Chapter 10: They Saw Me Too Late

The silver light around me grew brighter.

Beyond the glowing doorway was a vast field covered in white flowers. The air was warm, peaceful, and completely free of pain.

I took one step toward it.

Then I heard Maria's voice behind me.

"Diana!"

I turned around.

She was standing at the altar, crying so hard that her shoulders shook.

"I know you can't hear me, but I'm sorry!"

"I should've protected you sooner."

My soul hovered there silently.

Maria had been the only person who had ever truly seen me.

Then the Moon Goddess's voice echoed through the altar.

"The living must witness what they refused to see."

The Settlement Stone suddenly shattered into countless pieces of light.

A final vision appeared above the altar.

Everyone saw me.

They saw me healing injured pack members late at night.

They saw me carrying medicine through freezing rain to the border patrol.

They saw me teaching orphaned pups while pretending it was nothing important.

They saw me returning home covered in bruises and quietly treating my own wounds.

They saw me sitting alone in the attic, crying into my pillow so nobody would hear.

They saw the day Elara destroyed my diary.

They saw the fifty-thousand-dollar expense report being forced under my name.

They saw the basement door locking behind me during the family gathering.

And finally, they saw the forest.

They saw the rogues attack me.

They saw me crawling through the mud, bleeding and barely conscious.

They saw my trembling hand reach for the phone.

They heard my broken voice.

"Help me... Theodore... I'm dying..."

Then they heard Theodore's answer.

"This is Elara's big day. Stop competing for attention."

The vision disappeared.

No one at the altar breathed.

My mother collapsed to her knees.

"Diana..."

My father covered his face with both hands.

Adrian stood frozen, tears running silently down his cheeks.

Elara stared at the empty space where the vision had been displayed.

"No..."

She shook her head repeatedly.

"That's not what happened."

The elder looked at her coldly.

"The Moon Goddess does not create false memories."

Elara's knees gave out.

Theodore remained completely still.

He looked as though his soul had been ripped from his body.

"She called me," he whispered.

"She was dying, and I hung up on her."

Maria walked toward him.

"Yes."

Her voice was quiet now.

"And that's something you'll have to live with for the rest of your life."

Theodore closed his eyes.

A tear slipped down his cheek.

"I would give anything to hear her voice again."

I watched him from beyond the silver light.

Once, I would've given anything to hear him say that.

Now, it meant nothing.

The elder turned toward the crowd.

"Let the record show that Diana Mitchell's name has been cleared of every accusation made against her."

"Her Silvermoon Devotion Medal shall be awarded posthumously."

The council members lowered their heads in respect.

One by one, members of the pack began doing the same.

The girl they had called selfish.

The girl they had called cruel.

The girl they had called a traitor.

Was finally being honored after death.

My mother sobbed uncontrollably.

"She was my daughter... How could I have done this to her?"

My father whispered, "We saw her every day and never actually saw her."

Theodore looked toward the silver light.

"Diana, if there's any way you can hear me... I'm sorry."

I didn't answer.

There was nothing left to say.

The silver light surrounded me completely.

I looked back one final time.

Maria was holding my medal against her chest.

She smiled through her tears.

"Go, Diana."

"You don't owe them anything anymore."

For the first time, I smiled too.

Then I stepped through the doorway.

The pain disappeared.

The loneliness disappeared.

The anger disappeared.

Everything that had weighed me down for eighteen years was finally gone.

Behind me, the pack would remember me.

They would remember the truth.

They would live with the choices they had made.

But I no longer needed their regret.

I had spent my whole life believing I was meant to be someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's mate.

I was wrong.

I was meant for more.

More than begging for love.

More than shrinking myself for someone else's comfort.

More than being the forgotten girl in someone else's story.

The Moon Goddess had finally given me the one thing nobody else could take away.

Freedom.

And as I walked into the endless silver light, I knew that my story would not end with the way they treated me.

It would end with the life I should have been allowed to live.

The life I had always deserved.

THE END