Chapter 18
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He looked like he'd fought demons all night. Dark circles shadowed his wolf eyes, his face gaunt with exhaustion.
His dark hair stood in wild disarray.
He returned my phone and purse, escorting me silently to the entrance.
I turned to leave, took two steps, then glanced back.
He stood alone in the falling snow. A solitary sentinel.
Those golden wolf eyes followed me, rimmed with red.
Snowflakes gathered on his dark lashes.
When I turned, his lips attempted a smile.
The corners barely lifting.
A gesture that both urged me forward and silently begged me to stay.
In that moment, I thought—he looks utterly broken.
Broken enough to shatter anyone's heart.
In a strange daze, a fragment of memory surfaced.
When they'd taken him to Scotland, I'd raced to the airport but arrived too late, standing in a blizzard for hours, waiting for a plane that had already gone.
I hesitated, then walked back to him.
Under his startled gaze, I rose on tiptoe—he was so tall I had to stretch—and wrapped my arms around him.
"Goodbye, Dominic. Take care of yourself."
My words nearly lost in the howling wind.
He remained frozen for several heartbeats. Then slowly, carefully, his arms encircled me.
He buried his face in my neck, inhaling deeply.
Wolves inhaling their Mate's scent—pure instinct.
His fingers threaded through my hair, again and again.
His arms tightened around my waist, pressure increasing until it seemed he wanted to absorb me into himself.
Alpha strength and possessiveness—both overwhelming.
I instinctively tried to pull away.
His grip only tightened.
I couldn't move.
Panic flared.
"Dominic."
I said his name firmly.
His arms dropped instantly.
As if he'd suddenly woken from a trance.
His hands clenched into fists at his sides. When he spoke, his voice carried forced nonchalance.
"Don't worry about me. I've got female wolves lined up around the block."
Omegas—female werewolves eager to mate with an Alpha.
"You'll never find another Alpha like me."
"Wasted enough years on you anyway. Time to find someone who appreciates what I offer."
His bravado actually relieved me.
"I'm heading back to Scotland tomorrow. Doubt our paths will cross again." He ruffled my hair like I was a child. "Get going. I'm not watching you leave."
I opened my mouth, but found no words.
I'd assumed our story had ended years ago when he left London.
But only now, as snow fell around us, did I understand—
He'd been waiting seven years to say this goodbye properly.
Still, as he shifted into his massive black wolf form and vanished into the swirling snow, I felt only relief.
I rubbed at my chest where the strange pressure had finally lifted.
Snow fell in heavy curtains.
I trudged through the deepening drifts.
Until I spotted a familiar figure in a black coat at the end of the lane.
His pale face luminous in the moonlight.
"Sebastian! What are you doing here?"
I ran to him, joy bubbling up as I threw myself into his arms.
His embrace was cold but infinitely comforting.
He caught me effortlessly, his supernatural strength making me weightless in his arms.
"Dominic called me."
He pinched my cheek gently, then pressed his cool lips to my forehead.
…
From a second-floor window of the castle.
Dominic's hand pressed against the glass, knuckles white, veins standing out like cords.
Drip.
Tears fell heavily, splattering against the stone sill.
Outside, the snow fell even harder, an impenetrable white curtain.
He watched the world disappear beneath white, his wolf eyes rimmed with red, exhaling a long, shuddering breath.
From deep in his chest came a mournful howl—
The sound a wolf makes when it loses its Mate forever.
The final chapter was closing.
