Chapter 2

Erina had posted a photo of the night view from inside a fine dining restaurant. There were no faces visible in the photo, but I caught sight of a hand with distinctive knuckles at the very edge of it.

It was Larry.

His wrist was bare and empty with a faint mark around it. The bracelet that Nora had made for him was now in Erina's hand as she twirled it between her fingers.

How ironic.

It was a birthday gift that Nora had given to him, but now, he had given it to another she-wolf as a gift to make her happy instead.

I tapped on the "like" button, set my phone back down, and turned around to light the candle on Nora's birthday cake.

As the flame flickered, Nora clasped her hands together as if she were earnestly making a wish to the Moon Goddess herself.

"My birthday wish this year is to be with Mommy forever and ever."

I was stunned for a moment. Then, I smiled and tucked away a strand of stray hair behind her ear.

"Alright," I said. "I promise I'll always be with you too."

At that very moment, my decision to leave the pack solidified.

After Nora fell asleep, I brought out the application form I'd filled in beforehand from the drawer and flipped to the last page.

Larry finally came back at 2:00 am.

He saw the untouched cake on the table and paused in his steps as if he'd only just remembered what day it was.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I forgot."

I nearly laughed out loud.

It wasn't that he'd forgotten. He'd just put someone else and some other things in higher priority than Nora or me.

I handed him the application form, forcing myself to sound neutral and calm.

"I need you to sign this—"

I wasn't even done speaking when his phone suddenly rang.

Erina's apologetic voice came over the phone at once.

"Larry! I accidentally dropped the bottle of wine you gave me onto the floor. It's such a waste! I even promised you that we'd drink it together the next time we met again…"

Larry's expression changed at once. "It's fine. I'll be right there."

He didn't even spare a glance at the document in my hand before signing on the signature line. Then, he turned and walked out the door.

When the door closed behind him, I looked down at the rough signature on the line and felt as though a part of my chest had been rendered hollow.

"Don't you forget that you were the one who gave up on Nora and me first," I mumbled quietly.

The next morning, I went to the central guard post to hand over my duties. I returned the pack badge, the patrol authority ID, and the warrior's knife that had been with me for years. My colleague in charge of the inventory then looked at me with reddened eyes, asking me if I was ever coming back to the pack.

I said that I probably wasn't coming back again.

On the way back, Larry suddenly stopped me. There was a beautiful gift box in his hands.

"This is Nora's birthday gift," he said. "I forgot it yesterday."

I took it from him and opened the lid.

It was a woodpecker toy.

My hands froze at once.

Nora was absolutely terrified of woodpeckers.

When she was four years old, one of her friends had gone missing in the woods. When we finally found the poor pup's dead body, a woodpecker was perched atop its head and pecking its eyes out.

Ever since that incident, Nora would get horrible nightmares about woodpeckers and always wake up in tears.

Yet, her own dad was giving her a woodpecker toy as her birthday gift.

I didn't know if I felt more anger or disappointment for Larry at that point.

I just closed the lid and said very softly, "Thank you."

He could probably tell that my face had fallen, but he never asked about it. He just suddenly looked as though he'd just thought of something and said quietly, "Erina's pack is too far away from here, and it's not convenient for her to always travel back and forth like this.

"The home that the pack prepared for her is situated on lower ground, which floods too easily. It'll dirty her dresses."

I didn't say a word.

Half a second later, he said, "You can move out with Nora for a few days instead."

I looked at him, unable to believe my ears.

"You mean that you're kicking Nora and me out of the house because you don't want her dresses to get dirty?"

Larry frowned. "Don't put it in such a way. It's only a temporary arrangement. You and Nora were never meant to stay there anyway. It's inappropriate."

I suddenly laughed out loud.

He had a point.

This was a wolf who refused to acknowledge Nora and me as his family. Of course, he would think that we didn't deserve to stay in his life either.

I nodded.

"Okay. We'll leave tonight."

Larry probably didn't expect me to agree that easily. He hesitated for a moment before adding in a low voice, "I'll make it up to you."

However, the wound he caused us had already begun to fester. It would never heal and go back to how it used to be, no matter how hard he tried to make it up to us later.

That evening, I packed up all of our belongings and walked out with Nora in my arms. I bumped into Larry, who was opening the car door for Erina just then.

It was still raining a little, and he held an umbrella over her with one hand while pulling her close by her shoulders with the other.

He looked like the perfect picture of a mate for her.

Meanwhile, Nora and I stood on the veranda, looking like two old items that were finally being disposed of.