Chapter 23
Selene’s POV
The moment the call ended, it was like a thunderclap detonated inside my skull.
I stood there, frozen, hearing nothing but the hollow rush of blood in my ears.
On the other end of the call, Julian’s mother must have heard the silence and taken it as refusal.
I didn’t even notice when the line disconnected.
I was still staring blankly at the floor when Ethan emerged from the bedroom.
He frowned instantly, catching the scent of my distress before I could even lift
my
head.
“Selene,” he said, voice taut, “what happened?”
I swallowed, forcing words past the tightness in my throat.
“Julian’s mother called,” I said hollowly.
“He’s dying.”
I didn’t sugarcoat it.
I didn’t have the strength.
Ethan crossed the room in two strides, wrapping his arms around me before I even thought to
move.
The warmth of his chest steadied me, and slowly, I remembered how to breathe.
His hand cradled the back of my head, fingers threading gently through my hair.
We sank onto the couch, and for a while, he said nothing.
He simply held me, letting me rebuild myself piece by shattered piece.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low, guarded.
“Are you regretting it?”
Leaving Julian.
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Choosing a new life.
Choosing me.
I shook my head immediately, pressing my forehead against his shoulder.
“No,” I whispered. “I’m just… stunned. How fast life can change.‘
A beat of silence.
Then I pulled back slightly to look at him.
“There’s a short break before the next research cycle,” I said.
“Would you… come with me?”
“Back to the homeland?”
“Just for a few days,” I said. “Just to… close this chapter.”
Ethan didn’t answer immediately.
||
His hand tightened briefly against my back, his scent flickering with something sharp and possessive.
For a moment, I thought he might refuse.
But when I looked up, he sighed heavily and nodded.
“Yeah,” he said.
“I’ll go with you.”
The words sank into my bones, anchoring me more firmly than anything else could have.
We returned to the old territory under a heavy, silver sky.
The air was sharp with the scent of approaching rain, the ancient forests of the Silverfang lands brooding under dark clouds.
The ancestral hospital loomed ahead, cold and unfamiliar despite the years I had spent calling this place home.
I hesitated at the entrance.
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Ethan brushed his hand lightly against mine, a silent reassurance.
I squared my shoulders and knocked.
Julian’s mother opened the door.
Her face was drawn and tired, deep lines etched into her once–proud features.
When she saw me, her expression twisted-
relief, guilt, sorrow–all tangled into one messy knot.
“I thought you wouldn’t come,” she said, voice brittle.
I tightened my grip on Ethan’s hand and forced my voice steady.
“I’m only here for this one meeting,” I said.
“After this, there will be nothing more between us.”
Something flickered in her eyes–anger? Regret?-but she swallowed it back and stepped aside.
Inside, the antiseptic smell of the room clawed at my nose, failing to mask the deeper scent of decay.
Wolfbane corruption left its mark in ways human illnesses never could.
I could smell it.
The rot.
The way it gnawed not only at flesh but at the soul.
Julian lay on the narrow hospital bed, gaunt and hollow–eyed, his once–powerful presence reduced to a ghost of itself.
His wolf aura, once blindingly dominant, now flickered weakly, like a dying candle flame.
When he saw me, something fragile and desperate lit his face.
He didn’t seem to notice Ethan standing behind me, or if he did, he didn’t care.
“Selene,” he rasped.
The sound of my old name on his lips made something in my chest twist painfully.
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I stepped closer, but kept my distance from the bed.
“Selene,” he repeated, tears gathering in his sunken eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
It was the first thing he said.
The only thing, at first.
I didn’t say I forgave him.
I didn’t say I hated him.
I simply listened as he spoke, his voice growing more frantic, more desperate.
He told me everything.
About how he never married Claire.
About how Claire, after her betrayal was exposed, fell from grace and became a pariah even among those she once sought to manipulate.
About how he had destroyed himself with alcohol and regret, until the poison had finally claimed
him.
“I know,” he whispered, voice breaking.
“I know I did this to myself. You were right.”
A tear slid down his cheek.
Without thinking, I stepped forward and wiped it away.
A memory flashed-
of him doing the same for me once, long ago, before everything had gone wrong.
“We all have to move forward,” I said quietly.
##
He closed his eyes, as if the words hurt more than any
knife.
When he opened them again, they were filled with naked pleading.
“You’re happy, aren’t you?” he asked, voice barely audible.
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H
I didn’t hesitate.
I turned, reaching for Ethan’s hand, feeling the steady thrum of his pulse against my palm.
“I am,” I said.
I am happy.
I am loved.
I am free.
For a long moment, Julian stared at us, something crumbling behind his eyes.
Then he smiled–small, broken, but genuine.
“Good,” he whispered.
And for the first time in years, I believed him.
As we walked out into the gathering dusk, rain misting the air, Ethan pulled me closer, pressing a
kiss to my temple.
“Ready to go home?” he asked.
I smiled, leaning into his warmth.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Let’s go.”
Forward.
Always forward.
To a future where regret had no more power over me.
To a life built not on ashes
but on light.
Chapter 23
