Chapter 22
I was discharged three days later.
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Physically, I felt better–stronger–but something had shifted inside me. I was still trying to process everything: the attack, the voice in my dreams, and those impossibly rare blue roses that waited by my bedside like a silent vow.
Everyone was careful with me, walking on glass, it seemed. Audrey barely left my side. Patricia visited every day, sometimes bringing food, sometimes books, sometimes just sitting beside me in comfortable silence. Monica would drop in with those quiet little jokes of hers, trying to make me laugh.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Francesco. The Alpha.
The man who had sat by my side each night as I hovered between pain and unconsciousness.
The voice in the dark.
I hadn’t seen him since waking up, but I felt him. In the glances exchanged between the pack members. In the tension when his name came up. In the way Beta Alfonso would stop mid–sentence sometimes, like biting back something important.
And then there were the roses.
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Still fresh, even after days. Still beautiful. Still impossibly blue.
I touched their petals every night before bed, wondering what he was thinking when he left them. Wondering if he’d say anything the next time we met.
If he would come.
If he’d keep his promise.
The first night back in the dorms was strange.
The sculpture courtyard–now fully closed off and guarded–remained quiet. Rumors were swirling around campus. Someone had vandalized the grounds, they said. The university wanted to keep the details vague. After all, most students were humans.
The official story was that a group of students had snuck into the courtyard late at night, and some sort of accident had happened. No names were
released.
They didn’t mention me.
But word traveled fast in the supernatural world. Every werewolf on campus knew I’d been involved. The Sculpture Guild members–Jose’s team–came
to see me the next morning.
“We… we got the top score,” Angela said awkwardly, wringing her hands. “But we didn’t know–when they announced it–we didn’t know you were… that you’d been hurt. Professor Eliana told us later that you’re hurt because of the vandalism but they didn’t want anyone to now about it–”
Katrina stepped forward. “We’re sorry, Ellaine. Truly. If only we’re going with you that night”
I gave them a small smile. “I’m glad you did well. That’s what matters.”
But the room went quiet. Even I could hear it in my voice–soft, sincere, but distant, they know that I am still hurting and didn’t stay long.
I looked at the three of them, seeing how genuinely shaken they were. They weren’t like the others- they were human, and they didn’t know the weight
of what it meant to be a werewolf, to face rogue threats or protect secrets most of their kind would never believe. But still, they cared.
Jose gave me a gentle pat on the arm before they turned to go.
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16:54 Sat, 12 Jul TG OF
Chapter 22
Later that night, I stepped out onto my balcony.
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The moon hung low, fat and golden behind streaks of cloud. The night air was cool against my skin, a quiet balm for the invisible bruises I still carried.
I could feel the energy shifting in the air. My wolf, Mika, still hadn’t spoken, but I could feel her presence now–closer than before. Watching. Waiting.
I wrapped my sweater tighter around my frame and leaned against the railing, staring out at the garden below.
And then–A sound….
Not footsteps. Not the rustle of wind.
Something… more.
A presence.
My breath hitched.
I turned slowly to see he was there.
Standing at the edge of the shadows near the courtyard path. Tall. Still. A silhouette outlined by moonlight and something deeper–something ancient and magnetic.
Francesco…
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He didn’t speak. Didn’t move closer.
He was watching me, just as I’d felt him do for nights now.
And for reasons I didn’t understand, tears stung my eyes.
I wasn’t afraid.
I wasn’t even nervous.
I was just… full. Full of questions. Emotions. Gratitude. Hope. Pain.
I stepped forward, slowly descending the stone steps, my slippers soft against the earth. The cool breeze tugged at my hair, but I didn’t stop until I was standing a few feet from him.
“You know I always remember,” I whispered.
His eyes–dark, stormy, beautiful–locked on mine.
“remember your voice,” I said. “In the dream. In the dark.”
Still, he said nothing. So, I kept going.
“You were there, weren’t you? Every night. Not just at the infirmary, but… before that. In my dreams. When I was lost.”
His gaze softened. “Yes,” he said quietly.
My heart clenched.
So, it was true… It’s him.
“Why?” I asked, the word trembling on my lips. “Why did you stay, Alpha?”
His expression shifted, something unreadable passing over his face.
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16:54 Sat, 12 Jul T GO.
Chapter 22
“Francesco.. Just Francesco.” he said, voice low. “Maybe because I saw your pain… and it reflected my own.”
! blinked, startled.
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He stepped closer, slow and deliberate, until I could see the tired lines around his eyes, the tension in his jaw, the weight of a thousand unspoken truths.
“You know I lost someone,” he said. “My Anastasia. Long time ago.”
My chest tightened.
“But when I saw you–when I felt you hurting…” He paused. “Something inside me stirred. Something that hadn’t moved in years.”
He raised a hand, slowly, as if afraid I’d flinch.
But, I didn’t.
He brushed a strand of hair from my face, fingertips barely grazing my skin. “You weren’t supposed to mean anything to me,” he whispered. “But somehow, you do.”
I looked up at him, the moonlight catching the silver flecks in his eyes.
“I don’t know what this is either,” I admitted. “But when I heard your voice, I didn’t feel alone anymore.”
His hand dropped, and we stood there in silence, staring at each other.
Not awkward. Not heavy.
Just…still.
Connected by something unspoken.
Something growing.
Something that terrified and comforted me all at once.
Because I don’t know what I feel right now
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