“Ms. Elena! Someone’s here for you!” Jenny, one of the shelter volunteers, suddenly rushed over, yelling.
“Who is it?” I asked without turning around.
“Don’t know him, but he looks… not good.”
I turned and walked back to the shelter, down the foggy path.
And then I saw him.
Scott. He was standing there, so much thinner than before. His eyes were sunken, his gaze filled with exhaustion and a sorrow so deep it was suffocating. He wasn’t that dazzling Alpha anymore; he looked more like a lost, wild animal that had been wandering for ages.
Five years of hatred suddenly surged up inside me, hot as lava.
“How did you find me?” My voice was ice, sharp as a knife.
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Chapter 5
+25 Bonus
“I’ve been looking for you for five years, Elena,” his voice was raspy, like he hadn’t spoken in a long time. “Five years. I’ve searched every corner of North America.”
Jenny got the hint and slipped out of the room, leaving the two of us to face off.
“You shouldn’t have come,” I said, turning away to pretend to organize bottles on the medicine shelf, trying to hide my shaking hands.
“I had to,” Scott took a step forward. “I owe you an explanation, an apology, and…”
“Stop.” I held up a hand. “I don’t need anything from you. You’ve already given me more than enough–humiliation, pain, ten years of nightmares.”
“What ten years? Elena, please listen to me,” he begged, his voice breaking. “I never loved Joanna. Never.”
I scoffed and turned to look him straight in the eye. “Really? Ten years of humiliation and indifference, all because you didn’t love her? You put me down in front of the whole pack every day, told everyone I was a ‘fragile human waste–is that how you treat someone you don’t love?”
Scott closed his eyes in pain. “I was blinded by tradition and duty! I thought I had to!”
“You always have an excuse,” my voice trembled with rage. “Duty? Tradition? What about your heart? Your empathy?”
“You know what, Scott?” I went on, my voice getting colder. “I died once. Literally died. Do you know what that feels like?”
He stared at me, shocked.
“It feels like all hope is sucked out of you, leaving nothing but endless darkness,” I said quietly. “Death taught me one thing–I will never again be anyone’s possession, anyone’s sacrifice. Including yours.”
I glared at him, tears streaming down my face, my voice choked. “It was… in our past life. You hated me for ten years after Joanna died in that accident, but then you saved me in the explosion. Everything I owed you, I’ve paid it back! I have every right to hate you, and every right to leave!”
“I… My head!” His voice trembled, and he suddenly collapsed to the floor, clutching his head as if it were splitting open. “It was me! Those ten years, it was me who wronged you…” He remembered everything.
Pain flashed in Scott’s eyes. “How much do you hate me?”
“Enough to be reborn,” my eyes were like ice. It wasn’t a lie.
Scott flinched back as if he’d been stabbed. “Tell me how to make it up to you. Anything, Elena, anything!”
“There’s nothing to make up for,” I said coldly. “I don’t need your guilt, or your compensation. I just need you out of my life.”
“I won’t give up,” his voice suddenly firmed. “I’ve lost you once, I won’t lose you again.”
“You never had me,” I couldn’t help but scoff. “Even the mate bond was just a mistake by the Moon Goddess. And you? You despised me so much. After I left, how come you’re acting like you were deeply in love with me?!”
Just then, the door opened. A tall, handsome man walked in, carrying a medical kit.
“Elena, that Kappa-” He saw Scott and stopped short. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“It’s okay, Derek,” my voice softened considerably. “Scott was just leaving.‘
Derek, sensing the tension, came to my side, standing protectively, “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” I smiled at Derek, a genuine, warm smile–the kind I’d never given Scott.
Pain and jealousy flashed in Scott’s eyes. The air around him grew dangerous, his Alpha possessiveness almost a physical thing.
“I should go.” Finally, he fought down his instincts and headed for the door.
At the door, he stopped, without turning back. “You know, for these five years, every new place I went, I’d ask the same question: ‘Is there a lady here who takes in injured animals?‘ Because I knew, wherever you were, you’d be using your kindness and warmth to light up those dark
corners.”
His voice was low and raspy. “I’ll prove it to you, Elena. I’ll be worthy of you. Even if it takes a lifetime.”
The door closed, and Scott’s figure disappeared into the fog.
“Who was that?” Derek asked softly, his eyes full of concern.
2/3
Chapter 6
I leaned against the wall, feeling a wave of exhaustion. “He’s my nightmare. A nightmare I thought would never come back.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Not right now,” I shook my head. “Let’s go check on that Kappa first.”
Derek nodded, not pressing.
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