Chapter 14: A New Name for My Future

A year had passed since I entered Highmoor.

When I looked back, I could hardly recognize the woman who had arrived here carrying a broken heart and a suitcase full of uncertainty.

I had become one of the Sanctuary’s most trusted archive officers.

Princess Helena often assigned me to delicate negotiations, and several Pack leaders had begun requesting my assistance whenever old treaties or territorial records were involved.

I was proud of the work I had done.

More importantly, I was proud that none of it had anything to do with Gavin Mercer.

One afternoon, Princess Helena called me into her office.

“Celia, I have an offer for you.”

I sat across from her.

“What kind of offer?”

She handed me a document.

“After your three-year service ends, the Royal Council intends to establish a permanent peace administration office at Highmoor. They want you to lead its records and mediation division.”

I stared at the document.

“Lead it?”

“Yes.”

My fingers trembled slightly as I turned the pages.

It was a position I could never have imagined having when I left the capital.

“Why me?”

Princess Helena smiled.

“Because you understand something many officials never learn.”

“What?”

“Peace is not only about stopping people from fighting. It is about remembering why they fought in the first place.”

I looked down at the offer again.

For the first time, I saw a future that didn't involve marriage at all.

There was work I loved.

A place where I belonged.

And a name that belonged to me alone.

“I’ll accept,” I said.

Princess Helena nodded.

“I thought you would.”

That evening, I wrote to my grandmother.

I told her about the position and asked her to be the first person in my family to know.

Her reply came the next morning.

“I have never been prouder of you.”

I read the sentence several times.

Then I cried.

Not because I was sad.

Because for the first time, someone was proud of me for something I had achieved rather than for whom I was going to marry.

A few days later, news arrived from the capital.

Gavin had been promoted within the Royal Council.

He had taken charge of several northern development projects and was gaining a reputation as one of the Council’s most capable young officials.

Mia included a short note with the report.

“He never married.”

I read that line without feeling anything.

Then I folded the letter and placed it in my drawer.

His life was his own now.

Mine was mine.

That night, I walked through the Sanctuary gardens beneath a sky full of stars.

My wolf lifted her head inside me.

She was calm.

There was no pull toward the capital.

No desperate longing.

No instinct telling me to wait for someone.

I touched the silver pendant Princess Helena had given me for my first year of service.

“We’re doing well,” I whispered.

For the first time, I believed it completely.

I had once thought losing Gavin meant losing my future.

Now I understood the truth.

I hadn't lost my future.

I had finally found it.