Chapter 3

"You didn't arrive until 4:00 pm. What were you waiting for during those four hours in between?" I asked.

Kyle started explaining, "Naomi was holding onto my wrist and wouldn't let go. Every time I tried to pull away, she started shaking. The healer said her separation anxiety is so severe she might self-harm, so I was worried—"

"So you chose to stay."

It wasn't because Naomi forced him.

It wasn't because the healers stopped him.

He made the choice to stay all on his own.

His voice finally softened, dropping into that pleading tone he always used whenever he knew he was in the wrong.

"We can reschedule the bonding ceremony, and I'll cover all the expenses this time. You like that dress, right? I'll have them make you an even better one. Please, stop being mad at me, okay?"

I looked up at the moon, wiping away the tears that had slipped out without me noticing. "Kyle, once you miss a moment, it's gone. That day has passed, and you can't ever get it back."

Kyle and I had known each other for ten years and had been together for six.

Everyone thought we would last forever—myself included.

His younger years were tough. To ease his burden, I spent my days digging through council archives for border resource data and my nights helping him balance the books. When things got too busy for proper meals, we'd sit side by side on cardboard boxes, gnawing on hard dried meat.

Those days were painful, yet happy. He used to hold my hand and swear that I was the only mate meant for him in this lifetime.

And I believed him.

It wasn't just because the words sounded sweet. It was because of countless tiny details.

Kyle remembered every single one of my allergies. He remembered that I couldn't stand raw meat with gristle. He would bring me a warm cup of moon-dew tea after I stayed up late and softly drape a warm cloak over my shoulders whenever I drifted off at my desk.

He had truly loved me once.

That was why every time he left me behind later on, I made excuses for him.

He was too busy with work. An old friend was in trouble. It was an emergency.

I kept telling myself our days together were long, and there was no need to fuss over a single moment.

Naomi was his classmate and the one who saved his father, Leon Stanton's, life.

When he was 13, Leon ran into danger during a border hunt. Poisoned by wolfsbane, his wolf was severely weakened, stripping away his ability to shift.

Kyle guarded him all alone, terrified of informing the pack lest the Elders' Council take the opportunity to seize power.

In the end, Naomi noticed something was wrong and called the healers. She stayed by his side until Eloise rushed back to the territory.

He carried the weight of that favor for years.

He promised her that whenever she ran into trouble in the future, she could call on him anytime.

There was nothing inherently wrong with that.

What was wrong was that every hurdle she faced afterward was overcome by stepping all over me.

When she got drunk, Kyle drove two hours in the middle of the night to pick her up.

When she complained about celebrating her birthday alone, he walked out on me to keep her company.

Even on the day we registered, Naomi overheard a few words from a neighbor and immediately assumed she was being bullied. Kyle rushed off and left me behind, only to find that the neighbor had simply been on the phone and the words weren't directed at her.

Every time before he left, he dropped the burden of choice onto me.

"Serafina, I'm the only one who can help her right now. You don't mind, right? Just this once. I promise I'll make it up to you next time."

Once words like that were said out loud, if I dared to mind, I became the cold-hearted one.

So time after time, I nodded and said, "It's fine. Go ahead."

Having heard it so often, it gradually became a habit.

Kyle began to assume I truly didn't mind, to the point where he stopped asking altogether and just left.

On the day we registered, right before he drove off, I rushed to the front of his car and blocked his path.

"Kyle, this is the absolute last time. Promise me that on the day of our bonding ceremony, unless someone's wolf is literally fading, you will not leave me behind."

He froze for a second, then reached out to ruffle my hair, laughing that I was overthinking things.

I refused to back down. "Promise me."

His expression finally turned serious as he pulled me into an embrace. "Alright. On our bonding ceremony day, I will stand by your side even if the sky falls down."

I had believed him back then.

Only now did I realize the sky didn't need to fall.

Just one episode of Naomi's separation anxiety was enough.

Three days after the bonding ceremony was canceled, I left his pack.