Night had already settled when Lenora shut her bedroom door and slid earplugs into her ears, cutting off the laughter and music that pulsed from the celebration below. Her decision was made—she would return and accept the bond with the Alpha chosen for her. Still, she couldn’t just vanish overnight. Responsibilities tied her to Nightveil Pack, and she needed to quietly put everything in order before she could leave without raising suspicion.
Her gaze drifted to the tall window, beyond which the forest stretched endlessly past the pack’s borders. Hours later, once her work was done, she leaned back, removed the earplugs, and let the stillness embrace her.
Then her phone buzzed. A message from Hailey.
“Why don’t you ever like my stories?”
Seconds later, another followed.
“Oops, that wasn’t meant for you. Please don’t be upset?”
Lenora exhaled slowly, recognizing the barb buried in the words. Hailey wanted her attention. Against her better judgment, Lenora opened Hailey’s posted stories.
The screen lit up with images: Hailey buried in presents, her smile luminous. She wore a pale pink satin dress—Evan’s gift—its softness almost fragile. Evan and Raymond stood close, arms draped around her shoulders like guardians. More pictures followed: glittering shoes from Evan, a golden-handled dagger from Raymond—a gift normally reserved for the pack’s inner circle.
And then the final photo: Hailey framed between them, her caption gleaming at the bottom—“Felt like a princess today!”
For a moment, the old ache stirred, but Lenora forced it down. Let Hailey have them, if that was how things were now. In a week, none of this would matter. She tapped a heart emoji beneath the story, feeling strangely lighter, as though closing a door. Evan, Raymond, Hailey—all of them would soon be part of her past.
The following morning, she wrapped up her duties in the pack’s intelligence office, leaving her work neat and complete. Back home, she pulled out a box filled with photographs—snapshots of childhood with Evan and Raymond. School mischief. Their first shifts under the moon. Trips with both families, smiles wide and carefree. They had shared everything.
But that time was gone.
With a steady breath, she carried the photos to the old stone fireplace. One by one, she fed them to the flames. The paper curled, edges blackening before collapsing into ash.
She had just dropped the last photo when footsteps sounded behind her. Evan and Raymond froze in the doorway, eyes locking on the fire.
Evan strode forward, seizing her wrist. “What the hell are you doing?” His voice was sharp, disbelief etched across his face.
Raymond reached for a photo half-consumed by flame, only to yelp as the fire snapped at his hand, blistering the skin. His voice broke as he turned to her. “Why burn them, Lenora? Those were our memories.”
Calmly, she pulled her hand free of Evan’s grasp. “They’re the past,” she said evenly. “It’s time to move on.”
Evan’s glare faltered, uncertainty flickering beneath his anger. Raymond’s shoulders trembled, torn between fury and grief. But Lenora only stood taller, refusing to waver.
They had chosen Hailey once. They would do it again. For her, they had only silence and disappointment. For Hailey, they had every ounce of loyalty and care. And now they dared to mourn a few photographs?
The thought almost made her laugh. Instead, she lifted her chin, certain of her path.
One day soon, they would discover she had agreed to the arranged mateship. And she wondered—when that truth came out—how would they look at her then?
