Chapter 10: One Year Later, I Finally Found Happiness

Stella POV

One year later.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my apartment overlooking the city.

My city.

My world.

My home.

For the first few months after returning, I kept expecting to wake up back in the Blood Moon Pack hospital.

Back inside that painful novel.

Back beside Kaelen.

But it never happened.

I was finally free.

The System had disappeared shortly after my return.

Its final message had been simple.

"Contract fulfilled. Host released."

Then it was gone.

No countdowns.

No missions.

No fate.

Just me.

A second chance at life.

I had returned to my original career and quickly became one of the leading software architects in the country.

Ironically, the skills I developed in another world had made me better here.

Stronger.

Smarter.

More confident.

For the first time, my success belonged entirely to me.

No Alpha.

No Pack.

No Mate Bond.

No one controlling my future.

"Ms. Carter?"

My assistant peeked into the office.

"The investors have arrived."

"I'll be there in a minute."

After she left, I looked at the framed photograph sitting on my desk.

Not Kaelen.

Not Blood Moon.

Just a picture of me standing on a mountain trail six months earlier.

Smiling.

Genuinely smiling.

The woman in that photo looked nothing like the broken Luna who died in a hospital bed.

And that made me proud.

Because I had survived.

The past still hurt sometimes.

The memories still surfaced unexpectedly.

But they no longer controlled me.

I picked up my laptop and headed toward the conference room.

Outside, the world continued moving forward.

And for the first time in years, so did I.