I stared at the thousands of unread messages on my phone, all from Soren. I didn’t
I didn’t even bother opening them–just selected all and deleted them in one satisfying swoop, then blocked his number permanently]
Maybe he thought destroying the Duskrend pack would somehow win me back, or maybe he was just trying to force me into a corner. Either way, he’d miscalculated badly. I had no emotional attachment to that pack left–they’d burned that bridge themselves years ago]
Nikolai watched me delete the messages with obvious satisfaction, his arms tightening around me possessively
“Good,” he murmured against my neck. “You don’t need their toxicity in your life.”
That night, he showed me just how proud he was of my decision in the most thorough way possible!]
The next morning, I had to go for my pre–enrollment medical examination at the pack medical center. It was just routine paperwork for the Lycan Institute, but I was looking forward to getting it done so I could focus on preparing for my studies.
Iwas walking through the medical center lobby when Soren appeared out of nowhere, like he’d been lurking in the shadows waiting for me.
He looked terrible. His usually perfect appearance was disheveled, his clothes wrinkled, his face gaunt like he hadn’t heen eating properly. When he saw me, his exhausted eyes lit up with desperate hope
“Kaela! You’re here. I know you’d have to come eventually. His voice cracked with emotion. Tve been working around the clock to scrub every trace of that video from the internet. It’s gone–completely erased. No one will ever see it again.”
I rolled my eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t fall out of my head.
“Seriously, Soren? You’re taking credit for cleaning up a mess you created?” My voice dripped with disdain. “That video was broadcast in every single Blackvers–owned establishment for hours. Thousands of people saw it because of you. And let me guess–this grand gesture is supposed to make me forget that you tried to murder me for three years?”
He shook his head framically, stepping closer despite my obvious disgust
“No, you don’t understand. I never loved Ophelia–it was always you. Always. Kaela, please He dropped to one knee right there in the middle of the Busy lobby. “Marry me. Let me spend the rest of my life making up for what I put you through.”
As if chureographed, flower petals began drifting down from the ceiling. He must have arranged some elaborate surprise, probably thinking romantic gestures would somehow erase years of abuse.]]
The moment the petals hit the air, my nose started burning and my eyes began to water.
“Are you ladding me right now? I gasped, covering my nose and mouth with my sleeve. “Did you seriously just try to trigger my pollen allergy? What’s next, Soren–poison ivy bouquets?”
at him kneeling there with lus massive diamond ring, flower petals scattered around him like some demented fairy tale, and felt nothing
I looked down at i bur pity.
“You know what the really pathetic part is? Ophelia was the one who loved flowers and jewelry. You’re proposing to me with things she would have wanted, because you still don’t know the first thing about who I actually am.”
His face crumpled, but I was already walking away, breathing carefully through my sleeve until I could get clear of the allergens.
“Karla, wall-
I didn’t look hark. I had a medical exam to faith, and more importantly, I had a future to focus on |]
By the time I completed my paperwork and returned to Grimweald territory that afternoon, I’d already put the entire pathetic encounter put of my mand. There were packing lists to make, study materials to review, and a bright future stretching out ahead of me at the Lycan Institute.]]
Suren Blackvein was officially in my past where he belonged. And that’s exactly where he was going to stay.
Soren’s POV – Alter Karla Left
I don’t know how long I knelt there on the cold marble floor, chitching that fucking ring like it might somehow bring her back. The flower petals were wilting around me, and I could feel dozens of eyes watching, whispers spreading through the medical center like wildfire.
I’d never felt so completely destroyed in my life.[]
“Soren Ophelia’s voice cut through my haze. She came running across the lobby, probably fresh from being bailed out of jail. “Get up! Everyone’s watching. You’re the heir to the Blackvein pack–you can’t let them see you like this?”
She tried to haul me to my feet, but I couldn’t move. Couldn’t do anything but stare at the spot where Karla had vanished taking every hope de had with her.
ever
“She was right.” I said, the words scraping out of my throat like broken glass. “About the flowers. About everything. You told me she loved romantic gestures, but she’s allergic to pollen. How did I not know that? How did I not know anything about her?”
“Soren, please.” Ophelia begged her voice taking on that familiar wheedling tone. “You’re embarrassing yourself. Kaela’s just… damaged. She doesn’t know how to accept love properly because of what happened to her in the Shadowlands
Something cold settled in my chest. I looked up at Ophelia–really looked at her–and saw what Kaela must have seen all along. The manipulation. The calculation. The complete lack of genuine emotion]
“She knelt here for three days,” I said quietly. “Three days and nights, injured and exhausted, while people stared and whispered. While I let them t her apart with their gossip. How did she survive that without breaking completely?”]
“She’s used to hardship. You’re different–you’re educated,
“She’s just some mountain pack wolf,” Ophelia said, desperation creeping into her voice. “S refined important. You can’t compare yourself to someone like her.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. Because that’s exactly what I’d thought, wasn’t it? That I was somehow better than her, more deserving of comfort and respect.
“The wolf bone bracelet” I said, my voice deadly quiet. “It really would have killed her. That was always the plan, wasn’t it?”
I watched Ophelia’s face cycle through emotions–panic, calculation, then a desperate attempt to look innocent
tear
“I don’t know what you mean,” she stammered. “Luna Duskrend made me do everything. I didn’t understand why she wanted me to fake the coma. I was just following orders, Soren. You have to believe me.
But I could see the lie now, written all over her face. How had I been so fucking blind?
“You’re still lying.” I said, finally pushing myself to my feet. My knees were stiff from kneeling, and there were flower petals stuck “Even now, when everything’s completely fucked, you’re still lying to me.”
I walked away, leaving standing there in the ruins of my pathetic proposal
petals stuck to my expensive suit.
For the first time in three years, I understood exactly what I’d lost. And exactly what I’d never deserved in the first place
