The ashes at my feet still glowed faintly as Adrian's anger slowly gave way to something that looked dangerously close to regret.
Beneath the pale moonlight, his eyes no longer felt familiar.
He straightened his tunic, trying to recover the calm dignity expected of an Alpha.
But the rapid pulse at his throat betrayed him.
I brushed the soot from my hands, rose to my feet, and met his gaze.
"It doesn't matter," I said quietly. "The album was infested with insects. I thought it was better to burn it."
Adrian frowned.
"You burned it?"
His voice rose before he caught himself.
"That was eight years of memories."
He fell silent.
Only then did he seem to realize how harsh he sounded.
I looked at him without expression.
"Are you finished?"
My indifference struck him harder than anger ever could.
He let out a slow breath and ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm sorry."
"I overreacted."
His voice softened.
"But that album meant a great deal to us."
"Why didn't you wait for me?"
A faint, bitter smile touched my lips.
Us.
There had not been an us for a very long time.
Not after Julian.
Not after he had poured all of his patience and attention into another she-wolf while our bond quietly crumbled.
"You've been busy," I answered calmly.
"Between pack affairs and looking after Julian, I didn't think something so small was worth troubling you."
His jaw tightened.
The muscles in his shoulders grew tense, but I no longer cared.
He stepped closer.
"I know I've neglected you."
"I admit it."
"But we can fix this."
"When everything settles down, we'll create another memory album together."
Once, those words would have been enough.
I would have believed every promise.
Now they meant nothing.
I could not forget the way he looked at Julian.
I could not ignore the lingering scent of her on his cloak.
His heart had already chosen someone else.
"If you truly want to make it up to me," I said, "then give me a proper birthday celebration for once."
He looked genuinely surprised.
For years, every one of my birthdays had passed quietly.
There was always another hunt.
Another council meeting.
Another excuse.
After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
"Of course."
"Whatever you want."
Before he could continue, the communication crystal at his waist lit up.
Julian's crystal.
He recognized it immediately.
The concern in his eyes returned without hesitation.
"It's urgent," he said.
"Something has happened."
"I'll come back soon."
The excuse was almost laughable.
I waved him away.
"Go."
"I'm used to it."
He stood there for a heartbeat, as though he wanted to explain himself.
In the end, he simply turned and disappeared into the night.
Leaving me alone beside the cold ashes.
The next morning, Moonfang Pack became unusually lively.
Pack servants decorated the Great Hall with flowers, ribbons, and moon crystals.
At first, something about it felt familiar.
By midday, I understood why.
Every decoration matched Julian's birthday feast from two months earlier.
Every flower.
Every ribbon.
Every arrangement.
Even my birthday had become an imitation.
Before long, Julian arrived.
She wore a crimson gown that drew every eye.
Her familiar floral perfume drifted through the hall.
Smiling sweetly, she approached me.
"I hope you like everything."
"I helped prepare it."
"I thought this style suited you."
My gaze swept over her before stopping at the necklace around her neck.
A moonstone pendant.
White silver.
Hand carved.
It was the anniversary gift Adrian had once commissioned for me.
The one that had disappeared from my chambers weeks earlier.
Something inside me turned cold.
"A borrowed celebration."
"A borrowed necklace."
"I suppose that suits a borrowed place in someone's heart."
For an instant, her smile disappeared.
The next moment, she snatched a crystal ornament from a nearby table and threw it onto the stone floor.
It shattered.
A sharp fragment grazed her ankle.
A thin line of blood appeared.
She gasped dramatically and clutched her leg.
Just then, Adrian rushed into the hall.
"What happened?"
His eyes found Julian immediately.
Then they landed on me.
"She pushed it," Julian whispered through trembling tears.
"I was only trying to help."
The slap came without warning.
My head turned sharply.
Pain spread across my cheek.
My wolf growled deep inside my chest.
I forced it back down.
I refused to let him see me break.
The hall fell silent.
Every servant lowered their eyes.
No one dared speak.
"Enough!"
Adrian's voice echoed through the hall.
"Julian came here to help prepare your celebration."
"And this is how you treat her?"
"If you dislike it so much, then prepare everything yourself."
He never asked what had happened.
He never looked at me again.
Instead, he lifted Julian into his arms and carried her away.
Leaving me alone among the shattered crystal.
That night, no one came.
I had expected as much.
Over the years, Adrian had slowly surrounded himself with loyal pack members.
No one would dare offend their Alpha for my sake.
I opened the birthday cake that had been left behind.
Because of my allergy, I could not eat it.
Even so, I placed a single candle on top and lit it.
The Great Hall was silent.
Only the distant howls of the night patrol echoed beyond the walls.
I closed my eyes.
After a long silence, I whispered my wish.
"I hope we never meet again."
The candle flickered once.
Then I blew it out.
At dawn, I packed my belongings.
Everything I wished to take fit inside a single travel pack.
Eight years of love.
Eight years of waiting.
Reduced to one final journey.
My fingers brushed the empty place at my throat where my pendant had once rested.
Then I lowered my hand.
At the pack's communication altar, I activated my crystal one last time.
My final message reached Adrian.
"This ends here."
"Do not search for me."
"And do not appear before me again."
After sending it, I crushed the communication crystal beneath my heel.
The glowing runes shattered into countless fragments.
At the same moment, I stepped across the ancient boundary stones of Moonfang Pack.
Without looking back.
