Chapter 5
I stormed into my room, tearing through it like a hurricane.
The moon–shaped trinket on the top shelf of my bookcase, the soft pink hoodie Kael gave me buried deep in my closet, the faded movie ticket stubs tucked in a drawer–every trace of him was ripped
out and shoved into a cardboard box.
Crack.
A glass star jar slipped from the shelf, shattering across the floor.
It was the one Kael made for my eighteenth birthday, staying up all night to fold 365 tiny stars, each
one scribbled with “Kael loves Talia.”
I stared at the glittering shards, a bitter laugh clawing its way out of my throat.
He loved me? What a joke.
I hauled the heavy box outside and dumped it into the trash can with a thud that echoed in the quiet
night.
By the time I was done, my parents still weren’t home. I grabbed my phone and dialed Mom, my
voice eerily calm, like I was someone else entirely.
“Mom,” I said, steady as a knife’s edge, “The engagement’s off. Kael and I are done.”
When Mom got home, I was sprawled on the couch, pressing an ice pack to my swollen cheek.
She took one look at me, her breath hitching, her perfectly manicured hands trembling. “Who the
hell hit you?”
I sank into her shoulder, breathing in the comforting scent of her lavender laundry detergent, and
the dam broke.
I sobbed like a little kid, everything pouring out–Kael’s cold betrayal, Riley’s venomous taunts,
the office’s mocking stares.
The humiliation, the heartbreak, the sting of that slap–it all crashed over me like a tidal wave,
Mom listened, her face growing darker with every word. My mom, always so poised and graceful, didn’t even bother with appearances this time. She stormed out, her heels clicking like gunfire on
the hardwood.
Chapter 5
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I trailed behind, too numb to stop her.
At the Creed house, Kael’s mom, Linda, answered the door, still wearing her apron, a bunch of daisies in her hand. “What’s going on-”
“Your son hit Talia over some Omega?!” Mom’s voice was ice–cold, sharp enough to cut glass.
“Linda, look me in the eye and tell me Silverclaw has ever betrayed Ashveil. You know what, I’ve never so much as raised my voice at Talia her whole life!”
Linda’s protests came in stutters, her face paling. “Kael didn’t mean it, I’m sure-”
Mom wasn’t having it. She sliced through the excuses like a blade. “Save it. The engagement’s off. Our families are done.”
That night, Mom and I curled up on the bay window, the moonlight spilling over us.
Her jasmine perfume wrapped around me, pulling me back to when I was six, burning up with fever, and she’d hold me all night, whispering that everything would be okay.
“Mom,” I mumbled into her shoulder, my voice thick, “Am I screwing everything up? What about the pack alliance? The business?”
She ran her fingers through my hair, soft and steady. “Sweetheart, that’s not your burden. All I want is for you to live your days happy and free. If the sky falls, your dad’s got it covered.”
Chapter 5
