Chapter 20
In the silent heart of Whitmoor Hall, Marina wept uncontrollably..
She clutched at her chest as she once had–dramatically, breathlessly–crying out that she couldn’t breathe.
But this time, her father only looked at her with cold disdain.
“Your heart is fine. That heart inside you is Selene’s. Strong, Uncompromised,” Cedric said sharply. “This performance? Save it.”
Marina froze. Her expression twisted with disbelief and fury.
In her vision of the future, everything was supposed to fall into place after the sigil transfer. She’d awaken to praise, affection, and Thorne’s long–awaited confession.
Instead, she had nothing. The favor of her parents–gone Thorne’s heart–lost. Her sister’s presence still haunted every corner of their
lives.
Why?
Why had everything gone wrong?
Elsewhere, news of the Elowen–Quinn bonding spread like wildfire across the northern bloodlines.
When Thorne heard, he lost all composure.
The once–proud Alpha who rarely drank was now slumped in a darkened tavern, soaked in wildberry mead, whispering Selene’s name over and over again. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
The home that once held laughter and warmth had become a mausoleum of memory.
On the evening of the betrothal feast, Nia–no longer Selene–walked beside Caelan Quinn, cloaked in twilight blue silks. Their union was the talk of the entire mooncourt. Graceful, radiant, undeniable.
After rounds of greetings and ceremonial toasts, Nia’s new heels began to sting She excused herself with a soft word to Caelan and stepped away toward the den’s inner chamber.
But just as she opened the door
“Mom!”
It was Theo.
Gone was his usual proud composure–his cheeks were red from crying, his hands clutched her gown with desperation, and his voice, trembled like a pup lost in a storm.
“You’re not going to leave me again, are you? You promised…”
Nia froze
The bond between them might have been stripped from flesh and ritual, but blood did not forget.
She lowered herself, gently brushing the tears from his face. “Theo,” she said softly, “you’re stronger than this. You’ve always been brave. You can survive without me.”
“But I don’t want to!” he wailed. “I’ll behave, I swear it! Just don’t leave me. Don’t leave Father!”
Thorne stood behind him, silent and gaunt. His Alpha’s strength had long since cracked under guilt and regret. He looked to Nia with a kind of raw hope that begged for mercy.
“I didn’t know how to raise him without you,” he admitted hoarsely. “I’ve done everything wrong
Chapter 20
Nia’s voice remained gentle, but her eyes held no warmth. “Then you shouldn’t have led me to the altar with a lie.”
She turned back to Theo, kissing his brow with the last shred of softness she could spare. “You’ll be fine, my little wolf. Your pack will protect you. You don’t need to carry my shadow forever.”
Then she stood and faced Thorne fully.
“You brought him here to make me stay.”
“I just…” Thorne’s voice cracked. “Even if you don’t forgive me, even if you hate me–I can’t bear to lose you again.”
Nia exhaled a long breath. The truth had to be said.
“You’re not in pain because of love, Thorne. You’re in pain because of absence. We lived together for eight winters. Of course
se you’re not used to the silence.”
“But love?” she shook her head. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t have torn me apart. Not for Marina. Not for the Luna Sigil. Not for duty.”
“No!” Thorne snapped, his voice taw. “I didn’t know what I had. I thought it would always be there–until the altar bled dry and you were gone. Now I know. I love you. And I can’t take back the choices, but I would trade anything–everything to undo them.”
Nia’s eyes shimmered. There had been a time she would have sold her soul for those words. Now they only stung.
“If that were true,” she said, voice steady, “why did you hurt me again and again?”
Thorne collapsed to his knees. “Tell me what I have to do. How do I earn your forgiveness?”
Before Nia could answer, Caclan entered the hall.
He paused at the strange tableau but said nothing. Only looked to Nia with calm certainty. She walked to him without hesitation,
The moment her arm slipped around his, Thorne flinched.
Nia turned back to him with cool finality
“This is Caelan,” she said. “My future mate. The one who did not need to see me shattered to cherish me.
“Your Luna is gone, Thome. What remains is not yours to reclaim”
Thorne’s face crumpled.
Caelan looked down at him with quiet disdain. “A man who wounds the one he claims to love does not deserve her forgiveness.
return.”
Nia didn’t look back again.
She and Caelan left the room together, walking side by side into the glowing corridor, past the echoes of what once was
Nor her
And in the growing silence behind them, Thorne stayed kneeling–surrounded by loss, and the fading scent of the wolf who would never be his again.
