares,” he echoed, the word clipped, his tone shifting.
I nodded, looking away.
There was a pause, and then he sat back down on the bench, motioning for me to do the same.
I hesitated, then settled onto the far end.
Silence settled again, but this time it was less awkward and more… tentative. Like neither of us wanted to break whatever fragile thing hung in the air.
“I have them too,” he said suddenly.
I turned to look at him in surprise.
The moonlight caught the sharp lines of his face, and for a moment, I imagined what he must’ve looked like before grief carved its place into him. Before loss.
“She died in my arms,” he said, his voice flat. “And for the longest time, I believed the Moon Goddess made a mistake.”
“I’m so sorry…” I whispered, my fingers tightening around the edge of my sketchbook.
He didn’t acknowledge the sympathy.
Instead, he stared out into the overgrown garden. “There are days I can’t breathe in this place. And nights I walk just to feel the earth under my feet–like
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Chapter 16
it’ll remind me I’m still alive,”
Something cracked in my chest…
Oh God.. I know how it feel
Not because of the tragedy of it. But because I understood it. I know how does it feel to just…living.
“I was rejected by my fated mate,” I said, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. “He said I wasn’t enough. That someone else was better suited for him. That love was a choice, and he didn’t choose me.”
He didn’t flinch or look surprised.
He just looked at me… Make me look down in shyness.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, and the words felt different coming from him.
Not empty. Not out of politeness.
I can feel that he meant it.
“I used to think the bond was everything,” I whispered. “But now I don’t know. Maybe… maybe it’s not about being chosen by fate. Maybe it’s about choosing yourself first.”
Francesco looked at me for a long moment, then slowly nodded. “That’s a lesson most don’t learn until it’s too late.”
A rustle in the distance went unnoticed by us, but not by the guards posted around the garden.
From behind the glass doors of the mansion, Beta Alfonso stood watching, arms crossed over his chest, his heart heavy and his mind racing.
It was the first time the Alpha had left his quarters at night without it being for training or patrol.
It was also the first time he had spoken this much in weeks.
The first time his eyes held anything other than grief.
And it was because of her.
Ellaine Aurora Rollin.
Young. Damaged. Quiet. But unlike anyone they’d ever seen enter this house.
Alfonso’s jaw tensed. He’d lost too much to let his Alpha suffer another blow. And now… now it was clear.
The girl must be protected–with their lives.
He sent a silent mind–link to every warrior stationed around the estate.
“Ellaine Rollin is now under elite protection. Round–the–clock watch. No threat, no stranger, no shadow touches her without our knowledge.
Understood?”
“Understood, Beta.”
Back in the garden, I didn’t know what forces were being set into motion around me. I just knew that this moment, this conversation, felt important.
“You put the painting…” I said after a moment, breaking the quiet. “You put it in the hall. I didn’t think you’d keep it or put it there.”
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He looked at me again, his face unreadable.
“I didn’t keep it,” he said. “I honored it.”
I blinked. How?
“You brought her back,” he continued. “Not just her face. Her essence. You made me remember who she was, not just how she died.”
I didn’t know what to say.
He understands why I draw her, why I painting her the way I am because I want people to see the true her, the way I capture her in my mind and put it in
the canvas.
“I used to believe no one would ever understand what it means to lose something that was part of your soul,” he said, standing slowly. “But maybe… you
do”
He turned toward the path that led back to the house, and I felt my heart stutter.
He paused and looked over his shoulder. “You can stay in the garden as long as you like.” Then he added, “The roses bloom better with company.”
I watched him disappear into the shadows, his figure slowly fading beneath the arch of the old stone gate.
I stared after him for a long time, hand pressed to my chest.
What was this?
A moment? A connection?
Whatever it was, it mattered.
I glanced down at the sketchbook still open in my lap. The blue rose was perfectly captured, delicate and soft on the page.
But now, I felt the need to add something more.
A figure. A shadow.
A silent Alpha sitting under the moonlight as a girl with too many scars tried to remember what peace felt like.
I sketched him from memory, placing him on the bench, the moon above, and roses around. Not as a leader. Not as a warrior. But as a man. A grieving soul who had, for the first time in a long while, chosen to sit with someone else in the dark.
And for the first time since arriving in Italy, I didn’t feel broken.
I felt seen.
I didn’t know what tomorrow would bring.
But tonight?
Tonight, I was exactly where I needed to be.
