Chapter 4

The next morning, I went downstairs expecting the packhouse to be alive with its usual activity. Instead, I found Mira sitting beside Adrian at the breakfast table, speaking quietly while he read something on his tablet, one hand wrapped around his coffee.

Except she was sitting in my place.

I almost kept walking, but something caught the light against her collarbone. A small silver pendant rested against her skin, and I stopped the moment I recognized it.

I knew that necklace.

Adrian had given it to me on our third anniversary after spending weeks searching for it. The dark blue stone, he had told me, reminded him of my eyes. I had worn it almost every day until it disappeared two weeks ago. I had searched my room for hours, checking drawers, closets, and every place I thought I might have left it, certain that I had simply misplaced it.

I hadn't.

Mira noticed me staring and touched the pendant lightly. "Oh, this?"

Adrian followed her gaze, and his expression remained completely calm.

"I lent it to her."

I looked at him, certain I had heard wrong. "You lent it to her?"

"I saw it among Adrian's things," Mira explained with an apologetic smile. "I thought it was beautiful, so I asked if I could borrow it for a few days. He said it was fine."

Among Adrian's things.

My necklace.

The one I had spent hours searching for.

"You had it?" I asked Adrian.

"It was in one of the drawers."

"And you gave it to her?"

"I told you. I lent it to her."

Once, seeing another woman wearing something Adrian had given me would have shattered whatever composure I had left. I would have demanded an explanation, searched his face for reassurance, and desperately tried to convince myself that I still mattered to him.

This time, I simply nodded.

"It's fine."

Adrian's eyes narrowed as he studied me. "You don't mind?"

"Why would I?"

He seemed almost disappointed by my answer. His gaze remained fixed on me, as though he were waiting for jealousy, anger, or some other reaction he could understand. I gave him none of them and quietly took the chair at the opposite end of the table.

Seven days.

In seven days, I would leave the Blackthorne Pack.

The necklace no longer mattered, and neither did the matching bracelet around my wrist. Adrian had given me the bracelet with the pendant, and I had continued wearing it even after the necklace disappeared. Somehow, taking it off had always felt like admitting that something between us had changed.

I finally understood how foolish that had been.

I unclasped the bracelet and placed it on the table between us.

Adrian's eyes dropped to it. "What are you doing?"

"Returning it."

"You don't have to."

"I know."

He stared at the bracelet without touching it, then looked back at me. "Sera, you're acting strange."

"I'm tired."

"You're different since last night."

I gave him a faint smile. "Maybe I'm finally tired of being the same."

Before he could respond, a servant entered and reminded him that the council meeting was scheduled for ten. Adrian glanced at the clock and nodded.

"I'll be there."

When he looked back at me, his expression had become more serious. "We'll talk later."

"All right."

But I knew I wouldn't be waiting for him.

I had spent eight years waiting. I wasn't going to spend another hour doing it.

**

By noon, I was in the main hall sorting the documents that needed to be delivered to the council. I simply wanted to finish everything I could before leaving, and keeping myself busy was easier than allowing myself to think about what had happened that morning.

I was halfway through the stack when Mira appeared in the doorway.

"Sera, can I talk to you?"

I kept my eyes on the papers. "About what?"

"Adrian."

I set one document aside before looking at her. "If you're worried about him, talk to him."

"It's not that."

She stepped inside, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "I think he's angry with you because of the wedding."

"He'll get over it."

"I hope you know I never wanted to come between you."

My hands paused over the documents.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me."

"But I do." She gave me a troubled look. "You're his mate. Whatever happens between the two of you, I don't want you thinking I deliberately tried to take your place."

She sounded sincere, and perhaps that was what made her so convincing.

"You haven't taken anything from me."

Her expression shifted slightly. "I haven't?"

"No." I gave her a small smile. "Not anymore."

Her gaze wandered around the room before settling on the ceremonial ornament displayed on a nearby table. It was a silver wolf curled around a black crystal, an old Blackthorne heirloom brought out only during important ceremonies.

Mira walked toward it, curiosity evident on her face.

"I've never seen this before."

"Don't touch it."

She immediately stopped, her hand hovering above the ornament.

"That's a ceremonial piece. Adrian told everyone not to handle it."

"I'm sorry. I was only curious."

She pulled her hand back, and I returned my attention to the documents. For several seconds, the room remained quiet.

Then the ornament crashed to the floor.

I spun around. The heirloom lay shattered across the tiles, while Mira stood beside the table clutching her wrist. Blood trickled between her fingers.

"What happened?"

She looked at me with wide, frightened eyes.

"Sera..."

"What?"

She took a small step backward. "You pushed me."

I froze.

"What?"

"I told you I was sorry. I didn't mean to touch your things." Tears gathered in her eyes as she shook her head. "I know you're angry with me because of Adrian, but I didn't want this."

"I didn't touch you."

