Chapter 8
Our eyes met again, but this time, I didn’t hear his thoughts..
“I heard you sealed the mate bond with the Lycan King. I didn’t expect your daughter to be this big already.”
Katie spoke before I could.
“I’m sorry for bumping into you, Alpha.”
Kyle froze for a moment, then smiled softly as he reached out to pat Katie’s head. He crouched down to speak to her gently.
“It’s alright, Katie. Just be careful not to run so fast next time. Devon, take Katie over to the kids‘ play area for a bit. Heather, there’s a new café on the second floor. They’ve got Robusta, your old favorite. Want to catch up?”
I nodded and gave Katie a few quick instructions before letting her go.
Honestly, before I came back, that big–mouth Summer had already filled me in on Kyle’s situation pretty thoroughly.
What happened with Claire had hit Kyle hard.
Afterward, the blood stone pack even stripped him of his Alpha title and replaced him with his cousin as the new Alpha.
As for Kyle, he became nothing more than an awkward presence in the blood stone pack.
The once–glorified Alpha had fallen from grace.
His love life and career had both collapsed, and despite being in his prime, he carried a heavy, oppressive gloom.
“One Robusta and one Con Panna, please.”
“No, actually, switch the Robusta to a Vienna.”
Kyle smiled and looked at me.
“Changed your taste? I remember you never liked sweet coffee.”
I shook my head.
Chapter B
100.00%
“My mate always says Robusta has too much caffeine and hurts the stomach. He keeps swapping mine for Viennas. I’ve gotten used to the sweetness, and now I kind of like it.
“That’s nice. I saw your bonding ceremony. It looked romantic. Was that the famous old castle in
Switzerland?”
“I was attending an Alpha meeting there at the time, so we decided to have a quick look.”
“Now I see.”
Of course, Switzerland was basically Lycan territory. No Alpha meetings would ever be held there. But I didn’t call him out on it. I simply smiled and played along, making polite small talk like we were just old friends.
“Would you mind accepting my friend request? I…”
I gently set down my coffee cup and responded with a soft smile,
“I’d rather not. I know what you’re trying to say, but you don’t have to. To me, that was a lifetime ago. And honestly, when everything fell apart back then, you were the one who embarrassed yourself more.”
“I did love you, Kyle. But I don’t anymore. I have a happy family now a mate who loves me, an adorable daughter. Someone who’s living a whole new life has no reason to reconnect with the mistakes of the past.
“Kyle, when something’s missed, it’s just missed. Love or hate, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
My calm, collected words clearly stung. His eyes reddened slightly.
When I went back to find Katie, she was sitting with Billy, completely absorbed in a fairy tale book he was reading to her.
It wasn’t until I got close that Katie looked up and asked me,
“Mom, have you read The Little Prince? The fox was so nice–so why did the Little Prince choose the rose instead?”
“Because that rose was the one he cared for with all his heart. It was his one and only.”
Katie blinked, confused. I smiled and gently took her hand.
“When you’re a bit older, Katie, you’ll understand what Mommy meant.”
Chapter B
Kyle had remained silent the entire time. But when we left the mall, he handed Katie a brand–new copy of The Little Prince.
Through the car window, I gave Kyle a polite nod goodbye.
For one brief moment, our eyes met again. And just like the very first time we met, I still couldn’t hear his thoughts.
The car slowly pulled away, leaving the figure of a former lover behind. I held my daughter close against me, her soft little body warm in my arms.
That was the last act of revenge I ever gave him.
Gentle, and dignified.
From that day forward, memories would be the only way we ever met again.
And I would replace Claire as the woman Kyle could never have in his life.
In Kyle’s world, the love he couldn’t reach wouldn’t come as a thunderstorm..
It would linger like a long, damp season–quiet, constant, unbearable.
He would stay trapped in it, reliving the past. And in every quiet, uneventful day, that moisture would turn into a raging storm.
I had once been the fox, and once been that red rose, but now, I was simply the Little Prince who had finished his journey.
Katie tugged at my sleeve, holding up my phone.
“Mom, Daddy wants to talk to you.”
“Coming!”
