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He just sat there near the meeting stone until the moon reached its zenith before leaving, his wolf dragging its feet.
He didn’t know what to do, his heart was full of pain. The more it was so, the more clearly he perceived how important I was to him. He had actually lost me just like that! His wolf howled in anguish.
If Isabelle hadn’t returned….
If he had realized his bond to me a step earlier….
If he hadn’t disappointed me and his pack….
Countless possibilities flashed through his mind, but there was no turning back for him. The past was a closed territory.
He wandered aimlessly on the outskirts of my pack’s territory, a bolt of lightning illuminating the sky, followed by heavy rain. All the wolves on patrol scurried to their dens to take shelter from the storm, but Ethan didn’t know where to go. He was a rogue in a strange
land.
He walked in the rain, muttering my name, soaked to the bone. His scent was pathetic, a mixture of despair and longing.
Suddenly, his mind–link pulsed with a message. He picked it up expectantly; it was a message from Lydia.
“Ethan, come back to your territory.”
He looked at the sentence and suddenly felt powerless. Why had he and I ended up like this, two wolves separated by a chasm of regret?
He knelt down in the torrential rain, crying and shouting in pain. The sound of the rain drowned out everything, including his anguished emotions. His wolf was broken.
He staggered to a cave entrance near my temporary den. The entrance was tightly sealed with woven branches and leaves, and he didn’t dare to claw at it. He just curled up by the doorway. This was my dwelling, and only here did he feel a sliver of solace in his heart. His
defeated. wolf rested its chin on its paws,
He hadn’t slept for several moon–cycles, and now, drenched in rain, lying by the door, he surprisingly drifted off into a fitful sleep.
In his dream, I forgave him and returned to the Ashen Pack with him. They were just like before, but what was different was that in the dream, he didn’t let me down again. He immediately underwent the Blood Rite with me and publicly announced their bond to the entire Lycan Council.
I, tears in my eyes, threw myself into his arms, saying I had finally waited for this day, that the moon had finally aligned their paths. Ethan smiled slightly, as if he had grasped his own happiness.
Then, he succumbed to the elements and fainted in the torrential rain.
When he opened his eyes again, he felt his head throb, and his body was unable to move. He struggled to unfamiliar cave ceiling. He wanted to get out of his makeshift nest, but the next moment, a gentle voice came.
open eyes
his
and saw an
“Don’t move.”
It was me. My scent filled the small space.
Hearing that voice, Ethan couldn’t care less about anything. He abruptly got up and tightly embraced the she–wolf beside the sleeping mat, holding them with the force of someone who had lost something and found it again.
“Zoe, have you forgiven me?! I know I was wrong. I will spend my whole life making it up to you, Zoe. Please believe me. I truly was
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wrong. I can’t live without you, I…” He cried as he spoke, feelings of remorse surging through him like a tumultuous river, filling his heart with bitterness. He hugged the person in his arms tightly, unwilling to let go. His wolf clawed at his ribs, desperate to hold on.
“Ethan, stop. I’m only doing this for Lydia. If you had died on my doorstep, Lydia would be very saddened.” I frowned and struggled out of his embrace, my scent distant and cold.
At this moment, Ethan finally had the chance to carefully scent my face. In my eyes, there was no trace of longing, only disgust.
That expression pierced his heart. His face turned pale, and his hands were still suspended in mid–air, not knowing what to do. He could only stare blankly at Zoe, as if looking at the she–wolf he loved most but could never have. Sadness filled his entire being. With a hoarse voice, he called out my name.
“Zoe…”
I didn’t respond, my eyes cold.
“I’ve already contacted Lydia, she’ll come claim you back. Ethan, don’t seek me out here anymore, I’m just as well and happy here without you.” My scent was firm.
“Zoe…”
“Let the past moon cycle be past. From the moment you chose Isabelle, we were over, our paths separated by the moon.”
“Zoe…” The he–wolf’s voice got more painful with each word. He looked deeply at the she–wolf in front of him, so close, yet feeling so far away from him, so far, he could no longer reach her. His wolf whimpered, knowing the truth.
“Do we really have no chance left?” he asked, looking over with a last flicker of hope.
I finally looked him in the eye, responding word for word.
“Yes, we no longer have any chance. Our paths are now forever split.”
As if pierced by a thousand arrows tipped with wolfsbane, Ethan’s heart ached to the point of death. He wanted to reach out and touch
face again, but even that wish was mercilessly dodged by me.
my
Ethan’s eyes were bloodshot, and tears fell. His wolf hung its head in shame.
“Okay, okay…” he said, his heart aching uncontrollably.
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