The Necklace

BLOOM

'Hello Dumbie' I was still staring at the screen of my phone. I had spent minutes now staring at that message and every time I dropped my phone, I picked it back up in less than a minute to stare at that godforsaken message yet again.

"Fuck" I cursed and sat up on my bed with a grumble, dropping the phone beside me again. That message was a confirmation of the rumors Daria said she had heard. Dante was going to be back.

Six years he had been gone and six years he had never reached out to me so why was he doing so now?

Somehow, against my own wishes, I still recalled our last meeting vividly, too vividly than I would like to.

Six years ago

The door of my room was pushed open and I instantly knew who exactly it was. Dante was the only one who would open my door without knocking.

"I have told you not to come into my room, especially without knocking, what if I was naked?" I had a deep frown on my face.

"You have had the same schedule for four years now, Dumbie. You take your night bath and dress up before 8pm, then read for an hour, I know this is your reading time" He replied but his voice didn't sound the way it usually did. There was an attempt to mock my reading habit and my strict schedule but his voice sounded low and his eyes... Dante's eyes were different in a way I had never seen before.

"What do you want from me this time? Bullying me around in school isn't enough for you anymore, Dante Romano?" I asked, shutting the book I was reading.

He chuckled but even that barely sounded like him. He walked further into my room and sat on my sofa like he belonged right there. He dropped his head low and was quiet for a while before raising his head to finally look at me.

"I am leaving" He said and my lips formed into a pout of confusion. Where was he leaving to? And why was he telling me?

He got the questions from my expression.

"I am leaving the Pack" His voice cracked a little and I had to hold myself back so as not to ask if anything was wrong with him.

Dante was never like this but to the good side! He was leaving the Pack! My bully, the boy who hated me the most was finally leaving the Pack.

"Why?" I asked, purely out of curiosity.

"I can't tell you, Dumbie. What if I tell you and you misinterpret my words again?" He chuckled and I looked away with an annoyed look.

From my side view, I saw him get up from the sofa and he walked up to me. He reached a hand to my face and turned my face towards his so I could look at him again.

"Bloom," he called my name and I almost froze. I had not heard him call me my name in so long. What exactly was tonight?

"I will be leaving by morning and I won't be back anytime soon" He placed a hand on my head and I would have slapped his hand away but there was something in his grey eyes that kept me sitting right there.

"You can't let anyone else bully you while I am gone. No one else is allowed to bully you. I am the only one allowed to..." His eyes searched mine and I swallowed, for no reason.

"I don't know when I will be back but I will be back" He pressed his lips into a thin line as if trying to stop himself from saying more than he should.

I could feel curiosity spiking in me but I couldn't ask all the questions I wanted to. Instead, I finally moved his hand away from my hair.

"Please don't come back. Just leave and never come back. My life will finally be peaceful. My classes would finally be peaceful and I just might finally have friends" I mumbled the words.

Dante chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint you, though. I will definitely come back for you..." He was looking me right in the eye. "I will come back for you, Dumbie. I promise you I will"

"I don't want that promise. That's not a promise, it's a threat" I replied and he laughed, his laughter seeming lighter.

"You are so cute" He laughed, his eyes squinted at me as he did so

He stood up straight and looked around my room for a few seconds before heading straight for my jewellery box.

I got up from my chair and rushed over to him but he had already pulled out my favourite necklace from the box.

"What are you doing with it? Return it" I demanded, a hand stretched out.

"I will keep it for the journey"

"It's mine, you don't get to keep it and..."

"Oh yes, I do" He had that teasing smile on his face as he slipped the necklace into a pocket and then brought out another necklace from his other pocket.

"I don't want to be seen as too cruel so I will drop this one for you." He placed the new necklace into the box.

"I don't want this one. I want mine." I grumbled.

"You will take whichever I give to you, dumbie. Keep it safe and don't ever lose it. It's not going to be nice if you don't have it when I come back" He said and I stared at him with malicious eyes, breathing heavily with a little exaggeration.

"What? You are about to puff and huff and shift into your wolf side?"

"Don't you worry! Before you ever think of coming back, I would have shifted and I would have my mate, my man and you will never be able to get close to me again!"

His eyes darkened slightly and then he leaned in.

"There you go again, reasoning wrongly. You will only have one mate in this lifetime and that one mate will be me" He said and I didn't say anything in response.

I just turned to go get into my bed but before I could leave his grasp, he held my hand. I glanced at our hands and then at his face, with a questioning look.

Dante looked at me with that gaze that said he had more to say. His eyes blinked and his lips parted but he eventually pulled his hand off and I got into bed quickly, throwing the sheets over my head.

A few seconds passed and I felt his hand on my forehead through the sheets. "I will be back, I promise" I heard him say and seconds later, he was gone.

And I felt peace. True peace.

*

I was staring at that necklace now, the one Dante Romano had given to me six years ago. I had sworn to throw it away on the day I shifted and found my mate and that day still wasn't here but Dante would be back soon.

I sighed softly, glanced at my phone screen again and made up my mind.

To me, Dante's presence in this pack would be no different from his absence. I was now a woman, wolfless, but learned in medicine and healing. I wasn't helpless, not very much.

"Just stay away from me, Dante Romano"