Chapter 2

The yacht returned to the pack’s harbor just after dawn.

No one spoke to me as we came ashore. Not Joseph, not Andrew, and certainly not Sarah, who had wept so convincingly the night before that, for a fleeting moment, I had almost questioned my own memory.

Almost.

I stepped onto the stone pier with my clothes still damp from the sea, the cold clinging to my skin as painfully as the humiliation that had settled somewhere beneath my ribs. Joseph had thrown me into those dark waves, knowing perfectly well that I could not swim, and even after another wolf dragged me from the water, he had not shown the slightest trace of regret.

“That is what you deserve,” he had said. “You should learn what happens when jealousy makes you cruel.”

Not an apology.

Not a hand extended to help me stand.

Not even a flicker of guilt in his eyes.

And the stranger who had saved me had disappeared before I could properly see his face. He had come from the water like a shadow summoned by the Moon Goddess, pulled me from death, and vanished among the wolves gathering along the harbor. I did not know his name, his pack, or why the sight of him had left my wolf strangely restless.

Perhaps it was better that way.

I returned to my chambers alone.

For the first time since I was a child, I did not allow myself to cry. I simply opened the cedar chest where I kept my belongings and began to pack.

There was no need for a great deal. A few dresses, my traveling cloak, the small pouch of gold coins my grandmother had left me, the moonstone pendant I had inherited from her, and the documents necessary to cross pack territory. Everything that mattered to me could fit into two traveling trunks.

Everything else could remain behind.

I was fastening the clasp on my final trunk when Sarah's voice suddenly reached me through the mindlink.

Natalie, you should see what I received for my birthday.

I closed my eyes.

Of course.

What did you receive? I asked, though I already knew I would regret it.

Her amusement brushed against my mind.

Joseph gave me something wonderful.

A moment later, an image entered my thoughts.

Sarah stood on the upper deck of the yacht wearing the pale silk robe I had left there, a smug smile upon her lips. Joseph stood behind her with one arm around her waist, while Andrew stood on her other side, looking at her as though she were some precious treasure.

Beneath the image came another thought from Sarah.

And Joseph gave me your new carriage. He said you hardly used it anyway, and the color suits me much better.

I almost laughed.

Even now, she could not resist making certain I knew exactly what she had taken.

I severed the mindlink without answering.

Then I continued packing.

By midday, I had sent word to the head of the household that I would no longer serve as an adviser to the family business. I offered no explanation beyond the fact that I was leaving the territory and would not be returning.

When I returned to my chambers that evening, only one task remained.

I knelt beside my bed and dragged out an old leather chest.

The moment I opened it, memories rose with the scent of aged leather and cedar.

Inside lay the remnants of a life I had once believed would last forever.

Joseph's silver chain rested on top, its small pendant engraved with the private vow he had made to me when we were younger. Beneath it lay the old watch he had given me after winning his first challenge as a young wolf, its glass cracked from the day he had fought a rival on my behalf.

There were letters as well, written in Joseph's uneven hand when we were barely more than children. He had once promised that, when he became Alpha, I would stand beside him as his Luna.

Beside those letters were the notes Andrew had slipped beneath my chamber door during the years when we were all growing up together. He had never openly confessed his feelings, but I had understood them even then.

A worn leather riding coat followed, along with Andrew's old riding helmet, a small wooden music box, and several other tokens of years I had once treasured.

I touched the music box once.

Its familiar melody began to play, soft and trembling beneath the quiet of the room.

I listened until the final note faded.

Then I placed it back in the chest.

There was no reason to carry the past into my future.

I carried the chest into the courtyard, where an old stone brazier stood beneath the moon. One by one, I placed the things inside.

The letters went first.

Then the necklace.

Then the watch.

The old coat followed.

The flames climbed slowly, consuming the words and promises I had once believed were sacred.

By the time Joseph entered the courtyard, half of the chest had already turned to ash.

“Natalie, what are you doing?”

His voice carried across the courtyard, shocked and angry.

I did not turn immediately.

When I finally faced him, Andrew was standing behind him, his gaze fixed upon the fire.

“You are destroying our memories,” Joseph said.

I looked at the burning letters.

“No. I am destroying things that no longer mean anything to me.”

His expression tightened.

“You cannot simply throw away everything we shared because you are angry.”

I gave him a quiet smile.

“Angry?”

I shook my head.

“If I were angry, Joseph, I would still want you to understand why you hurt me. I would still want an apology. I would still want you to choose me.”

His face went pale.

“I no longer want any of those things.”

Andrew stepped forward, his eyes filled with disbelief.

“You are behaving like a spoiled pup. Sarah told us what happened last night, and you still refuse to admit that you were wrong.”

I looked at him for a long moment.

“Sarah received my clothes, my carriage, my place beside Joseph, and apparently both of your loyalty and affection. Since she has taken everything else, let her keep the memories too.”

Andrew's expression faltered.

Joseph stared at me as though he were seeing a stranger.

“You are truly leaving?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

I glanced toward the eastern mountains, where the first pale light of the moon was beginning to silver the peaks.

“Before sunrise.”

Joseph took a step toward me.

“Natalie, wait.”

I moved away before he could reach me.

For years, I had dreamed of hearing those words from him.

Now that they had finally come, they meant nothing.

The flames continued to consume the last of the letters, sending pale ashes into the night.

It was almost amusing.

They had been willing to tear the pack apart over Sarah's tears, yet when I had nearly drowned beneath their eyes, neither of them had cared whether I lived or died.

Now they stood grieving over a handful of ashes.

But the truth was that the woman they were mourning had already disappeared beneath the waves.

The Natalie who loved Joseph, trusted Andrew, and called Sarah her sister was gone.

And by the time the moon set, so would I.