Chapter 8 No.8

Elara POV:

I stayed locked in my room, curled on my bed, as the sound of a car engine starting up and driving away echoed from outside. They were gone. For how long, I didn't know or care.

The next day, my phone rang. It was my foster mother, Alaric's mother. Her voice was ice.

"I have just been informed of your disgusting behavior," she said, without any preamble. "You have brought shame upon this family and this pack. I am appalled that a girl we took in out of pity would have the audacity to try and seduce my son."

The words were like a physical assault. "It wasn't-" I started to say, my voice trembling.

"Do not lie to me! Seraphina told me everything. You are a disgrace. You will pack your things and leave this house. I will not have a scheming whore under my roof."

A strange, cold calm washed over me. "Was it always my fault?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "No matter what happened, did you ever once consider it wasn't my fault?"

"Do not test my patience, Elara," she warned. "Your position in this pack is fragile. One word from me, and Alaric would send you to the Bloodmoon Alpha as a tribute. I hear he's particularly fond of young Omegas."

The line went dead. I stared at the phone, feeling nothing. She wasn't my mother. This wasn't my family. This was never my home.

Four more days.

Alaric and Seraphina didn't return. The house was quiet, and I used the time to prepare. I gathered the few things I was taking, wiped my digital footprint from the pack's servers, and finalized my travel plans with the contact my father had provided.

The night before my departure was Alaric's birthday. For ten years, I had been the first to wish him happiness at the stroke of midnight. I opened the now-silent channel of our mind-link, a gaping wound in my psyche. I thought of all the things I wanted to scream at him, all the pain and betrayal.

Instead, I just closed it off one last time, reinforcing the wall between us until it was impenetrable.

The next morning, a final confirmation message arrived from my father's Gamma. "We are a go for tonight. 12 hours."

I allowed myself one last look at the pack's network. Seraphina had posted a new photo album titled "Birthday Surprise for My Alpha." The pictures were of them at Moon Goddess Falls. In one, she was kissing his cheek, his arm around her waist, the sacred waterfall cascading behind them. The caption read: "The most beautiful moonlight, shared only with my one true mate."

My heart gave a familiar, dull ache, but it was distant now, like a storm happening on a faraway shore.

A private message from her popped up. It was a picture of Alaric, shirtless, sleeping in a bed. His shoulder was covered in fresh, deep bite marks-love bites, a temporary claim.

"The Alpha only wants his Luna on his birthday night," she wrote, the message a final, triumphant jab. "Enjoy your solitude, Omega."

I didn't reply. I logged out, took the sketchbook with the drawing of them, and tore it to shreds. I placed the little moonstone wolf on top of the torn pieces on my nightstand. Beside it, I left a simple note.

"Alaric, happy birthday. This is goodbye. We have no connection from this point on. I hope you find everything you desire in a world without me."

Then, I destroyed everything else. My phone, my laptop, every trace that Elara Vance had ever lived in this house.

With a single, small bag on my shoulder, I slipped out of the pack house and ran toward the forest, toward the border, toward my freedom.