Chapter 16: Selfish

Kaila and I were packing the last bag I had left when someone knocked on my door.

“Sis, Luna Emerald wants to talk to you,” January said. 

I looked at Kaila and she nodded her head. She helped me zip my last bag and then before she left the room. 

I wasn’t expecting her.

Emerald’s presence in the doorway was like a gust of cold wind, the kind that stings your skin even before it reaches your bones. I had just been sitting quietly waiting for her to enter, trying to make sense of everything, when I saw her, standing there, with her usual poise, her expression guarded, but I could sense the tension in her posture.

“November, I need to talk to you,” Emerald’s voice was calm, controlled. But I could tell there was something underneath that mask, something raw.

I didn’t want to hear her words. I didn’t want to be in the same room with her, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn her away either. Something in her eyes, maybe the way her shoulders were slightly hunched, told me that she wasn’t here to gloat or taunt me. She seemed... broken.

“I’m listening,” I said, my voice colder than I intended.

Emerald stepped into the room, and I moved aside to let her in. There was a heavy silence between us as she sat down across from me. Her eyes flickered toward me for a brief moment, but she didn’t speak right away. I could feel the weight of the words she was holding back, like a dam ready to burst.

Finally, she exhaled, her lips trembling slightly. 

“Zeus is my mate,” she whispered.

The words hit me harder than I thought they would. I didn’t understand why she was telling me this. I already knew about Zeus, about what he had meant to her. But hearing it from her mouth, hearing her confirm it, felt like salt being rubbed into an open wound.

“I don’t want him,” she continued, her voice quieter now. “I never did. I blame Zeus for everything. He destroyed my pack. He ruined my life.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, unsure of whether I believed her. The anger I had been holding onto for so long flared up again, but I swallowed it down. I had learned, over the past few days, that not everything was as it seemed.

“Zeus destroyed your pack?” I asked, not quite sure what she meant. “I don’t understand, Emerald. How? What did he do?”

Emerald seemed to shrink a little under my gaze, but she pressed on. 

“It wasn’t just about us being mates. It’s what happened after. It’s what he brought with him. The chaos. The destruction. Everything started falling apart after he came into my life. I thought... I thought we could work through it, but in the end, it all fell apart.”

Her words left me with more questions than answers. I didn’t trust her story completely. Zeus was a lot of things, complicated, distant, passionate, but I couldn’t believe that he had destroyed her pack just because he was her mate. There had to be more to the story than what she was saying.

“I don’t believe it,” I said, my voice firm. “I’m sorry, Emerald, but I don’t believe that Zeus is the one who ruined everything for you. You were already broken long before he came into the picture. You were already searching for a way out before you met him.”

She looked away, but I could see the hurt in her eyes. For a brief moment, I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. But then my mind cleared, and I remembered the pain that she had caused me, the jealousy, the games she had played with Knox, with my family, with everything.

“Is that why you’re here? To make me feel sorry for you?” I asked, my voice sharper now. “Is that why you’re telling me all of this?”

“No,” she said quickly, shaking her head. “I didn’t come here for your sympathy, November. I came to tell you the truth. I came to tell you that I’ve realized something. Something important.”

I tilted my head, waiting for her to continue. I wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but I had a sinking feeling that I wasn’t going to like the next part.

“I know that Knox has a mate out there,” Emerald said, her words measured and slow. “And I know what that means for you. I understand that you’re hurt, that you’re angry. But...”

“But what?” I asked, my voice trembling slightly despite myself.

“But I can’t be the one to fix this,” she finished softly. “I can’t be the one to make things right. I’ve made my choices, and now I’m living with them.”

I stared at her, my heart racing. I had suspected this for a long time, but hearing it from her—hearing her confirm it—made it feel even more real. It made me feel like a fool for even considering that she might somehow be the right choice for Knox.

“You knew,” I said quietly. “You knew all along that Knox had a mate. And yet, you went after him anyway.”

Emerald’s eyes flickered, a hint of guilt flashing through her expression. 

“I didn’t know how to stop myself. I couldn’t. I thought... I thought maybe if I tried hard enough, if I made myself enough of what he wanted, it would work. But it didn’t. And now I see the truth. It wasn’t meant to be.”

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. “So, what now?” I asked. “You’re telling me that you went after someone else’s mate, and now you expect me to believe that you’re sorry for it?”

“I... I don’t know what I expect from you, November,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “I just wanted you to understand. I wanted you to know that... that I didn’t mean for it to be this way. I never wanted to hurt you.”

I didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t want to be the bigger person. I didn’t want to forgive her. But there was one question I needed to ask—one that had been weighing on my mind ever since she stepped into the room.

“Is it alright to steal someone else’s mate, Emerald?” I asked, my voice soft, but firm. “Is it alright to take what’s not yours, even if you think you deserve it? To take someone else’s happiness because you can’t find your own?”

Emerald’s eyes filled with unshed tears. 

“No,” she whispered. “It’s not.”

I stared at her for a long moment, my chest tight with a mix of emotions I couldn’t name. There was no answer, no simple explanation for everything that had happened. All I had were my own feelings, my own choices, my own path forward.

“I’m sorry, Emerald,” I said quietly. “But I can’t help you. Not anymore.”

She nodded, her face crumpling slightly. “I understand.”

And with that, she turned and left, leaving me alone with the questions that lingered in the air, unanswered.