Chapter 24
1040words
Just as I was about to get up, one of Kael's Beta guards entered, looking troubled.
"Luna, there are two individuals at the gate. They claim to be your blood relatives and insist on seeing you."
My head snapped up, my heart skipping a beat.
"Who did you say?"
After the guard's explanation, I pieced together the truth. It was my biological parents, long divorced and each with new families.
Back when I had "died" from the wolfsbane poisoning, this pair who had abandoned me suddenly remembered the daughter they'd left in a corner.
But their flicker of guilt was fleeting, quickly extinguished by the fact that the dead couldn't be brought back.
Now that news was spreading throughout the werewolf world that Silver Creek's future Luna was the "resurrected" Elara, they had come sniffing around.
I listened quietly, my fingertips digging into my palms, but I felt no emotion.
A pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around my waist from behind, and Kael's comforting, cool pine scent enveloped me.
"They're here to beg the Silver Creek pack for a bailout," he whispered in my ear, his voice carrying the protective authority of an Alpha.
I turned my head and looked at him, confused.
Kael chuckled and affectionately pinched my nose.
"Your biological father's company is on the verge of bankruptcy, its capital chain broken. Your biological mother's new husband is in an even bigger mess."
"They have been trying to contact me all month, and I have ignored them. With no other options, they decided to play the family card, hoping to get a piece of you."
There was little surprise in my eyes.
From the moment they had eagerly cast me aside on the day of their divorce, I knew they didn't love me.
Besides, they now had new pups, new families. Whatever thin thread of love they had for me, connected only by blood, had long since scattered to the wind.
At that thought, I couldn't even be bothered to be angry.
I just shook my head at the guard and turned to go upstairs.
"I won't see them."
Whatever reaction my so-called parents had at the gate was no concern of mine.
Outside the main gate, the two were first stunned at being refused entry, then began to argue loudly and shamelessly right at the estate entrance.
The Beta guard watched them coldly.
"Where were you when she was a lone she-wolf trying to survive in the storm? Now that she is a noble future Luna, what makes you think she would ever look back, let alone help you?"
The two of them froze, trembling under the oppressive aura of the Alpha territory, unable to utter a single word.
In the blink of an eye, Kael and I had been in the country for nearly a month.
During that time, he introduced me to all of Silver Creek's elders and relatives. I received countless sincere blessings, and the warmth of being accepted by a family gradually filled the emptiness deep in my soul.
The day we returned to the small human town, the sun was shining brightly.
We hugged everyone goodbye and boarded the private jet home.
Kael held my hand tightly. I leaned on his shoulder, watching the clouds outside the window, my heart more peaceful than it had ever been.
At that same moment, in a hospital room thousands of kilometers away...
Perhaps sensing my complete departure as his former mate, two clear streams of tears slowly trickled from the corners of the eyes of the tube-covered Aiden.
In that instant, his shattered memories returned in a final flash.
He remembered a time, long ago, beneath Moon Goddess Falls, when she had asked him a question.
"If you ever fall in love with someone else, you have to tell me. I won't cling to you. But if you lie to me, I'll make sure you can never find me for the rest of your life."
Now, he had truly lied to her. And she had truly kept her word, leaving him to live in a hell of regret until his death, never willing to see him again.
A sharp, corrosive pain from the silver wound radiated from his heart. His breathing became rapid and difficult.
It was the backlash from the complete severance of the mate bond, the despair of a soul being torn apart.
A piercing alarm suddenly shrieked through the room.
A team of doctors rushed in, the sound of defibrillators filling the air.
The clock on the wall ticked on and on.
Finally, the heart monitor beside Aiden let out a long, shrill tone. The faint, wavering line went flat.
Even the emergency doctor, accustomed to life and death, let out a long sigh as he looked at the withered form of the once-invincible Alpha.
His vitals had been stable just moments before. Why had he suddenly lost the will to live?
"Notify the Black Moon pack," the doctor said.
On the day of Aiden's funeral, a light rain was falling.
Kael and I still went.
Kael held a black umbrella over us as we stood at a great distance, watching quietly. He wrapped his large coat around me, shielding me from the cold.
We watched the people in black carry the coffin, bow their heads, and lay their flowers.
We watched as the heavy tombstone sealed away the absurd life of the fallen Alpha.
The crowd gradually dispersed, figure after figure disappearing under their black umbrellas.
Finally, only Kael and I were left in the vast cemetery.
After what felt like a long time, Kael released his arm from around me and gently nudged my back.
"Go on, Serena."
My legs felt stiff as I slowly walked to the cold gravestone.
The photo on the headstone was well-chosen.
It was Aiden as a young man.
Back then, he hadn't met Cassia, hadn't been blinded by black magic. He was smiling brilliantly, his gray wolf eyes full of hope for the future, and full of love for me.
I looked at that young man and gently closed my eyes.
Goodbye, Aiden.
