—- Chapter 7 I made my rejection clear. But it didn’t matter. They came anyway. I returned from patrol, boots still caked in dust and ash, only to find them waiting outside the Outpost gates-four shadows I had no use for anymore: my father, my mother, Dax… and Cain. The Ashveil Pack’s core. They lit up like they’d found something they’d lost. “Vera! You’re back!” Cain stepped forward first, before Dax could block him. “Long time no see,” he said softly. He looked wrecked. Bloodshot eyes.
Shaky hands. The kind of desperation that used to stir something in me. Now, it just made me tired. “We’re over,” I said flatly. “Why are you here?” His mouth twitched, trying to hold something in. —- “] didn’t agree to that. It was just a fight.” “J don’t need your permission to leave.” I didn’t raise my voice. The truth was enough. When I looked past him to the others, I saw them flinch- small reactions, but they were there. “T heard what you said that day,” I added. My mother looked away.
F
My father’s jaw clenched. Even Dax didn’t meet my eyes. “Cain was never meant for me,” I went on. “He loved Eris from the start. But his bloodline wasn’t good enough for her. So you gave him me instead. I was a placeholder. A distraction. A Luna decoy.” “That’s not-” my mother tried, but even she didn’t sound convinced. “We didn’t know-” Dax muttered. I didn’t need to hear the rest. Cain’s voice cracked next. “Yes, I liked Eris before-but that changed! We were bonded.
Of course I cared for you!” Inodded once. —- And his eyes lit up. Until I said, “But you didn’t show up for our mating ceromony. That was your last chance. There won’t be another.” “There can be another! I already ordered your new bonding robes-same maker, your favorite fabric. The ceremony can be redone. It can be better!” He reached for me, hands desperate. “Please, Vera. I never stopped caring. I just… didn’t think you’d really leave. I was stupid. I was scared.” His touch was warm.
Familiar. Once, I would’ve leaned into it. Now, it only reminded me how much colder he’d made me feel. “You say you love me,” I said. “But love doesn’t use someone to patch up a broken past.” “Love isn’t guilt. It’s not obligation. You leaned on my loyalty like it owed you something.” “You knew what I wanted. I wanted to be chosen.”
