Chapter 22
Kaela’s POV
I could see the worry creeping into Nikolai’s eyes as we drove through the compound gates. Soren’s desperate offer was still hanging between us, and I knew exactly what my mate was thinking
“Are you going to go back to him?” Nikolai asked quietly, his hands gripping t the steering wheel a little too tightly.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the uncertainty in his voice. “Not a chance. You know why eyes are positioned at the front of our heads instead of the back?”
He glanced at me, confused by the seemingly random question]
Because we’re meant to look forward, not backward.” I continued. “Those years in the mountains, surviving day by day–if d speat all my time looking back at what I’d lost, I would have died a dozen times over. The past is exactly that–past“||
Relief flooded his features, and he nodded slowly. “Speaking of moving forward… you’ve always regretted not having a proper education, right? What would you say to studying abroad? By the time you come back, you’ll be ready to stand beside me as an equal partner in everything
My heart leaped at the possibility. Education had always been a distant dream, something that belonged to wolves who’d been raised in stable homes with loving families–wolves who hadn’t spent their childhood surviving rather than learning.
“You’d really do that for me?”
“Td do anything for you, he said simply, and I knew he meant it.]
Trom that day forward, my life transformed completely. Nikolai hired the best tutors money could buy–professors from prestigious universities who came to the compound to work with me personally. Mathematics, Literature, business management, pack politics, international relations–subjects Ed never dreamed I’d be able to study.
But the most important part wasn’t the academic learning. It was what happened during my physical training sessions.
“Your mabilny to shift isn’t because you’re weak” the pack’s transformation specialist explained during our first session. “It’s trauma based. Your wolf retreated so deep during those years of abuse that she’s afraid to surface.“)
The work was grueling. Not just physically, but emotionally. Every session meant confronting memories I’d buried, acknowledging pain Ed spent years
ding. There were days 1 collapsed in tears, days I wanted to quit entirely.]
Hut Nikolai was there through all of it. When I’d wake up screaming from nightmares about the reformatory, he’d hold me until the shaking stopped. When to fail to shift again and again, he’d remind me that healing takes time.[
“koure not broken,” he’d whisper against my hair. “You’re just learning to trust yourself again–1
took three weeks of intensive therapy and training before I felt her stirring–my wolf, tentative and cautious, testing whether it was safe to emer
And then one morning, during a particularly peaceful meditation session in our private garden, it happened. ||
The thich was nothing lüce what I’d imagined. No pain, no violence, just a sense of coming home to myself. When I opened my eyes, the world looked different–sharper, more vibrant, alive with scents and sounds I’d never noticed before |
My wolf–Aria, as I instinctively knew her name to be–stretched luxuriously, adver fur gleaming in the morning sunlight, she was beautiful, elegant, mathing like the broken creature Idunagined during all those years of failed attempts.[]
when he saw me in my wall form. I’ll never forget it. Pace joy, pure pride, like he was watching a miracle unfolt)
“There she is,” he whispered, running his fingers the ough Aria’s very fur. “There’s my beautiful mate.”
I threw myself unp learning with the satta determination that had kept me alive in those mountain villages, but now it was compled with something I’d
ser had for hope. Every day brought new kanwledge, new possibilities, new confidence. Every successful shalt remanded me that I was becoming whole again)
The combination of academur growth and Esally accessing my woll form was infunicating I wasn’t just surviving anymore–1 was thriving, becoming the person I was always meant to m
was vaguely aware that Sorex has tai
reuidens we outcide nur gates. The security teams reported his daily vigils, how he’d show up before dawn
and stay until well past midnight, getting beaten hack by our enforcers only to return the next morning
But I didn’t let it distract me. I had goals now, a future to build. For the first time in my life, I was studying not to
to survive, but to thrive
A month later, I was staring at my laptop screen in disbelief. The acceptance letter from the Lycan Institute of Advanced Studies–the most prestigious werewolf university in the European territories–was right there in my inbox, official and real and mine.[]
“Nikolai!” I screamed, launching myself at him the moment he walked into our bedroom]
He caught me easily, spinning me around as I babbled about coursework and dormitories and the Master’s program in International Business. But when I looked at his face, something was off
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my excitement dimming. You look like someone died.”
He set me down gently, his expression careful and controlled. The Duskrond pack filed for bankruptcy this morning. Soren’s financial assault was thorough.”
I stared at him, processing the information. Part of me–t
e–the satisfaction. But mostly, I just felt empty.
part that remembered being beaten and starved and treated like garbage–felt a savage
They came here looking for you.” Nikolai continued. “Alpha and Luna Duskrend, begging for help. I didn’t want to upset you while you were studying, s1 had security turn them away.”
I nodded slowly, then walked to my bedside table and pulled out my old phone. I’d switched to a new mumber when I moved to Grimweald territory but I’d kept the old device, more out of habit than sentiment
The moment I powered it on, it started ringing. The caller ID made my stomach clench–Luna Duskrend!]]
I let it ring three times before answering]
“Kaela Luna Duskrend’s voice was shrill with desperation “Thank God. We’ve been trying to reach you for weeks. How could you get bonded without telling your family? If Ophelia hadn’t mentioned it when she called from jail, we never would have known“]
The audacity of calling herself my family after everything made me want to laugh–or maybe scream.]
“What do you want? I asked flatly.
The Blackve in pack has cut all ties with us,” she continued, apparently oblivious to my tone. “We need the Grimweald pack to invest in our territory, help us rehuid. If we go under, it’ll ruin Ophelia’s marriage prospects when she gets out of prison. And Soren won’t take our calls anymore–you need to talk to him, malor him see reason. Ophelia’s been crying nonstop since she got back from that terrible place.”
1 lastened to her rambling demands with growing amazement. Did she really think I owed them anything? After selling me to rogue wolves, letting mo be tortured in the Shadowlands for years, standing by while I was slowly murdered with that cursed bracelet?]
“Let nie get this straight,” I said when she finally paused for breath. “You want me to help the park that disowned me, to save the reputation of the woman who’s been trying to destroy my life for three years?”
“Don’t be dramatic, Karla We’re still your family-
“Actually, we’re pat.” My voice was ice cold. “See, you never bothered to officially register me with the pack when you brought me back from the mountains. Legally, I’m not a Duskrend. I never was“||
Dalence stretched across the ine]]
“So figure out your own problems.” I confused, my voice ringing with newfound power “Tas done cleaning up messes I didn’t make, and I’m done. pretending to caer aljuun peuple who ney
“Kaela, you can’t just –
1 hung up and
iately blocked the number, my hands sull trembling with the face of emotions Ed kept haired for so long ||
Nikolas was watching nor with a mixture of concern and fierce pride. When he saw the tears streaming down my lace–not tears of sadness, but of pare rodiel–his expression melteit into understanding ||
“You have no idea,” I said, deleting every trace of their contact information. “It feels like I just got my soul back.”
And for the first time in my life, 1 truly could breathe. I was free–not just from the bracelet, not just from Soren, but from every chain that had ever bound me to people who saw me as disposable.
I was Kaela Grimweald now. Luna. Mate. Whole
