Chapter 15: The Life I Never Got to Live

The gates of the Moon Goddess's realm opened slowly before me.

Beyond them was a world unlike anything I had ever seen.

Silver rivers flowed beneath a sky filled with endless stars.

White flowers covered the hills, glowing softly beneath the moonlight.

For the first time in my life, there was no pack hierarchy.

No Alpha.

No Luna.

No bloodline that decided whether I deserved to belong.

I took one step forward.

Then I stopped.

A strange sensation pulled at my soul.

It wasn't pain.

It was a memory.

I turned around.

Far below, Gray Harbor was still visible through the silver mist.

The mortal world looked impossibly small from here.

Yet I could still see the Ironwood estate.

My parents were standing outside my old bedroom.

My mother held one of my letters against her chest.

My father was holding the memorial photograph.

They looked older than they had only days ago.

The messenger stood beside me.

“You can still see them because your soul hasn't completely crossed over.”

I looked at him.

“How long?”

“Not long.”

I nodded.

I had already said goodbye.

But then something unexpected happened.

A familiar wolf howl echoed across Gray Harbor.

It was Lucien.

I turned toward the sound.

He was standing alone on Storm Ridge.

The same place where he had once promised to love me forever.

He held something in his hand.

My cheap bracelet.

The one I had left on the cabinet.

He had found it and brought it with him.

Lucien closed his fist around it.

“Evelyn,” he whispered.

“If there is any part of you that can hear me, I need to tell you something.”

I remained silent.

“I don't expect you to forgive me.”

“I don't expect you to come back.”

“But I finally understand what I did.”

His voice trembled.

“I spent ten years believing you would always wait for me.”

“So I never understood that every rejection was teaching you how to live without me.”

He looked toward the moon.

“By the time I realized you were leaving, you had already left.”

A tear slipped down his face.

“I'm sorry I made you feel unwanted.”

“I'm sorry I believed someone else's lies.”

“And I'm sorry the last words you heard from me were that you should die.”

My soul trembled.

Not because I wanted him back.

Because the girl I used to be had spent years waiting for those words.

Now that she had finally heard them, they could no longer change anything.

I looked away.

“Let's go.”

The messenger nodded.

But before I crossed the gate, I heard another voice.

My mother.

She stood in front of my empty room.

“Evelyn, I know you can't hear me.”

“But I'm going to say this anyway.”

“You were never a mistake.”

I closed my eyes.

“You were my daughter.”

Her voice broke.

“I just didn't know how to be your mother.”

For a moment, the old pain returned.

Then it faded.

I whispered into the wind.

“I know.”

My mother couldn't hear me.

But somehow, saying it still felt like peace.

The messenger touched my shoulder.

“Now you can leave.”

I turned toward the silver gates.

But before I stepped through, a brilliant light suddenly appeared in the sky.

The Moon Goddess's voice echoed across the realm.

“Evelyn Hart.”

I bowed my head.

“You returned to the mortal world carrying unfinished vows.”

“You severed every bond without hatred.”

“You chose release over revenge.”

“Therefore, your soul will not be judged as a soul consumed by grief.”

I lifted my head.

“What does that mean?”

The light grew brighter.

“You may choose what comes next.”

I stared at the endless silver world before me.

For twenty-eight years, every major choice in my life had been made according to someone else's expectations.

My parents chose where I belonged.

The pack chose what I deserved.

The elders chose who was worthy of becoming Luna.

Lucien chose whom he wanted beside him.

Even Vivian had chosen the role she wanted me to play.

This was the first choice that belonged entirely to me.

I smiled.

“Then I don't want to return as anyone's daughter.”

“I don't want to return as anyone's mate.”

“I don't want a title.”

“I don't want revenge.”

“I just want a life that belongs to me.”

The Moon Goddess's light surrounded my soul.

“Then your next life will be yours to choose.”

My eyes filled with tears.

Not tears of sadness.

Tears of relief.

Behind me, Gray Harbor disappeared beneath the silver mist.

I no longer saw the Hart estate.

I no longer saw Lucien.

I no longer saw Vivian.

And for the first time, I wasn't afraid of forgetting them.

Because forgetting wasn't necessary.

I could remember without returning.

I could forgive without staying.

I could love the past without allowing it to control my future.

I stepped through the gates.

The silver light closed behind me.

And the girl who had once spent her entire life begging to be chosen finally chose herself.