Chapter 8: The Woman Who Came for Me

The northern gates of Thorn Pack were already surrounded by warriors when I arrived.

Ash stood at the center of them.

His expression was calm, but I knew him well enough now to recognize the danger beneath it.

Someone had crossed his territory without permission.

And I knew exactly who it was.

Selene stepped out from between the trees.

She wore a dark cloak over her shoulders, her face pale and tired. Behind her stood three Blackwood warriors who immediately lowered their weapons when they saw Ash.

Her eyes found mine.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then she whispered, "Elara."

I felt nothing.

No jealousy.

No fear.

Not even anger.

Only a strange emptiness.

Five years ago, seeing Selene beside Adrian would have destroyed me.

Now she was simply a woman standing in front of the life I had already left behind.

Ash stepped forward.

"You entered Thorn territory without permission."

Selene lifted her chin.

"I came for Elara."

"She is not yours to come for."

Selene's eyes narrowed.

"You don't understand."

"I understand perfectly."

Ash's voice remained cold.

"You are standing in my territory, asking for a woman who is under my protection."

I stepped forward before the argument could grow.

"Let her speak."

Ash looked at me.

He didn't try to stop me.

That was one of the things I had begun to understand about him.

He protected me without taking away my choices.

I faced Selene.

"Why are you here?"

She swallowed.

"Because Adrian knows you're alive."

My heart remained strangely steady.

"How?"

"The healer who helped you disappear was found."

I stared at her.

"And you followed the trail."

"Yes."

For the first time, something changed in her expression.

It wasn't triumph.

It was fear.

"I didn't come to hurt you."

I almost laughed.

"You don't get to say that after five years of hurting me."

Her face tightened.

"I know."

The words surprised me.

Selene looked down at the ground.

"I know what I did."

I waited.

"Adrian loved you," she continued quietly. "Even when he chose me."

My fingers curled at my sides.

"Then why did you stay?"

"Because I was afraid."

She finally looked at me.

"I was afraid that if Adrian ever had to choose between us, he would choose you."

Silence filled the clearing.

That was the first honest thing Selene had ever said to me.

"So you took everything," I said.

"Yes."

Her voice broke.

"Your necklace. Your place. Your son. Every moment I could take from you."

Ash's jaw tightened.

But I raised a hand, stopping him.

"And Rowan?"

Selene closed her eyes.

"I never told him to hate you."

I believed her.

That was the cruelest part.

Rowan had chosen her willingly.

"But you let him," I whispered.

"Yes."

She looked ashamed.

"I thought if he loved me enough, Adrian would never send me away."

I looked toward the forest.

Somewhere beyond those trees was the life I had spent ten years building.

And somehow, I no longer wanted it.

"Adrian wants me back," I said.

Selene nodded.

"He thinks he made a mistake."

I smiled sadly.

"He did."

A howl suddenly echoed from beyond the northern ridge.

Every warrior turned toward the sound.

Ash's eyes hardened.

"Blackwood."

Moments later, Adrian stepped out of the forest.

He looked nothing like the Alpha who had stood beside Selene at Moon Temple.

He looked exhausted.

Broken.

His eyes found mine.

And he stopped breathing.

"Elara."

I stood perfectly still.

Adrian took one step toward me.

Ash moved between us.

"Don't."

Adrian's eyes flashed.

"I need to speak to my wife."

"She isn't your wife anymore."

Adrian looked at me.

"Is that true?"

I nodded.

"You ended that when you chose her."

His face twisted with pain.

"I was wrong."

"I know."

He looked at me as though those three words hurt more than any rejection.

"Come home," he whispered.

I shook my head.

"This is my home now."

Adrian looked at Ash.

Then he looked back at me.

"Do you love him?"

I opened my mouth, but no answer came.

Ash didn't speak for me.

He simply stood beside me.

Waiting.

Giving me the choice Adrian had never understood I needed.

I finally looked at Ash.

"I don't know yet."

His expression softened.

"Then take your time."

Adrian's shoulders dropped.

For the first time, he seemed to understand what he had lost.

Not a Luna.

Not a wife.

Not the mother of his heir.

Me.

The woman who had loved him when nobody else did.

The woman who had waited for him for five years.

The woman who had finally stopped waiting.

Adrian lowered his head.

"I'm sorry, Elara."

I believed him.

But forgiveness did not mean returning.

"Goodbye, Adrian."

He stared at me for several seconds before turning away.

Selene followed him toward the forest, but before she left, she looked back at me.

"I'm sorry too."

I gave her a small nod.

Then the forest swallowed them both.

Ash remained beside me.

"Are you all right?"

I looked toward the place where Adrian had disappeared.

For the first time, his leaving did not feel like losing something.

It felt like getting my life back.

"Yes," I whispered.

"I think I finally am."