Chapter 3
I spent the next two days quietly preparing. Packing only what was mine—which wasn't much. A few clothes. My mother's locket. A journal of pressed wildflowers from the first year of my marriage, back when I still believed in the fairy tale.
I didn't cry. I was past crying.
On my last evening, I went to find Kael. He was in his office—always in his office now—and for once, Serena wasn't attached to his shadow.
I knocked. Entered without waiting.
He looked up, and something in his expression shifted. Surprise. Maybe even concern.
"Nora. What is it?"
I set a single sheet of paper on his desk. My resignation as Luna—handwritten, signed, dated.
He stared at it like I'd placed a severed head before him.
"What the hell is this?"
"I'm leaving." Simple. Clean. Final.
He stood so fast his chair hit the wall behind him. "You can't just—"
"The contract says you owe me nothing once Serena returns," I said. "She's returned. We're done."
"That's not—" He ran a hand through his hair, agitation rolling off him in waves I didn't understand. "Where will you go? You have no family. No pack—"
"That's not your concern anymore."
"Nora." He came around the desk, reaching for me. His hand closed around my arm, warm and firm. "Listen to me. I never wanted it to happen like this. I was going to talk to you—explain—"
"Explain what?" My voice finally cracked. "That you kept me like a placeholder for three years? That every time you kissed me goodnight, you were counting down the days until she woke up?"
His grip tightened. Something raw flashed across his face.
"It wasn't like that. I—I care about you, Nora."
"But you don't love me."
Silence. Heavy, damning silence.
"That's what I thought."
I pulled my arm free and walked toward the door. My fingers touched the handle.
"Nora—wait."
I paused. Didn't turn around.
His voice came out rough, almost broken. "At least tell me where you're going."
"Somewhere you can't find me."
I opened the door and walked out of his life.
The night air hit my face like a slap. Cold, biting, real. I walked past the guards, past the pack house gates, past the tree where Kael had first held my hand and told me I was *safe now.*
A black car idled at the end of the road—arranged through the one contact I had left. An old friend of my mother's, someone who owed a debt.
I climbed in without looking back.
As the car pulled away, something strange happened. A warmth ignited deep in my chest—somewhere primal, somewhere buried. It pulsed once, twice, like a second heartbeat trying to wake.
My vision blurred. For a split second, I could have sworn my eyes glowed gold in the rearview mirror.
But that was impossible.
I was wolfless.
Wasn't I?
---
I didn't cry. I was past crying.
On my last evening, I went to find Kael. He was in his office—always in his office now—and for once, Serena wasn't attached to his shadow.
I knocked. Entered without waiting.
He looked up, and something in his expression shifted. Surprise. Maybe even concern.
"Nora. What is it?"
I set a single sheet of paper on his desk. My resignation as Luna—handwritten, signed, dated.
He stared at it like I'd placed a severed head before him.
"What the hell is this?"
"I'm leaving." Simple. Clean. Final.
He stood so fast his chair hit the wall behind him. "You can't just—"
"The contract says you owe me nothing once Serena returns," I said. "She's returned. We're done."
"That's not—" He ran a hand through his hair, agitation rolling off him in waves I didn't understand. "Where will you go? You have no family. No pack—"
"That's not your concern anymore."
"Nora." He came around the desk, reaching for me. His hand closed around my arm, warm and firm. "Listen to me. I never wanted it to happen like this. I was going to talk to you—explain—"
"Explain what?" My voice finally cracked. "That you kept me like a placeholder for three years? That every time you kissed me goodnight, you were counting down the days until she woke up?"
His grip tightened. Something raw flashed across his face.
"It wasn't like that. I—I care about you, Nora."
"But you don't love me."
Silence. Heavy, damning silence.
"That's what I thought."
I pulled my arm free and walked toward the door. My fingers touched the handle.
"Nora—wait."
I paused. Didn't turn around.
His voice came out rough, almost broken. "At least tell me where you're going."
"Somewhere you can't find me."
I opened the door and walked out of his life.
The night air hit my face like a slap. Cold, biting, real. I walked past the guards, past the pack house gates, past the tree where Kael had first held my hand and told me I was *safe now.*
A black car idled at the end of the road—arranged through the one contact I had left. An old friend of my mother's, someone who owed a debt.
I climbed in without looking back.
As the car pulled away, something strange happened. A warmth ignited deep in my chest—somewhere primal, somewhere buried. It pulsed once, twice, like a second heartbeat trying to wake.
My vision blurred. For a split second, I could have sworn my eyes glowed gold in the rearview mirror.
But that was impossible.
I was wolfless.
Wasn't I?
---