One Week To Choose

The gate slammed shut behind me with a sound that felt final.

No guards. No Kael. No Kade.

Just me, the forest, and a week to figure out my life.

Kael had set me up in a small cabin on the edge of Dark Ridge territory. No locks on the doors. No guards at the windows.

“Trust,” he called it. I called it psychological warfare.

If I ran, he’d let me go. That was the deal.

If I stayed, it meant I was choosing.

Choosing what, I didn’t know yet.

The cabin was simple. One bed, a fireplace, a kitchen with food already stocked. No mirrors. Kael knew I hated looking at myself since the rejection.

Smart bastard.

I threw myself on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Seven days.

Seven days to decide between the brother who broke me and the brother who claimed me.

My wolf stirred for the first time without pain. She didn’t whimper. She didn’t beg.

She waited.

---

*Day 1: Silence*

I didn’t sleep.

Every sound outside made me think it was Kade coming to drag me back. Or Kael coming to check if I’d changed my mind.

Neither came.

I spent the day walking the perimeter. The territory was bigger than I remembered. Older. The trees here felt alive, like they were watching.

At night, I tried to shift.

Nothing happened.

Kael said my wolf was dormant after the rejection. Like she was protecting herself.

He said pain and rage would wake her up.

I didn’t want to feel either of those again.

So I didn’t shift.

---

*Day 2: Memories*

I found a journal under the bed.

Kael’s handwriting. Sloppy, aggressive, like he wrote it while angry.

The first entry was dated a year ago.

The day after Kade rejected me.

_“She walked out of that circle without crying. Without begging. If I wasn’t already obsessed, I would be now.”_

My stomach flipped.

I kept reading.

Most of it was training logs. Times, drills, notes on my supposed weaknesses.

But scattered between were things he never said to my face.

_“She flinched when I touched her today. I hated myself for it.”_

_“Kade called tonight. He asked about her. I hung up.”_

_“If she chooses him, I’ll kill him. No. I’ll let her go. I have to.”_

I closed the journal with shaking hands.

Kael wasn’t just possessive. He was tortured.

---

*Day 3: The Visitor*

I heard the car before I saw it.

Rhys. Kade’s Beta. The only wolf in the Red Moon Pack who’d ever been kind to me.

He didn’t come inside. Just stood at the door with a paper bag.

“Kade sent food,” he said. “He said you don’t eat enough.”

I crossed my arms. “He doesn’t get to care now.”

Rhys sighed. “Aria, he’s a mess. Hasn’t slept since you left. The pack’s on edge. They think Kael brainwashed you.”

“Kael didn’t brainwash me.”

“I know.” Rhys set the bag down. “Look, I’m not here to convince you to come back. Kade told me not to. He said you need to choose without pressure.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I miss you.” He smiled sadly. “You were the only one who didn’t treat me like I was just muscle.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

Rhys left without another word.

The food stayed untouched.

---

*Day 4: The Dream*

I dreamed of the rejection again.

But this time, it was different.

Kade wasn’t cold. He was crying.

“Forgive me,” he whispered as he said the words.

“I’m sorry, Aria. I’m so sorry.”

I woke up with tears on my face.

Stupid. Stupid heart.

---

*Day 5: Training Alone*

I couldn’t sit still anymore.

So I trained.

Kael had left weights, a punching bag, and a target dummy in the backyard. No instructions. Just equipment and the expectation that I’d use it.

I lasted an hour before my arms gave out.

It felt good.

For the first time since the rejection, I felt in control of something.

My body was mine again.

My wolf stirred at the thought.

I tried to shift again.

This time, I felt it. A flicker. Heat under my skin. The pull of fur and claw.

Then it faded.

Close. But not yet.

---

*Day 6: Kael’s Visit*

He didn’t knock.

One second the cabin was quiet, the next he was standing in my kitchen, leaning against the counter like he owned the place.

“You look better,” he said.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re lying.” He stepped closer. “You haven’t shifted.”

“No.”

“Why?”

I looked away. “Because if I shift, I have to admit I’m still a wolf. And if I’m still a wolf, then the bond with Kade still exists.”

Kael’s jaw tightened.

“The bond exists, Aria. Rejecting you didn’t kill it. It just buried it.”

“Then why am I here?”

“Because I want you to choose me knowing that.” He cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. “I don’t want a girl who chooses me because she has no other option. I want you to choose me even when Kade is offering you the moon and stars.”

“And if I choose him?”

Kael’s eyes flashed silver.

“Then I’ll let you go. But I won’t stop loving you.”

The words hit harder than any punch.

I stepped back. “Go home, Kael.”

He didn’t argue.

He just left a small box on the table before walking out.

Inside was a silver locket.

Inside the locket was a photo of me from a year ago. Smiling. Before everything broke.

On the back, Kael had written: _“This is who you are without us. Don’t forget.”_

---

*Day 7: The Decision*

The morning of the deadline, I woke up before dawn.

My decision was made.

Not because of Kael’s locket.

Not because of Kade’s tears in my dream.

Not because of Rhys’s kindness.

Because of me.

I walked to the clearing behind the cabin. The place where Kael said wolves shifted for the first time.

I stripped off my clothes, closed my eyes, and let go.

Pain.

Heat.

Release.

Bones shifted. Skin stretched. Fur sprouted.

When it was over, I stood on four legs, silver fur gleaming in the moonlight.

My wolf was back.

And she was pissed.

She ran.

Fast. Free. No fear. No chains.

For the first time in a year, I felt whole.

When I shifted back, I was exhausted but clear-headed.

I knew what I had to do.

---

*Evening: The Meeting Place*

The old border between Red Moon and Dark Ridge.

Neutral ground.

Kade was there first, pacing like a caged animal.

Kael arrived seconds later, calm, dangerous, watching me like I might disappear.

They both looked at me.

Waiting.

I took a deep breath.

“Kade,” I said. “I forgive you. But forgiveness doesn’t mean I want you back.”

His face fell, but he nodded. He expected it.

“Kael,” I continued. “You saved me. You made me strong again. But I don’t want to be claimed. I don’t want to be owned.”

Kael’s jaw clenched.

“So what do you want, Aria?”

I smiled. For the first time, it was real.

“I want to choose myself.”

Silence.

Then Kael laughed. Not angry. Proud.

“Of course you do.”

Kade looked confused. “What does that mean?”

“It means,” I said, “I’m not going back to the Red Moon Pack. And I’m not staying here as Kael’s Luna.”

“Then where are you going?” Kade asked.

“Out,” I said. “I’m going to build my own pack. My own rules. My own future.”

Kael stepped forward, eyes burning.

“And if I say no?”

“Then you’re no better than Kade was a year ago,” I said quietly.

He stared at me for a long moment.

Then he knelt.

On one knee, in front of me.

The most powerful Alpha in the region, bowing to an Omega.

“I don’t get to choose you,” he said. “But I’ll follow you. If you’ll have me.”

My heart stopped.

Kade looked like he’d been punched.

“Aria,” he said. “Please. Give me a chance.”

I looked between them.

Two Alphas.

Two futures.

But only one choice.

Mine.

“I’ll think about it,” I said.

And for the first time, both brothers had to wait for me.