The Runaway 3

Chapter 3 

It felt like something had torn my chest open, claws raking straight through bone. 

So it wasn’t just doubt. It was real. 

All those sleepless nights, the endless unease eating me alive-Kael truly had been with Claire. 

My vision blurred, tears drowning everything around me. 

My thoughts dragged me back against my will-to last year, on my birthday. 

Kael had come back from the borderlands, his skin burned from the sun, his scent still sharp with battle. 

And yet he had filled the courtyard with white roses glowing under the moonlight. 

He held my hand, thumb brushing the faint bond mark on my skin, his voice steady and firm: 

“Athena, you’re the only one I’ll ever claim as mine.” 

That memory cut into me, tangled now with Claire’s images, her voice, her scent mixed with his. 

The agony was crushing. 

My legs gave out and I slid to the floor, sobs tearing through me until my wolf howled inside, desperate to be 

freed. 

The taste of blood filled my mouth. Then everything went black. 

When I opened my eyes again, it wasn’t my room. 

I was lying in the healer’s den, the sharp bite of herbs heavy in the air. 

A healer hovered close, muttering about “bond strain” and “collapse from stress,” telling me I needed rest. 

But I felt hollow. My tears were spent. 

On the table beside me was a single note from Kael: 

[I’ll be back tonight. We need to talk.] 

The heart monitor spiked in a rapid, shrill rhythm until the healer rushed over. 

But I couldn’t stay. I pulled the needle from my arm, demanded to leave, and stumbled out before dawn. 

At Kael’s estate, an envelope lay at the door. 

The wax seal bore his crest. 

I didn’t need to open it-the property deed was already visible through the fold. 

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Claire’s old words from HowlNet echoed in my head like a blade: 

“He promised to build me a house in my hometown. With a garden. A place only for us.’ 

My hands shook. I pushed the envelope aside. 

I didn’t need proof. Seeing it would destroy me completely. 

Instead, I packed my things. 

Then I went straight to the Luna Council’s scribes and requested a bond dissolution. 

The parchment felt unbearably heavy as I signed my name. 

I was too much of a coward to face Kael directly. 

Too much of a coward to let my mother see how badly I had broken. 

If she knew, she’d lose sleep forever. 

I left the contract on Kael’s desk and walked away before the ink had dried. 

On the path to the airfield, I passed the Pack’s wall of honor. 

Kael’s portrait looked back at me-broad shoulders clad in armor, the Bronze Fang medal pinned to his 

chest. 

Those golden eyes were sharp enough to cut. 

I gave a bitter smile. 

Thank the Moon the sealing of our bond had been kept secret. 

At least my disgrace wouldn’t feed the Pack’s gossip for generations. 

When the airship rose into the sky, I turned off my phone and watched the Frostfang forests fade into the 

distance. 

All I wanted was space. Silence. A place where no wolf could find me. 

But the next day, when I landed in a foreign city and turned my phone back on, the screen exploded with 

notifications- 

Dozens of missed calls. From my mother. From friends. 

And from Kael. Always Kael. 

With trembling fingers, I opened our thread. 

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The blood in my veins turned cold. 

Over a hundred voice messages, his control unraveling piece by piece: 

“You think vanishing without a word means I can’t track you? Athena Hale, don’t push me.’ 

“What the hell is this bond dissolution contract in my study? You seeing another Alpha? I’ll die before I 

release you!” 

“Please, just answer me. At least tell me you’re safe. Don’t punish me like this…” 

In the middle of that foreign terminal, I sank into a dark corner, shaking with silent sobs until my body 

ached. 

The flood of messages was unbearable. 

I didn’t even know what I felt anymore-anger, grief, emptiness. 

I hated myself for not saying what I needed to before I left. 

I had never told him he couldn’t choose Claire. 

But if she was who he wanted, then why force the bond on me? 

Why seal it only to destroy me afterward? 

My rage finally spilled into words as I texted my mother: 

[I need time away. Don’t worry, I’ll come back.] 

[But if Kael tries to find me, I’ll disappear where no wolf will ever track me.] 

I closed our chat. 

Claire’s burner account was still active, still posting their so-called “moments.” 

But I didn’t look anymore. 

This time, I refused to let it hurt me again. 

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