Chapter 18: The Pack That Finally Chose Me

By the time the Red Mesa convoy crossed the southern border, I had stopped looking back at Grayhaven.

Wyatt sat beside me in the back seat, silent for most of the journey. He didn't ask me to explain every bruise, every insult, or every reason I had finally walked away.

He already knew.

The Calloways had been waiting for five years.

When we finally reached Red Mesa territory, the gates opened before we even stopped.

Pack members lined the road, watching the convoy pass. Their expressions weren't curious. They were angry.

I had expected to feel embarrassed coming home after five years of being treated like an unwanted wife.

Instead, the moment I stepped out of the car, I heard someone shout my name.

Then another voice joined in.

And another.

Within seconds, the entire courtyard was filled with people calling for me.

My throat tightened.

I had spent five years believing I had left my real home behind.

I had been wrong.

Wyatt placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Welcome home, Clara."

I looked at him and finally smiled.

"I'm home."

That evening, the Calloway council gathered in the great hall.

The old wooden table was covered with maps, contracts, and sealed letters from the coastal packs.

My father sat at the head of the table. Wyatt stood beside him as Alpha heir.

I expected them to ask about Julian.

Instead, my father pushed a document toward me.

"This arrived from Stonebridge this morning."

I opened it.

The moment I saw the Hawthorne seal, my stomach tightened.

It was a formal request for the Red Mesa pack to renew the inter-pack alliance.

They wanted our trade routes.

Our energy contracts.

Our western supply lines.

And most importantly, they wanted the Calloways to continue recognizing Julian as the future Alpha of Stonebridge.

I slowly looked up.

"After everything he did, they still have the nerve to ask us for help?"

Wyatt's expression hardened.

"They don't know yet that you've told us everything."

I stared at the document again.

For five years, Julian had treated Red Mesa like a distant southern pack that needed Stonebridge more than Stonebridge needed us.

He had been wrong.

My father folded his hands on the table.

"Clara, the decision is yours."

"Mine?"

"You were the one they humiliated. You were the one they discarded. If we end this alliance, we want you to be the one who says it."

My fingers tightened around the paper.

For years, I had waited for Julian to choose me.

Now, for the first time, an entire pack was waiting for me to choose myself.

I picked up the pen.

Then I signed beneath the words terminating the alliance.

"Send it tonight," I said.

"Let Stonebridge learn what happens when they mistake kindness for weakness."

No one in the room objected.

But before the meeting ended, the doors suddenly opened.

A messenger stood there, pale and breathless.

"Alpha Wyatt."

"We just received an emergency transmission from Grayhaven."

He handed over a sealed message.

Wyatt opened it.

His face changed instantly.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He looked at me.

"Julian has challenged the council."

"And he's demanding that you return to Stonebridge."

I stared at him for a long moment.

Then I laughed.

For the first time, Julian was finally afraid of losing something.

But he was already too late.

I had spent five years begging for a place beside him.

Now he was the one begging me to come back.