Before I could say anything else, the doors opened. Adrian entered, his gaze immediately falling on the broken heirloom and Mira's bleeding wrist.

"Mira. What happened?"

She looked at him, her voice trembling. "Sera pushed me."

The room went silent.

"That's a lie."

"I only touched the ornament," Mira said, shaking her head. "She became angry and—"

"I didn't touch you."

Adrian's expression hardened as he looked at me. "Sera."

"She's lying."

Mira lowered her head, tears finally slipping down her cheeks. "I didn't want to cause trouble. I was only trying to apologize to her."

Adrian looked from her injured wrist to the shattered heirloom and then back at me. Whatever conclusion he reached was already written across his face.

"You've gone too far."

"You actually believe her?"

"I saw the broken ornament."

"You didn't see me push her."

"Enough."

Several pack members had gathered outside the hall, drawn by the commotion. Adrian took a step toward me, his voice cold and controlled.

"Apologize to her."

"For something I didn't do?"

"You pushed her."

"No."

His jaw tightened. "Sera, don't make this worse."

"I'm telling you the truth."

Mira quickly shook her head. "Adrian, please. It's okay. Don't fight with her because of me."

Something hardened in his expression.

"Apologize."

I stared at him, and in that moment, I finally understood that this wasn't about the broken ornament. It wasn't even about Mira. He had already decided who he believed before he ever asked for my side of the story.

My truth didn't matter.

My side didn't matter.

I didn't matter.

"Adrian—"

His hand moved before I could finish.

The slap echoed through the hall.

Everything stopped.

My cheek burned as I slowly lifted a hand to it. Adrian stared at me, his anger disappearing almost immediately as shock crossed his face.

"Sera..."

I waited for the tears, but they never came. Maybe I had cried enough over the years to last a lifetime.

Around us, the pack remained silent. I looked at Mira, then back at Adrian, and realized that I wasn't angry anymore. I was simply done.

For years, I had defended Adrian because I believed he was a good man. I had forgiven every disappointment because I thought the man I loved was merely struggling beneath the weight of his responsibilities. I had convinced myself that his distance, his neglect, and every broken promise had explanations I simply needed to understand.

Perhaps there had never been two versions of him.

Perhaps this had always been who he was.

I lowered my hand and met his eyes one final time.

"That was the last thing you will ever take from me."

Adrian's face went pale. "Sera—"

I turned away.

I didn't want an explanation, an apology, or another promise. I had spent eight years listening to promises. This time, I simply walked out, and no one stopped me.

**

By the time I reached my room, my hands were shaking, not from fear but from finality.

For eight years, I had wondered what it would take to make me leave. I had imagined some grand betrayal, some confession, or a broken promise dramatic enough to justify walking away. I had always believed that leaving would require something so devastating that I could never question my decision.

I never realized it could be this simple.

A single slap.

A single choice.

His choice.

I picked up my phone and found my mother's name near the top of my messages. For a moment, I simply stared at the screen, my thumb hovering over her name as years of hesitation pressed against the decision I had already made.

Then I typed the words I had been too afraid to say for years.

I'm coming home.

I pressed send.

The message delivered almost immediately.

Seven days had suddenly become too long.

But for the first time, I knew exactly what I would do with them. I would settle what needed to be settled, pack what belonged to me, and walk away without looking back.

I was going home.

And I wasn't coming back.

--

I left the Blackthorne Pack the following morning.

I didn't tell anyone I was leaving. There was no reason to. After eight years of living in the Alpha's residence, I had become so much a part of Adrian's life that everyone simply assumed I would always be there. I had shared meals with him, attended council functions at his side, and waited for him to finish his work so we could have dinner together. Everyone knew me as Adrian's mate.

Everyone except Adrian, perhaps.

He had never given me the title of Luna.

Now, I was leaving with one suitcase.

I stood in my bedroom for one final moment, looking at the life I had built around him. The dresses Adrian had bought me were still hanging neatly in the wardrobe, while the jewelry he had given me remained untouched in the drawers. Photographs, letters, and gifts filled the room, each one representing a memory I had once believed would become part of a future we would share.

I left all of it behind.

I took only the things that had belonged to me before Adrian. Everything else could stay where it was.

At the front entrance, one of the guards noticed my suitcase and looked at me curiously.

"Miss Sera, are you going somewhere?"

"I'm going home."

He glanced at the suitcase before looking back at me. "Would you like me to arrange a car?"

"No. My family's driver is already waiting."

Something in the way I said my family seemed to make him hesitate. He eventually nodded and stepped aside.

"Of course."

I walked through the gates without looking back.

The moment I crossed the Blackthorne boundary, something inside me loosened. I had expected the ache of leaving behind eight years of my life, but what came instead was a quiet sense of relief.

I got into the waiting car and settled into the back seat.

"Valen territory."

The driver nodded before pulling away.

This time, I didn't look back.