Chapter 3

At six that evening, Rowan knocked on my hotel room door.

“Ethan made a reservation at a restaurant by the river. It’s the one you wrote about in your travel journal.”

I did not want to go.

But that restaurant was the final stop I had planned for this trip when I was eighteen.

In the end, I changed for dinner.

I was not going to keep our promise.

I simply wanted to say goodbye to the version of myself who had waited for four years.

When the server led us into the private dining room, there were only three chairs at the table.

Ethan tapped his forehead.

“When I made the reservation, I forgot Claire would be joining us.”

The server had to add another chair beside the service door.

Lily sat next to Rowan, facing the river outside the window.

I was seated by the door and had to stand aside every time a dish was brought in.

When Rowan noticed that I had not touched my food, he said quietly,

“It’s just a chair. Does it really matter where you sit?”

I nodded.

“No. It doesn’t.”

After dinner, the restaurant held a New Year’s ring toss game.

The winner would receive the last colorful star lantern.

Rowan played three rounds with Lily.

When the final ring landed around the peg, Lily hugged the star lantern, her eyes crinkling with delight.

“Rowan, how are you good at everything?”

“I used to play this with Claire.”

It was the first time he had mentioned me all evening.

But he had used something he learned with me to win a gift for Lily.

Lily carried the star lantern back to the table.

I looked away and walked out onto the terrace alone.

Rowan followed me a moment later.

“Are you still angry?”

“No.”

He rubbed his forehead.

“I’ll take you on the New Year’s river cruise later. Just the two of us.”

“There’s no need. I’m going back to the hotel.”

“I already bought the tickets.”

Impatience crept into Rowan’s voice.

“If you leave now, Lily will think she took your place. It’s only a boat ride. Don’t make this difficult for everyone.”

So even his offer to take me on the cruise was only meant to ease Lily’s guilt.

I did not refuse again.

Before I left, I did not want Rowan to realize anything was wrong.

When we arrived at the dock, the boat was due to depart in fifteen minutes.

Lily suddenly reached for her neck, and all the color drained from her face.

“My necklace is gone.”

It was the only thing her mother had left her. Inside the pendant was the last photograph they had taken together.

Lily frantically searched through all her pockets.

“I still had it when we left the restaurant. It must have fallen off there or in the taxi.”

Rowan responded immediately.

“I’ll go back with you and look for it.”

Lily instinctively grabbed his sleeve, then turned to look at me.

“But you promised to take Claire on the cruise.”

“The necklace is more important than a boat ride.”

Rowan shoved the two tickets into my hand.

“You and Ethan board first. I’ll catch up with you afterward.”

I glanced at the time.

“This is the last cruise tonight.”

Rowan’s expression darkened.

“Claire, that necklace is the only thing Lily has left from her mother.”

“At a time like this, can you stop making such a big deal over one boat ride?”

Ethan had already taken out his phone.

“I’ll contact the driver, then ask the restaurant to check their security footage.”

Rowan helped Lily into a car waiting by the road.

Ethan climbed in after them.

In the blink of an eye, I was the only one left at the dock.

The ticket attendant began urging me to board.

“Miss, the boat is about to leave. Are your companions still coming?”

I watched the car disappear into the distance.

“No.”

“Will you be boarding alone, then?”

I looked down at the two tickets in my hand.

When I was eighteen, Rowan had promised that the night after proposing to me in the central square, he would take me on the final New Year’s cruise.

On the boat, we would talk about our mating ceremony, where we would live, and the new healing center.

But last night, the proposal never happened.

And tonight, he was not here to board the boat with me.

It was never just one activity that he kept postponing.

It was our entire future.

“I’m not going.”

I handed the tickets back to the attendant and turned away.

Blood Moon Pack’s Chief Healer had already sent me my official employment documents and permanent pack transfer agreement.

[The healing center requires a minimum five-year commitment.]

[Once your transfer is complete, you will no longer be under the authority of Shadow Pack’s Alpha.]

[Do you wish to confirm?]