Chapter 3

Joseph and Andrew did not give up easily.

After watching the last of our memories disappear into the flames, they seemed suddenly desperate to repair what they had spent so long destroying. They stood before me like two lost wolves reaching for a bond that had already been severed, neither willing to accept that I had finally stopped waiting for them.

“Come with us, Natalie,” Joseph said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Let us take you to dinner. We will go somewhere you like.”

Andrew nodded beside him, his usual arrogance replaced by something almost pleading.

“Our favorite place,” he added. “Just one meal. Give us the chance to make amends.”

I studied their faces before giving a small nod.

“All right.”

Neither of them knew that, in my heart, I had already decided it would be the last meal we would ever share.

We traveled in silence through the darkened streets, Joseph guiding the carriage while Andrew sat beside me. The rain had begun to fall by the time we reached the edge of the city, tapping steadily against the windows.

Then Andrew's pocket vibrated.

He drew out his phone and frowned at the screen.

“It is Sarah.”

I looked toward the window and said nothing.

He answered through the mindlink a moment later, his expression changing almost immediately.

“Sarah, what happened?”

Her frightened voice entered all three of our minds.

The lights have gone out, and someone broke into the house. I heard someone downstairs. I am frightened, Andrew. Please come quickly.

Joseph's hands tightened around the reins.

“Is she alone?”

Yes.

Sarah's voice trembled.

Please, Joseph. I do not know what to do.

He exchanged a glance with Andrew before looking at me.

“Natalie, you have to leave the carriage.”

I stared at him.

“Why?”

“We need to make certain Sarah is safe.”

“And I am not allowed to come?”

His expression hardened with impatience.

“This does not concern you. We will return after we have dealt with the intruder.”

I almost smiled at the familiar cruelty of it.

After everything that had happened, they were still choosing her without hesitation.

The carriage stopped beside an empty road. Before I could say another word, the door opened, and Joseph motioned for me to step down.

“Get out.”

I looked at Andrew, waiting for him to object.

He did not.

I stepped onto the wet road.

The door closed behind me, and moments later, the carriage disappeared into the rain.

I remained there beneath the dark sky, watching the red glow of its lanterns fade into the distance.

For a long moment, I felt nothing.

Then I smiled.

Not because it did not hurt, but because I finally understood that there was nothing left to save.

They had not invited me to dinner because they wanted to repair our bond.

They had invited me because they wanted to convince themselves that they were not the villains in my story.

The meal had never been a beginning.

It had been a farewell feast, and they simply did not know they were attending the funeral of everything we had once been.

I removed my shoes after walking several streets.

The delicate satin had become heavy with rain, and my feet were beginning to ache. I carried them in one hand while my gown dragged through puddles beneath my cloak.

No passing carriage stopped for me.

Perhaps the sight of a lone woman wandering through the rain made the drivers wary. Perhaps I simply no longer belonged anywhere.

Eventually, I turned into a narrow alley, hoping it would lead toward the main road.

It did not.

A figure stepped from the shadows.

The moment I saw the knife in his hand, my wolf snarled.

“Give me your purse.”

I tightened my grip.

He lunged.

I fought back with everything I had, clawing at his arms and trying to reach the mouth of the alley, but he was stronger.

The blade entered my side.

A terrible heat spread through my body.

Before I could recover, he struck again, and then once more when I fell to my knees.

I remember the rain striking my face.

I remember the taste of blood.

I remember thinking that the Moon Goddess had a cruel sense of humor.

After surviving the sea, perhaps I was destined to die on dry land.

Then I heard footsteps.

A carriage stopped somewhere beyond the alley.

A man's voice called out, followed by hurried movement.

Strong arms lifted me from the ground.

I forced my eyes open.

And there he was.

The stranger from the sea.

The same wolf who had pulled me from the dark waters after Joseph cast me overboard.

I had thought I would never see him again.

Yet here he was, holding me against his chest, his white shirt stained crimson where my blood had soaked through.

His golden eyes burned with an intensity that made my wolf stir despite my weakness.

“Stay awake,” he commanded.

His voice was deep, calm, and unmistakably authoritative.

“You will not die here.”

I tried to focus on his face.

“Who... are you?”

For a moment, something softened in his expression.

“Raphael.”

The name settled somewhere deep within me.

Then darkness claimed me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying beneath white linen in the healers' ward.

For seven days, I remained there.

The healers tended my wounds while I drifted between fever and sleep. My mother sent no word because I had forbidden the healers from contacting my family. I did not want anyone from my former life to know where I was.

I needed those seven days to mourn the woman I had been.

The woman who had believed Joseph's promises.

The woman who had trusted Sarah.

The woman who had mistaken Andrew's concern for loyalty.

By the time I was strong enough to leave, I had already decided that none of them would ever have another place in my life.

I was gathering my belongings in the corridor when voices echoed from the entrance.

I looked up.

Sarah was being carried into the healers' ward on a wooden stretcher, her arms wrapped in bloodstained bandages. Her face was pale, her hair disheveled, and tears streamed freely down her cheeks.

Joseph walked beside her, holding her hand.

Andrew followed close behind, carrying her belongings.

They were so focused on her that neither noticed me at first.

Then Joseph looked up.

He stopped as though he had seen a ghost.

“Natalie?”

Andrew turned sharply.

His face lost all color.

“You are here?”

I looked down at my hand, where a strip of healing cloth still covered the place where the healer had removed the vein needle.

“Yes,” I said quietly.

Joseph stepped toward me.

“Were you injured?”

I almost laughed.

“You did not know?”

His expression changed.

“What do you mean?”

“I have been here for seven days.”

Silence fell between us.

“You were here?” Andrew whispered.

I looked from him to Joseph.

“Seven days,” I repeated. “I was fighting to stay alive for seven days, and neither of you even wondered where I had gone.”

Neither answered.

There was nothing they could say that would change the truth.

Then Sarah cried out from behind them.

“Joseph!”

His attention immediately snapped back to her.

He turned without hesitation.

Andrew followed.

Of course they did.

They always would.

I watched them disappear down the corridor with Sarah between them, and for the first time, I felt no bitterness.

Only relief.

I gathered my belongings and walked toward the healer's exit beneath the pale morning moon.

I had survived the sea.

I had survived the knife.

And now I would survive them.

Whatever awaited me beyond the borders of this pack, I would face it alone if I had to.

Because the woman who had once begged to be chosen was gone.

And I was finally free to become someone the Moon Goddess had chosen for herself.