Chapter 10
Selene’s POV
At the Pack Transfer Station, the air was crisp with the chill of early morning.
Wolves bustled back and forth, hauling suitcases, exchanging goodbyes, stepping into their next lives.
Amid the crowd, Ethan stood tall, a warm smile breaking across his face the moment he spotted me.
“Selene!” he called, waving enthusiastically.
I tightened my grip on the handle of my suitcase and made my way toward him.
“Ethan,” I greeted, my voice lighter than it had been in months.
“Have you been waiting long?”
“Not at all,” he said with a grin, easily taking my luggage from me as he turned toward the terminal. “Are you sure about this?”
It wasn’t that he doubted my ability.
Only that he knew-
once I left the core Pack territories and moved into the Outland Syndicate Research Center,
there would be no turning back.
But I had made my choice.
Without hesitation, I pulled a document from my bag–the freshly issued Severance Certificate, stamped with the Pack Elders‘ sigil.
I held it up briefly, letting the silver mark catch the sunlight, before tucking it away again.
“I’m sure,”
I said.
Ethan’s grin widened, his eyes full of approval.
“Then let’s go,” he said simply.
We walked side by side, step for step.
This time, I wasn’t trailing behind anyone.
And no one was waiting for me to catch up.
ulian’s POV
By the time I pulled into the Blake Estate, exhaustion clawed at my bones.
The drive back had blurred into one long, mindless stretch of darkness and regret.
The house loomed ahead, cold and silent.
Once, it would have glowed with warmth–lights spilling across the lawn, welcoming me home.
Tonight, it stood still and empty.
Dread coiled in my gut as I pushed open the front door.
“Selene?” I called softly into the dark.
No answer.
I forced a laugh, hollow and brittle.
“Probably asleep already,” I muttered, flicking on the lights.
The brightness revealed the truth more starkly than I could bear.
The house felt wrong.
Too clean.
Too quiet.
Chapter 10
I walked through the living room, expecting the usual small comforts–a pup’s medical report left out, maybe a snack she had saved for me.
Instead, I found only a single red folder lying on the table, stamped with the Pack Seal.
Frowning, I picked it up.
The moment my eyes caught the silver–embossed title, my stomach dropped.
Mate Bond Severance Certificate.
For a long moment, I simply stared at it, frozen.
Then I let out a shaky laugh, trying desperately to force away the rising panic.
“Always teasing me, little wolf,” I whispered.
“It’s just a joke, right?”
But my hands trembled violently as I clutched the folder tighter and raced up the stairs.
At the bedroom door, I hesitated, heart hammering painfully against my ribs.
She’s here, I told myself.
She’s just asleep.
I threw open the door.
The room was spotless.
Perfect.
ོ འ ི ་
And utterly empty.
I stumbled to the wardrobe and yanked it open.
My suits and shirts remained, lined up neatly.
But her things-
her scent, her laughter, her life-
Gone.
A painful breath tore from my chest.
I fumbled for my phone and dialed her number with clumsy fingers.
Once.
Twice.
The mechanical voice answered coldly:
“The number you have dialed is unavailable. Please try again later.”
I stared at the screen, willing it to change.
It didn’t.
My vision blurred as I flipped the Severance Certificate open.
Her signature was there.
Stamped.
Legal.
Final.
Reality slammed into me with the force of a rogue’s blow.
Inside my mind, my wolf screamed–a broken, ragged sound that scraped raw against my spirit.
“Bring her back!” the wolf howled.
Chapter 10
“Our mate our mate is gone!”
“You failed,” the wolf snarled, voice cracking with grief.
“You let her walk away. You didn’t fight.”
I staggered backward and collapsed onto the edge of the bed.
The wolf inside me clawed desperately at the bond, searching for her presence.
But there was nothing left.
No tether.
No warmth.
Only a gaping, frozen void where Selene’s soul had once pulsed against mine.
A low, broken sound escaped my throat.
I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes, as if I could block it out.
But memories surged up, merciless and vivid.
Selene’s laughter under the autumn leaves.
The way her
eyes softened when she looked at me.
The quiet, steady presence that had once anchored me without me even realizing it.
Gone.
All of it.
I doubled over, gasping for breath, the weight of it crushing me.
“Bring her back,” my wolf sobbed again, its voice hoarse, broken.
I whispered back, voice cracking,
“I can’t.”
The wolf whimpered low in my mind, curling inward in unbearable pain.
For the first time in my life, I realized-
this was a wound no strength could heal.
Selene was gone.
Not lost.
Not misplaced.
Gone.
And this time, there was no one else to blame.
Only me.
